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McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Chapter 8A

Waiting Line Analysis

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OBJECTIVES

• Waiting Line Characteristics

• Suggestions for Managing
Queues
• Examples (Models 1, 2, 3, and 4)
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Components of the Queuing System

Servicing System
Servers
Queue or
Customer Waiting Line
Arrivals Exit
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Customer Service Population Sources

Population Source

Finite Infinite
Example: Number Example: The
of machines number of people
needing repair who could wait in
when a company a line for
only has three gasoline.
machines.
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Service Pattern

Service
Pattern

Constant Variable
Example: Items Example: People
coming down an spending time
automated shopping.
assembly line.
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The Queuing System

Length

Queuing Number of Lines &

Queue Discipline
System Line Structures

Service Time
Distribution
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Examples of Line Structures

Single
Multiphase
Phase

One-person
Single Channel Car wash
barber shop

Bank tellers’ Hospital

Multichannel
windows admissions
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Degree of Patience

No Way! No Way!

BALK RENEG
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Suggestions for Managing Queues

1. Determine an acceptable waiting

time for your customers
2. Try to divert your customer’s
attention when waiting
3. Inform your customers of what to
expect
4. Keep employees not serving the
customers out of sight
5. Segment customers
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Suggestions for Managing Queues (Continued)

6. Train your servers to be friendly

7. Encourage customers to come
during the slack periods
8. Take a long-term perspective
toward getting rid of the queues
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Waiting Line Models

Source
Model Layout Population Service Pattern
1 Single channel Infinite Exponential
2 Single channel Infinite Constant
3 Multichannel Infinite Exponential
4 Single or Multi Finite Exponential

These four models share the following characteristics:

• Single phase
• Poisson arrival
• FCFS
• Unlimited queue length
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Notation: Infinite Queuing: Models 1-3

 = Arrival rate
 = Service rate
1
= Average service time

1
= Average time between arrivals


 = = Ratio of total arrival rate to sevice rate

for a single server
Lq = Average number waiting in line
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Infinite Queuing Models 1-3 (Continued)

Ls = Average number in system

(including those being served)
Wq = Average time waiting in line
Ws = Average total time in system
(including time to be served)
n = Number of units in the system
S = Number of identical service channels
Pn = Probabilit y of exactly n units in system
Pw = Probabilit y of waiting in line
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Example: Model 1
Assume a drive-up window at a fast food restaurant.
Customers arrive at the rate of 25 per hour.
The employee can serve one customer every two
minutes.
Assume Poisson arrival and exponential service
rates.
Determine:
A) What is the average utilization of the employee?
B) What is the average number of customers in line?
C) What is the average number of customers in the
system?
D) What is the average waiting time in line?
E) What is the average waiting time in the system?
F) What is the probability that exactly two cars will be
in the system?
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Example: Model 1

A) What is the average utilization of the

employee?

 = 25 cust / hr
1 customer
 = = 30 cust / hr
2 mins (1hr / 60 mins)

 25 cust / hr
 = = = .8333
 30 cust / hr
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Example: Model 1

B) What is the average number of customers in

line?

 2
(25) 2
Lq = = = 4.167
 (  -  ) 30(30 - 25)
C) What is the average number of customers in
the system?


25
Ls = = =5
 -  (30 - 25)
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Example: Model 1

D) What is the average waiting time in line?

Lq
Wq = = .1667 hrs = 10 mins

E) What is the average waiting time in the system?

Ls
Ws = = .2 hrs = 12 mins

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Example: Model 1

F) What is the probability that exactly two cars

will be in the system (one being served and the
other waiting in line)?

  n
pn = (1 - )( )
 
25 25 2
p 2 = (1- )( ) = .1157
30 30
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Example: Model 2

An automated pizza vending machine

heats and
dispenses a slice of pizza in 4 minutes.

Customers arrive at a rate of one every 6

minutes with the arrival rate exhibiting a
Poisson distribution.
Determine:

A) The average number of customers in line.

B) The average total waiting time in the system.
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Example: Model 2

A) The average number of customers in line.

 2
(10) 2
Lq = = = .6667
2 (  -  ) (2)(15)(15 - 10)

B) The average total waiting time in the system.

Lq .6667
Wq = = = .06667 hrs = 4 mins
 10

1 1
Ws = Wq + = .06667 hrs + = .1333 hrs = 8 mins
 15/hr
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Example: Model 3
Recall the Model 1 example:
Drive-up window at a fast food restaurant.
Customers arrive at the rate of 25 per hour.
The employee can serve one customer
every two minutes.
Assume Poisson arrival and exponential
service rates.

If an identical window (and an identically trained

server) were added, what would the effects be on
the average number of cars in the system and the
total time customers wait before being served?
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Example: Model 3

Average number of cars in the system

Lq = 0.176
(Exhibit TN7.11 - -using linear interpolat ion)
 25
Ls = Lq + = .176 + = 1.009
 30
Total time customers wait before being served
Lq.176 customers
Wq = = = .007 mins ( No Wait! )
 25 customers/min
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Notation: Finite Queuing: Model 4

D = Probabilit y that an arrival must wait in line

F = Efficiency factor, a measure of the effect of
having to wait in line
H = Average number of units being served
J = Population source less those in queuing
system ( N - n)
L = Average number of units in line
S = Number of service channels
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Finite Queuing: Model 4 (Continued)

n = Average number of units in queuing system

(including the one being served)
N = Number of units in population source
Pn = Probabilit y of exactly n units in queuing system
T = Average time to perform the service
U = Average time between customer service requirements
W = Average waiting time in line
X = Service factor, or proportion of service time required
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Example: Model 4

The copy center of an electronics firm has four copy

machines that are all serviced by a single technician.

Every two hours, on average, the machines require

adjustment. The technician spends an average of 10
minutes per machine when adjustment is required.

Assuming Poisson arrivals and exponential service,

how many machines are “down” (on average)?
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Example: Model 4

N, the number of machines in the population = 4

M, the number of repair people = 1
T, the time required to service a machine = 10 minutes
U, the average time between service = 2 hours
T 10 m in
X = = = .077
T+ U 10 m in + 120 m in

From Table TN7.11, F = .980 (Interpolation)

L, the number of machines waiting to be
serviced = N(1-F) = 4(1-.980) = .08 machines

H, the number of machines being

serviced = FNX = .980(4)(.077) = .302 machines

Number of machines down = L + H = .382 machines

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Queuing Approximation

• This approximation is quick way to analyze a queuing

situation. Now, both interarrival time and service time
distributions are allowed to be general.
• In general, average performance measures (waiting
time in queue, number in queue, etc) can be very well
approximated by mean and variance of the distribution
(distribution shape not very important).
• This is very good news for managers: all you need is
mean and standard deviation, to compute average
waiting time
Define:
Standard deviation of X
Cx = coefficient of variation for r.v. X =
Mean of X
Variance
Cx2 = squared coefficient of variation (scv) = (Cx ) =
2

mean2
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Queue Approximation

Inputs: S, , , Ca2 ,Cs2

(Alternatively: S, , , variances of interarrival and service time distributions)


Compute  =
S

2( S +1)
 Ca2 + Cs2
Lq =  Lq Ls
1−  2 as before, Wq = , and Ws =
 

Ls = Lq + S 
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Approximation Example

• Consider a manufacturing process (for example making

plastic parts) consisting of a single stage with five
machines. Processing times have a mean of 5.4 days
and standard deviation of 4 days. The firm operates
make-to-order. Management has collected date on
customer orders, and verified that the time between
orders has a mean of 1.2 days and variance of 0.72
days. What is the average time that an order waits
before being worked on?

Using our “Waiting Line Approximation” spreadsheet we

get:
Lq = 3.154 Expected number of orders waiting to be
completed.
Wq = 3.78 Expected number of days order waits.
Ρ = 0.9 Expected machine utilization.
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Question Bowl

The central problem for virtually all queuing

problems is which of the following?
a. Balancing labor costs and equipment costs
b. Balancing costs of providing service with
the costs of waiting
c. Minimizing all service costs in the use of
equipment
d. All of the above
e. None of the above

Answer: b. Balancing costs of providing

service with the costs of waiting
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Question Bowl

Customer Arrival “populations” in a

queuing system can be
characterized by which of the
following?
a. Poisson
b. Finite
c. Patient
d. FCFS
e. None of the above
Answer: b. Finite
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Question Bowl

Customer Arrival “rates” in a queuing

system can be characterized by which
of the following?
a. Constant
b. Infinite
c. Finite
d. All of the above
e. None of the above

Answer: a. Constant
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Question Bowl

An example of a “queue discipline” in a

queuing system is which of the
following?
a. Single channel, multiphase
b. Single channel, single phase
c. Multichannel, single phase
d. Multichannel, multiphase
e. None of the above

Answer: e. None of the above (These are the rules for

determining the order of service to customers, which
include FCFS, reservation first, highest-profit customer
first, etc.)
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Question Bowl

Withdrawing funds from an automated

teller machine is an example in a
queuing system of which of the
following “line structures”?
a. Single channel, multiphase
b. Single channel, single phase
c. Multichannel, single phase
d. Multichannel, multiphase
e. None of the above

Answer: b. Single channel, single phase

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Question Bowl

Refer to Model 1 in the textbook. If

the service rate is 15 per hour,
what is the “average service time”
for this queuing situation?
a. 16.00 minutes
b. 0.6667 hours
c. 0.0667 hours
d. 16% of an hour
e. Can not be computed from data
above
Answer: c. 0.0667 hours (1/15=0.0667)
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Question Bowl

Refer to Model 1 in the textbook. If the

arrival rate is 15 per hour, what is the
“average time between arrivals” for this
queuing situation?
a. 16.00 minutes
b. 0.6667 hours
c. 0.0667 hours
d. 16% of an hour
e. Can not be computed from data above

Answer: c. 0.0667 hours (1/15=0.0667)

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Question Bowl

Refer to Model 4 in the textbook. If the

“average time to perform a service” is 10
minutes and the “average time between
customer service requirements” is 2
minutes, which of the following is the
“service factor” for this queuing
situation?
a. 0.833
b. 0.800
c. 0.750
d. 0.500
e. None of the above

Answer: a. 0.833 (10/(10+2)=0.833)

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End of Chapter 8A

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