Answer: B. 3
Explanation:
The expected arrival rate at service point is 45 customers per hour and reasonable service rate is 4 minutes.
The total numbers of customers each clerk can handled per hour is calculated below,
= (60 minutes)/ 4(minutes) = 15 customers
At the arrival rate of 45 customers per hour. The required number of clerks needed to handle 45 customers per hour is;
= customer arrived / customer served
= 45/15 =3
Therefore 3 clerks are required to keep the pace steady at an average time under 5 minutes.