Chapter Four:

Waiting Line
Management

1
 Examples of waiting lines
in Operations Management

• Assembly lines
• Production lines
• Trucks waiting to unload or load
• Workers waiting for parts
• Customers waiting for products
• Broken equipment waiting to be fixed
• Customers waiting for service
2
 Why do we analyze waiting lines?
 The resources in a line (people or material) are idle and
thus unproductive.
The resources needed
to process/service a line
 cashiers,

 dock workers,
 equipment, etc.

cost a business money.

3
 Costs
• The costs of waiting in line
– Payment for idle employees while they are waiting for parts,
supplies, etc.)
– Unusable equipment awaiting repairs
• EG: Broken assembly line machinery.
• Loss customer goodwill, satisfaction and loss of space
– Losing customers because of long lines
– Reneging: Customers get tired of waiting and leave
– Balking: Customers see a long line and don’t get in line.
• The cost of providing service to the line
– Paying people who are servicing the customers.
• Customers can be people, machines, or other objects needing
service.
4
 Cost cont.…

paying repairmen to fix broken machines

paying dock workers to load and unload trucks
using extra production people to speed up a line
leasing service equipment and facilities
paying checkout/register cashiers

5
 What Queuing Models Tell Us.

• Average number of customers in line.

• Average number of customers in the system

• Average time in line for a customer.

• Average time in the system for a customer.

• Probability of n number of customers in the system
• NOTE: “In The System” includes customers who are waiting plus
and the customers being served.

6
 Arrival System
• Arrival Populations are either…
• Limited (EG: Only people age 21 or over.)
• Unlimited (EG: cars arriving at fuel station)
• Arrival Patterns are either…
• Random (Each arrival is independent)
• Scheduled (EG: Doctor’s office visits)
• Behavior of the Arrivals
• Balking (Seeing a long line and avoiding it.)
• Reneging (Get tired of waiting and leave the line)
• Jockeying (Switching lines) 7
 The Queue (line)
• Queue Length (line length) is either..
• Unlimited (EG: cars in line at fuel station)
• Limited (Finite) EG: # of e-mail messages allowed.
• Queue Discipline (order of service)
• FIFO (First-In, First-Out)
• LIFO (Last-In, First-Out)
• Priority

8
 Departure of
Customer
served customers
arrivals

Departure of impatient
customers

• A queueing system is "customers arrive for a given service, wait if the

service cannot start immediately and leave after being served"

• The term "customer" can be men, products, machines, ...

 Cont..
Queueing system Can bé characterized with several criteria:
 Customer arrival processes

 Service time
 Service discipline

 Service capacity
 Number of service stages
 The Service Facility
• Channels are the paths (ways to get through the
system) after getting in line

• Phases are the number of stops a customer must

make, after getting in line
(Single-phase means only one stop for service.)

 Order  Pay  Pick-up 

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 Single-channel, Single-phase

One way through the system and one stop for

service

Service
Facility

12
 Multi-channel, Single-phase

Once in line, you have two or more choices of how to

get through the system, but only one stop.
Service
Facility

Service
Facility

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 Multi-channel, Multi-phase
Once in line, you have at least two choices (channels) of
how to get through the system and at least two stops
(phases).

Service Service
Facility Facility

Service Service
Facility Facility

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 Four Single-channel, Single-phase Systems

(Once in line, you only have one channel and one stop.)
Service
Facility

Service
Facility

Service
Facility

Service
Facility

15
 Multi-channel, Single-Phase System

(Once in line you have four possible paths through the system, but only one stop .)

Service
Facility

Service
Facility

Service
Facility

Service
Facility

16
 Assumptions

• The Rate of Service must be faster than the Rate of Arrivals. (It is
unsolvable if customers arrive faster than they can be served.)
• Always enter the service rate for 1 server. The model will
compute the total service rate based on the number of servers.
• FIFO (First In, First Out) (Customers are served in the order they
arrive.)
• Arrivals are unlimited (infinite)
• Arrivals are random rather than scheduled.
• Service times can vary from one customer to another, and are
independent of each other. (Customers may have different service
needs and times.)

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 Notation:

 = 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
 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
e.g.
 Example: 2
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:
Determine:
A)
A) What
Whatisisthe
theaverage
averageutilization
utilizationof
ofthe
theemployee?
employee?
B)
B) What
Whatisisthe
theaverage
averagenumber
numberof ofcustomers
customersin inline?
line?
C)
C) What
Whatisisthe
theaverage
averagenumber
numberof ofcustomers
customersin inthe
thesystem?
system?
D)
D) What
Whatisisthe
theaverage
averagewaiting
waitingtime
timein
inline?
line?
E)
E) What
Whatisisthe
theaverage
averagewaiting
waitingtime
timein
inthe
thesystem?
system?
F)
F) What
Whatisisthe
theprobability
probabilitythat
thatexactly
exactlytwo
twocars
carswill
willbe
be
in
inthe
thesystem?
system?
 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

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)
 D) What is the averageExample:
waiting time in line?
Model 1
Lq
Wq = = .1667 hrs = 10 mins


E) What is the average waiting time in the system?

Ls
Ws = = .2 hrs = 12 mins

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
p2 = (1- )( ) = .1157
30 30
 lean Manufacturing

Lean = Eliminating Waste Non-Value-Added

activities: Hold all waste
Value-Added in a “CLOSED” MITT
• Complexity
• Labor
• Overproduction
• Space
• Energy
• Defects

• Materials
• Idle Materials
•Transportation
•Time
Typically 95% of all lead time is non-value-added
 Complexity
The waste of doing things the hard way!
• Excessive paperwork
• Excessive approvals
• Redundancy
• Poor communications

Causes of complexity:
• Multiple “patches” on the process without fixing the root cause.
• The “cool” factor of technology or machinery.
• Failing to look for the simple solutions.
 Labor Waste
• Human effort that adds no value to the product or service
from the customers’ viewpoint.
• Not using people’s mental, creative, and physical abilities
• Causes of labor waste
– Inconsistent work methods
– Unfavorable workstation or cell layout
– Doing unnecessary/unneeded operations
– Poor workplace organization and housekeeping
– Redundant inspections/approvals
– Extra copies/excessive information
 Overproduction

The waste of making too much product as compared to the needs

of the next process.
• Causes of overproduction
– Misuse of automation
– Long process setup
– Non-level scheduling
– Misunderstood communications
– Unreliable shipment by suppliers
 Space Waste
• Using more space than is required to build the
product to market demand.
• Causes of wasted space
– Poor layout
– Too much inventory, especially work in process
– Poor workplace organization
– Excess equipment
– Oversized equipment
 Energy Waste

• Using more energy (people and machine) than is

required to build the product to market demand.
• Causes of wasted energy
– Oversized or poorly maintained equipment
– Idle equipment
– Poor workplace organization
 Defects

• Waste of inspection, repair and scrapping of material to which

value has already been added.
• Causes of defects
– Weak process control
– Poor quality system
– Poor planned maintenance
– Inadequate education/training/work instructions
– Poor Product design
– Customer needs not understood
 Materials Waste

Any use of materials in excess of what is needed to

create value.
• Causes of material waste
– Not understanding the costs
– Inadequate education/training/work instructions
– Lack of standards
– Customer needs not understood
 Idle Materials

The waste of having materials “sitting around” in

process without any value being added to them.
• Causes of idle materials waste
– Unplanned maintenance
– Long process setup times
– Poor suppliers
– Upstream quality problems
– Unlevel scheduling
 Transportation Waste

• Transporting parts and materials around the plant

• Causes of transportation waste
– Poor plant layout
– Poor understanding of
production process flow
– Large batch size, long lead
times, large storage areas
 Time Waste
Any activity that consumes time without adding value,
especially the waste of waiting (equipment downtime,
waiting for materials, setup, etc.).
• Causes of wasted time:
• Poor machine maintenance.
• Line imbalances.
• Poor setup discipline.
• Poor communication between processes.