UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING PROGRAMME

IMB 515: Operations Research II

06/11/2020

QUIZ 2 SOLUTIONS

1. Figure Q1 presents a queueing system of a single server banking system. Study it

carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Served Customers

Queueing System

Queue
C S
Customers CCCCCCC C S Service
C S facility
C S

Served Customers

Figure Q1: Queueing system

(a) State the three (3) main components of a queueing system [3 Marks]
Arrivals (1), queue (1) and service (1)
(b) For each of the components stated in (a), explain any three (3) defining
characteristics of the component. [9 Marks]
Arrivals: (1 mark for each response)
- Inter-arrival time - time between consecutive arrivals to a queuing
system.
- The mean arrival rate - expected number of arrivals per unit time is
referred.
- The mean of the probability distribution of inter-arrival times
Queue: (1 mark for each response)
- Queue size - the number of customers in the queue, or the number
of customers waiting for service to begin.
- Number of customers in the system - the number in the queue plus
the number currently being served.
- Queue capacity - the maximum number of customers that can be
held in the queue.
- Queue discipline - the order in which members of the queue are
selected for service.
 Service: (1 mark for each response)
- Service time - the elapsed time from the beginning to the end of
the service.
- Mean service rate - expected service completions per unit time for
a single busy server
- Mean of probability distribution of service times, i.e. expected
service time.

2. For each of the following queueing systems, identify customers and servers.
(a) Production system. [2 Marks] Jobs (1), Machines (1)
(b) Fire department. [2 Marks] Fires (1), Fire truck (1)
(c) Parking lot. [2 Marks] Cars (1), Parking spaces (1)

3. Briefly explain how a high utilization factor for a server can cause poor performance for
the system. [2 Marks]
The efficiency of a loaded server increases up to a certain point beyond which it begins to
decrease. This may be due to tiredness in the case of a human server.

4. Forty (40) customers arrive for service at Debonairs Pizza per hour, and service rate is 30
customers per hour. Briefly explain whether or not there is waiting in the system.
[5 Marks]
There may or may not be waiting (1). This is because both inter-arrival times (1) and
service times (1) are random with exponential distribution (1), and it is possible that all
the 40 customers may arrive in the first 15 minutes, in which case there will be waiting.
Likewise, some customers may take much longer to serve while others may take a shorter
time (1). Thus there may or may not be waiting.
5. A queuing system has two servers whose service times are independent random variables
with an exponential distribution with a mean of 15 minutes. Customer X arrives when
both servers are idle. Five minutes later, customer Y arrives and customer X still is being
served. Another 10 minutes later, customer Z arrives and both customer X and Y are still
being served. No other customer arrived during this 15-minute interval. What is the
probability that customer Z will complete service before customer X? Explain your
answer in detail. [5]

By the lack-of-memory property of the exponential distribution, when customer Y

arrives, the remaining time until customer X completes service has the same distribution
as the service time for customer Y, so they are equally likely to finish first. Thus the
probability that customer X will complete service before customer Y is 0.5. (2.5)
Customer Z cannot begin service until either customer X or customer Y completes
service. Given that customer X completes service first, which has probability of 0.5, it
 implies, it implies by the same reasoning, that the probability that customer Z completes
service before customer X is 0.5. Therefore the unconditional probability that customer Z
will complete service before customer X is 0.5x0.5 = 0.25. (2.5)

6. Explain the following steps in a simulation study:

(a) Verification [2]
Process of checking the correctness of a computer program i.e. whether or not the
coding was done correctly in line with the simulation software. (2)

(b) Validation [2]

The process of comparing the model with the real system to ensure that the
system is a correct imitation of the real. (2)

7. A self-service store employs one cashier at its counter. Nine customers arrive on average
every 5 minutes while the cashier can serve 10 customers in 5 minutes. Assuming
Poisson distribution for arrival rate and exponential distribution for service time, find:
(a) Average number of customers in the system [2]

L = – 

(b) Average number of customers in the queue [3]

2
Lq = Wq =  / [( – )] = 1.8 / [2(2– 1.8)] = 8.1
2

(c) Average time a customer spends in the system [3]

W = 1 / ( – ) = 1/ (2-1.8) = 5 mins

(d) Average time a customer waits before being served [3]

Wq =  / [ ( – )] = 1.8/[2(2-1.8)] = 4.5 mins

…………………………………The End……………………………………………