ISEN 625 Simulation Optimization

Lab 12

Student name: Ronak Nitin Radadiya.

UIN: 731008599

Instructions
Follow the in-class demonstration example. Then implement the remaining part of the
assignment and answer the questions below. After finishing the document, save it as PDF and
submit it under the Lab 12 assignment in Canvas along with Simio model file.

Problem Statement:
Use the provided starting model set up based on Lab 9 with balking and reneging processes.
Instead of hardcoding the number of technicians available at different time intervals in the work
schedule, use reference properties that can be controlled during simulation run time to set the
number of available technicians.
It has been determined that the first line technicians receive $25 per hour regardless if they are
helping a customer or not. There is a fixed cost of $10 for trunk line rentals regardless of usage.
The call usage rate is $5 per hour per call. Create an experiment named “Optimization”. The call
center management would like you to find the “optimal” setup for the call center in terms of the
number of first line technicians available during the different time periods that would minimize
the total cost of first line technicians and minimize the number of customers that balk or renege.
The minimum number of first line technicians at any time period can be 1, while the maximum
number of first line technicians at any time period may not exceed 20. The minimum number of
replications while using OptQuest should be no lower than 7, while the maximum number of
replications should not exceed 20. The upper bound on the number of scenarios is 50.
The management has decided that an acceptable level of service (customer satisfaction) at the
call center would be to serve at least 97% of the callers. In other words, up to 3% of the callers
can balk or renege. In the present setup with the given arrival pattern, this would translate to
about 25 customers that balk or renege during a day. The management has decided that it is
acceptable for the call center operations to let up to 15 customers balk and to let up to 10
customers renege. Use an appropriate filter to narrow down the number of scenarios which
represents the scenarios meeting the number of balking and reneging thresholds. Use the GSP
selection algorithm to determine the best scenario with respect to the total cost of first line
technicians. Use $10 as the indifference zone.

1. What is the total cost of the best system? 12189.7

2. What is the average number of balkers and renegers for the best system? 3.5 , 0.2
3. What is the number of technicians needed for each time period?
Ans: The total number of technicians required for each time period is 15.