Chapter 18

Waiting Lines

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Chapter 18: Learning Objectives

You should be able to:
Explain why waiting lines form in systems that are underloaded
Identify the goal of queuing management
List the measures of system performance that are used in
queuing
Discuss the assumptions of the basic queuing models presented
Solve typical problems

18-2

Queuing Theory
Queuing theory
Mathematical approach to the analysis of waiting lines
Applicable to many environments

Call centers
Banks
Post offices
Restaurants
Theme parks
Telecommunications systems
Traffic management

18-3

Simple Queuing System

System

Processing Order

Calling
population

Arrivals

Waiting
line

Service

Exit

18-4

Queuing Models: Infinite Source

Four basic infinite source models
All assume a Poisson arrival rate
1.
2.
3.
4.

Single server, exponential service time

Single server, constant service time
Multiple servers, exponential service time
Multiple priority service, exponential service time

18-5

Infinite-Source Symbols
Customer arrival rate
Service rate per server
Lq The average number of customers waiting for service
Ls The average number of customer in the system
r The average number of customers being served
The system utilizatio n
Wq The average time customers wait in line
Ws The average time customers spend in the system
1 Service time
P0 The probabilit y of zero units in the system
Pn The probabilit y of n units in the system
M The number of servers (channels)
Lmax The maximum expected number wai ting in line

18-6

Basic Relationships
System Utilization

M
Average number of customers being served

18-7

Basic Relationships
Littles Law
For a stable system the average number of customers
in line or in the system is equal to the average
customers arrival rate multiplied by the average time
in the line or system

Ls Ws
Lq Wq
18-8

Basic Relationships
The average number of customers
Waiting in line for service:
In the system:

Lq
Ls Lq r

The average time customers are

Waiting in line for service

Wq

Lq

In the system

Ws Wq

Ls

18-9

Single Server, Exponential Service Time

M/M/1
2
Lq
2

P0 1

Pn P0

P n 1

18-10

Single Server, Constant Service Time

M/D/1
If a system can reduce variability, it can shorten waiting lines
noticeably
For, example, by making service time constant, the average
number of customers waiting in line can be cut in half

Lq
2 ( )
2

Average time customers spend waiting in line is also cut by half.

Similar improvements can be made by smoothing arrival rates
(such as by use of appointments)

18-11

Multiple Servers (M/M/S)

Assumptions:
A Poisson arrival rate and exponential service time
Servers all work at the same average rate
Customers form a single waiting line (in order to
maintain FCFS processing)

18-12

M/M/S
M

Lq
P
2 0
M 1!M

M 1

P0

n 0 n!

M !1

1
Ws
M
Wq
PW
Ws
n

18-13

Maximum Line Length

An issue that often arises in service system design is
how much space should be allocated for waiting lines
The approximate line length, n, that will not be exceeded
a specified percentage of the time can be determined
using the following:

log K
ln K
n
or
log
ln
where
specified
1
percentage
K
Lq 1
18-14

Operations Strategy
Managers must carefully weigh the costs and benefits of
service system capacity alternatives
Options for reducing wait times:
Work to increase processing rates, instead of increasing the
number of servers
Use new processing equipment and/or methods
Reduce processing time variability through standardization
Shift demand

18-15