Waiting Lines and Queuing

Theory Models

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Introduction
The study of waiting lines, called queuing theory, is one
of the oldest and most widely used Operations Research
techniques.
Waiting lines are an everyday occurrence, affecting
people shopping for groceries, buying gasoline, or
making a bank deposit.
Queues, another term for waiting lines, may also take the
form of machines waiting to be repaired, trucks in line to
be unloaded, or airplanes lined up on a runway waiting
for permission to take off.
The three basic components of a queuing process are
arrivals, service facilities, and the actual waiting line.
In this chapter we discuss how analytical models of waiting
lines can help managers evaluate the cost and effectiveness
of service systems.
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Waiting Line Costs

Most waiting line problems are centered on the question of
finding the ideal level of services that a firm should
provide.

"one of the goals of queuing analysis is finding the

best level of service for an organization".
In most cases, this level of service is an option over which
management has control. An extra teller, for example, can
be borrowed from another chore or can be hired and
trained quickly if demand warrants it. This may not
always be the case, though. A plant may not be able to
locate or hire skilled mechanics to repair sophisticated
electronic machinery.
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Waiting Line Costs\continued

When an organization does have control, its objective is
usually to find a happy medium between two extremes:
1. On the one hand, a firm can retain a large staff and provide
many service facilities. This may result in excellent customer
service, with seldom more than one or two customers in a
queue. Customers are kept happy with the quick response and
appreciate the convenience. This, however, can become
expensive.
2. The other extreme is to have the minimum possible number of
checkout lines, gas pumps, or teller windows open. This keeps
the service cost down but may result in customer
dissatisfaction.
"As the average length of the queue increases and poor service
results, customers and goodwill may be lost."

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Waiting Line Costs\continued

"Managers must deal with the trade-off between the cost of
providing good service and the cost of customer waiting time. The
latter may be hard to quantify."
One means of evaluating a service facility is thus to look at a
total expected cost, a concept illustrated in the figure (the next
slide). Total expected cost is the sum of expected service costs
plus expected waiting costs.
Service costs are seen to increase as a firm attempts to raise its
level of service. As service improves in speed, however, the cost of
time spent waiting in lines decreases.

"The goal is to find the service level that minimizes total expected
cost."

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Queuing Costs and

Service Levels
Optimal
Cost of Operating
Service Facility

Service Level

Total
Expected
Cost
Cost of
Providing
Service
Cost of
Waiting
Time
Service Level

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Waiting Line Costs\continued

Three Rivers Shipping Company Example

Three Rivers run a huge docking facility located on the Ohio
River near Pittsburgh. Approximately five ships arrive to unload
their cargoes of steel and ore during every 12-hour work shift.
Each hour that a ship sits idle in line waiting to be unloaded costs
the firm a great deal of money, about $1,000 per hour. From
experience, management estimates that if one team of stevedores
is on duty to handle the unloading work, each ship will wait an
average of 7 hours to be unloaded. If two teams are working, the
average waiting time drops to 4 hours; for three teams, it's 3
hours; and four teams of stevedores, only 2 hours. But each
additional team of stevedores is also an expensive proposition,
due to union contacts.
Three rivers' superintendent would like to determine the optimal
number of teams of stevedores to have on duty each shift.
The objective is to minimize total expected costs. This analysis is
summarized in the next table:
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Waiting Line Cost Analysis

Three Rivers Shipping
Avg. number of ships
arriving per shift
Average waiting time
per ship
Total ship hours lost
Est. cost per hour of
idle ship time
Value of ships' lost
time
Stevedore teams
salary
Total Expected Cost
To accompany

Number of Stevedore Teams

1
2
3

35
$1,000

20
$1,000

15
$1,000

10
$1,000

35,000

29,000

$15,000

$10,000

$6,000
$41,000

$12,000
$32,000

18,000
$33,000

$24,000
$34,000

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Characteristics Of A Queuing
System
We will study three parts of a queuing system:
1. The arrivals or inputs to the system (sometimes
referred to as the calling population),
2. The queue or the waiting line itself, and
3. The service facility

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1. Arrival Characteristics
The input source that generates arrivals or customers
for the service system has three major characteristics.
It is important to consider:
the size of the calling population,
the pattern of arrivals at the queuing system, and
the behavior of the arrivals.

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1. Arrival Characteristics\continued
Size of the Calling Population
Population sizes are considered to be either unlimited
(essentially infinite) or limited (finite).
For practical purposes, examples of unlimited population
includes cars arriving at a highway tollbooth, shoppers
arriving at a supermarket, or students arriving to register
for classes at large university.
"Most queuing models assume such an infinite calling
population".
An example of a finite population is a shop with only eight
machines that break down and require service.

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1. Arrival Characteristics\continued
Pattern of Arrivals at the System
Customers either arrive at service facility according to
some known schedule (for example, one patient every
15 minutes or one student for advising every half hour)
or else they arrive randomly.
Arrivals are considered random when they are
independent of one another and their occurrence
cannot be predicted exactly.
Frequently in queuing problems, the number of
arrivals per unit of time can be estimated by a
probability distribution known as the Poisson
distribution.
"The Poisson probability distribution is used in many
queuing models to represent arrival patterns."
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Poisson Distribution for Arrival

Times
e x
P(X)
X!
For X=0,1,2,3,4,..
P(X)= probability of X arrivals
X= number of arrivals per unit of time

= average arrival rate

e= 2.7183
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Poisson Distribution for Arrival

Times

.30
.25
.20
.15
.10
.05
.00

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1
1
X

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P(X), = 4

P(X)

.35
.30
.25
.20
.15
.10
.05
.00

P(X)

P(X), = 2

e x
P(X)
X!

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1
1
X
2003 by Prentice

1. Arrival Characteristics\continued
Behavior of the Arrival
Most queuing models assume that an arriving customer is a
patient customer.
Patient customers are people or machines that wait in the
queue until they are served and do not switch between lines.
Unfortunately, life and operations research are complicated
by the fact that people have been known to balk or renege.
Balking refers to customers who refuse to join the waiting
line because it is too long to suit their needs or interests.
Reneging customers are those who enter the queue but then
become impatient and leave without completing their
transaction.

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2. Waiting Line Characteristics

We will study the:

Length of the queue

Service priority/Queue discipline

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2. Waiting Line
Characteristics\continued
Length of the queue
The length of a line can be either limited or unlimited.
A queue is limited when it cannot increase to an infinite
length. This may be the case in a small restaurant that
has only 10 tables and can serve no more than 50 diners
an evening.
Analytic queuing models are treated in this chapter
under an assumption of unlimited queue length.

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2. Waiting Line
Characteristics\continued
Service priority/Queue discipline

1.
2.
3.
4.

Queue discipline refers to the rule by which customers in

the line are to receive service.
Customers may be served according to one of the next
disciplines:
first-in, first-out rule (FIFO)
priority discipline
last-come first-served (LCFS)
service in random order (SIRO)

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3. Service Facility Characteristics

It is important to examine two basic

properties:

1.
2.

the configuration of the service system

the pattern of service times

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3. Service Facility
Characteristics\continued
Basic Queuing System Configuration
Service systems are usually classified in terms of
number of channels and number of phases in service.

1. Number of channels
A single-channel system, with one server, is typified by
the drive-in bank that has only one open teller.
A multi-channel system, when the bank has several
tellers on duty and each customer waits in one common
line for the first available teller.

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3. Service Facility
Characteristics\continued
2. Number of phases in service
A single-phase system, in this case the customer receives
service from only one station and then exists the
system.
A multiphase system, for example, if the restaurant
require you to place your order at one station, pay at a
second, and pick up the food at a third service stop.

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Basic Queuing System

Configurations
Queue
Service
facility

Single Channel, Single Phase

Service Facility

Queue

Facility
1

Facility
2

Single Channel, Multi-Phase

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Basic Queuing System

Configurations
Service
facility 1

Queue

Service
facility 2
Service
facility 3

Multi-Channel,
Single Phase
Queue

Multi-Channel,
Multiphase Phase
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Type 1
Service
Facility

Type 2
Service
Facility

Type 1
Service
Facility

Type 2
Service
Facility

2003 by Prentice

3. Service Facility
Characteristics\continued
The Pattern of Service Times
Service patterns are like arrival patterns in that they
can be either constant or random.
If service time is constant, it takes the same amount of
time to take care of each customer. This is the case in a
machine-performed service operation such as an
automatic car wash.
More often, service times are randomly distributed. In
many cases it can be assumed that random service
times are described by the negative exponential
probability distribution.
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3. Service Facility
Characteristics\continued
The next figure illustrates that if service times follow an
exponential distribution, the probability of any very
long service time is low.
Probability
(for Intervals of 1 Minute)

f(x) e

for x 0, 0

Average Number Served Per Minute

Average Service Time of 20 Minutes

Average Service Time of 1 Hour

30

60

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90

120

150

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Identifying Models Using

Kendall Notation
D.G. Kendall developed a notation that has been widely
accepted for specifying the pattern of arrivals, the service time
distribution, and the number of channels in a queuing model.
The basic three-symbol Kendall notation is in the form:
Arrival distribution/ service time distribution/ number of service channels open

Where specific letters are used to represent probability

distributions. The following letters are commonly used in
Kendall notation:
M= Poisson distribution for number of occurrences (or
exponential times)
D= Constant (deterministic) rate
G= General distribution with mean and variance known
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Identifying Models Using

Kendall Notation\continued
Thus, a single channel model with Poisson arrivals and
exponential service times would be represented by
M/M/1
When a second channel is added, we would have
M/M/2
(An M/M/2 model has Poisson arrivals, exponential service
times, and two channels)
If there are m distinct service channels in the queuing
system with Poisson arrivals and exponential service, the
Kendall notation would be M/M/m.

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Identifying Models Using

Kendall Notation\continued
A three-channel system with Poisson arrivals and
constant service time would be identified as M/D/3.
A four channel system with Poisson arrivals and service
times that are normally distributed would be identified
as M/G/4.

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Single-Channel Queuing Model With

Poisson Arrivals And Exponential
Service Times (M/M/1)
Assumptions of the Model
The single-channel, single-phase model considered here
is one of the most widely used and simplest queuing
models. It involves assuming that seven conditions exist:
1. Arrivals are served on a FIFO basis.
2. Every arrival waits to be served regardless of the length
of the line; that is, there is, no balking or reneging.
3. Arrivals are independent of preceding arrivals, but the
average number of arrivals (the arrival rate) does not
change over time.
4. Arrivals are described by a Poisson probability
distribution and come from an infinite or very large

population.

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Single-Channel Queuing Model With

Poisson Arrivals And Exponential
Service Times (M/M/1)
5.
6.
7.

Service times also vary from one customer to the next

and are independent of one another, but their average
rate is known.
Service times occur according to the negative
exponential probability distribution.
The average service rate is greater than the average
arrival rate.

When these seven conditions are met, we can develop a

series of equations that define the queue's operating
characteristics.

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Single-Channel Queuing Model

With Poisson Arrivals And
Exponential Service Times (M/M/1)
Performance Measures of Queuing Systems:
Average time each customer spends in the queue
Average length of the queue
Average time each customer spends in the system
Average number of customers in the system
Probability that the service facility will be idle
Utilization factor for the system
Probability of a specific number of customers in
the system
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Single-Channel Queuing Model With

Poisson Arrivals And Exponential
Service Times (M/M/1)
Queuing Equations
We let
= means number of arrivals per time period (for example, per
hour)
= means number of people or items served per time period
When determining the arrival rate () and the service rate (), the
same time period must be used.

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Single-Channel Queuing Model With

Poisson Arrivals And Exponential
Service Times (M/M/1)
Queuing Equations
The queuing equations follow:

Average number in system, L

-

1
Average waiting time in system, W
-

2
Average number in queue, L q
-

Average waiting time in the queue, Wq

-
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Single-Channel Queuing Model With

Poisson Arrivals And Exponential
Service Times (M/M/1)
Queuing Equations
The queuing equations follow:

Utilization Factor,

(The utilization factor for the system, , that is, the probability that the
service facility is being used)

Percent Idle, P0 1

(The percent idle time, P0, that is, the probability that no one is in the system)

Pn k

To accompany

k 1

(The probability that the number of

customers in the system is greater than
K, Pn>k)

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Example: Arnold's Muffler

Shop Case
Arnold's mechanic, Reid Blank, is able to install new
mufflers at an average rate of 3 per hour, or about 1
every 20 minutes. Customers needing this service
arrive at the shop on the average of 2 per hour. Larry
Arnold, the shop owner, feels that all seven of the
conditions for a single-channel model are met. He
proceeds to calculate the performance measures of the
systems.
Solution:
= 2 cars arriving per hour
= 3 cars serviced per hour
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Example: Arnold's Muffler

Shop Case/solution

2
L

2 cars in the system on the average

- 3 2
1
1
W

1 hour that an average car spends in the system

- 32
2

4
Lq

1.33
- 3(3 2) 3

cars waiting on line on the average

2
2
Wq

- 3(3 2) 3

hour = 40 minutes = average waiting

time per car

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Example: Arnold's Muffler

Shop Case/solution

2
P0 1 1 0.33

= probability that there are 0 cars in the

system

Calculate the probability that more than three cars are in the system:

Pn k

k 1

To accompany

31

0.198

14-37

implies that there is a 19.8%

chance that more than three
cars are in the system.

2003 by Prentice

Introducing Costs into the

Model
As stated earlier, the solution to queuing problem may
require management to make trade-off between the increased
cost of providing better service and the decreased waiting
costs derived from providing that service. These two costs are
called the waiting cost and the service cost.
The total service cost is
total service cost = (number of channels) (cost per channel)
total service cost = mCs
where
m = number of channels
Cs = service cost (labor cost) of each channel
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Introducing Costs into the

Model\continued
The waiting cost when the waiting time cost is based on
time in the system is
total waiting cost = (total time spent waiting by all
arrivals) (cost of waiting)
= (number of arrivals) (average wait per arrival) Cw
So,
total waiting cost = (W)Cw
if waiting time cost is based on time in the queue, this
becomes
total waiting cost = (Wq)Cw
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Introducing Costs into the

Model\continued
The total costs of the queuing system:
Total cost = total service cost + total waiting cost

Total cost = mCs + (W)Cw

(waiting time is based on the time in

the system)

Total cost = mCs + (Wq)Cw

(waiting time is based on the time in

the queue)

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Example: Arnold's Muffler

Shop Case
Arnold estimates that the cost of customer waiting time, in
terms of customer dissatisfaction and lost goodwill, is $10 per
hour of time spent waiting in line.
Because on the average a car has a 2/3 hour wait and there
are approximately 16 cars serviced per day (2 per hour times
8 working hours per day), the total number of hours that
customers spend waiting for mufflers to be installed each day
is 2/3 *16=32/3 hours. Hence, in this case,
total daily waiting cost = (8 hours per day) WqCw = (8)(2)
(2/3)($10) = $106.67

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Example: Arnold's Muffler

Shop Case\continued
the only other cost that Larry Arnold can identify in this queuing
situation is the pay rate of Reid Blank, the mechanic Blank is
paid $7 per hour
total daily service cost = (8 hours per day) mCs = 8(1)($7)=$56
The total daily cost of the system as it is currently configured
is the total of the waiting cost and the service cost, which gives us
Total daily cost of the queuing system = $106.67 + $56 = $162.67

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Example: Arnold's Muffler

Shop Case
Now comes a decision. Arnold finds out through the muffler
business grapevine that the Rusty Muffler, a cross-town
competitor, employs a mechanic named Jimmy Smith who
can efficiently install new mufflers at the rate of 4 per hour.
Larry Arnold contacts Smith and inquires as to his interest
in switching employers. Smith says that he would consider
leaving the Rusty Muffler but only if he were paid a $9 per
hour salary.
Arnold, being a crafty businessman, decides that it may be
worthwhile to fire Blank and replace him with the speedier
but more expensive Smith.
He first recomputes all the operating characteristics using
new service rate of 4 mufflers per hour.
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Example: Arnold's Muffler

Shop Case/solution

2
L

1
- 42

cars in the system on the average

1
1
1
W

hour that an average car spends in the system

- 42 2
2

4 1
Lq

cars waiting on line on the average

- 4(4 2) 8 2
2

2
2 1
Wq

hour = 15 minutes = average waiting

- 4(4 2) 8 4 time per car
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Example: Arnold's Muffler

Shop Case/solution

P0 1 1 0.5 0.5 = probability that there are 0 cars in the

system
It is quite evident that Smith's speed will result in
considerably shorter queues and waiting times. For example, a
customer would now spend and average of 1/2 hour in the
system and 1/4 hour waiting in the queue, as opposed to 1 hour
in the system and 2/3 hour in the queue with Blank as
mechanic.

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Example: Arnold's Muffler

Shop Case\solution
The total daily waiting time cost with Smith as the mechanic will
be
total daily waiting cost = (8 hours per day) WqCw = (8)(2)(1/4)
($10)=$40 per day
service cost of Smith = 8 hours/day * $9/hour = $72 per day
total expected cost = waiting cost + service cost = $40 + $72 =
$112 per day
Because the total daily expected cost with Blank as mechanic
was $162, Arnold may very well decide to hire Smith and reduce
costs by $162-$112=$50 per day.
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Multiple-Channel Queuing Model

With Poisson Arrivals And
Exponential Service Times (M/M/m)
In this case two or more servers or channels are available
to handle arriving customers.
An example of such a multichannel, single-phase waiting
line is found in many banks today. A common line is
formed and the customer at the head of the line proceeds
to the first free teller.
The multiple-channel system presented here again assumes
that arrivals follow a Poisson probability distribution and
that service times are distributed exponentially.
Service is first come, first served, and all servers are
assumed to perform at the same rate.
Other assumptions listed earlier for the single-channel
model apply as well.
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Multiple-Channel Queuing Model

With Poisson Arrivals And
Exponential Service Times (M/M/m)
Equations for the Multichannel Queuing Model
If we let

m = number of channel open

= average arrival rate

= average service rate at each channel

The following formulas may be used in the waiting line
analysis.
1. The probability that there are zero customers or units
in the system:
1

P0

n M 1

n 0

To accompany

n!

m!
n

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m
m

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Multiple-Channel Queuing Model

With Poisson Arrivals And
Exponential Service Times (M/M/m)
2. The average number of customers or units in the system:
M

L
P

M 1! M 2 0
3.

4.

The average time a unit spends in the waiting line or being

serviced (in the system):

L
W

The average number of customers or units in line waiting for

service

Lq L

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Multiple-Channel Queuing Model

With Poisson Arrivals And
Exponential Service Times (M/M/m)
5.

The average time a customer or unit spends in the queue

waiting for service

1 Lq
Wq W

5.

Utilization factor

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Arnolds Muffler Shop

Example (multichannel)
Suppose that Arnold opened a second garage bay in which
mufflers can be installed. Instead of firing his first
mechanic, Blank, he would hire a second worker. The new
mechanic would be expected to install mufflers at the same
rate as Blank- about = 3 per hour. Customers, who would
still arrive at the rate of = 2 per hour, would wait in a
single line until one of the two mechanics is free.
To find out how this option compares with the old single
channel waiting line system, Arnold computes several
operating characteristics for the m=2 channel system

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Arnolds Muffler Shop Example

(multichannel)/solution
P0

1 2
1 2

2! 3
n 0 n! 3
n

n 1

2(3) 2

2(3)
2(3) 2

0. 5

2
L
(0.5) 0.75
2
3
1! 2(3) 2

0.75
W
22.5 minutes
2

Wq

0.083
2

0.0415 hour

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2
L q 0.75 0.083
3
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Arnolds Muffler Shop Example

(multichannel)/solution
To complete his economic analysis, Arnold assumes that the
second mechanic would be paid the same as the current one,
Blank, namely, $7 per hour. The daily waiting cost now will be
total daily waiting cost = (8 hours) WqCw
=(8)(2)(0.0415)($10)= $6.64
total daily service cost = (8hours)mCs= (8)(2)($7)=$112
Total daily cost of the queuing system = $6.64 + $112= $118.64

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Effect of service level on Arnolds

Operating Characteristics
Level of Service
Operating
characteristics

One mechanic
(Blank)=3

Two
mechanics
=3 for each

One
mechanic
(Smith)=4

P0
L
W
Lq
Wq

0.33
2 cars
60 minutes
1.33 cars
40 minutes

0.50
0.75 car
22.5 min.
0.083 car
2.5 min.

0.50
1 car
30 min.
0.50
15 min.

$162

$118.64

$112

Total costs
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Constant Service Time Model

(M/D/1)
Some service systems have constant service times
instead of exponentially distributed times.
When customers or equipment are processed according
to a fixed cycle, as in the case of an automatic car wash,
constant service rates are appropriate.
Because constant rates are certain, the values for Lq,
Wq, L, and W are always less than they would be in the
models we have just discussed, which have variable
service times.

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Constant Service Time Model

(M/D/1)
Equations for the Constant Service Time Model

2
Lq
2

Wq
2

L Lq

1
W Wq

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Constant service model

(Grocia-Golding Recycling Example)
GGR collects and compacts aluminum cans and glass
bottles in New York city. Their truck drivers, who
arrive to unload these materials for recycling, currently
wait an average of 15 minutes before emptying their
loads. The cost while waiting in queue is $ 60 /hr.
A new automated compactor can be purchased that will
process truck loads at a constant rate of 12 trucks / hr.
Trucks arrive according to a Poisson dist. at an average
rate of 8 /hr. If the new compactor is put in use, its cost
will be amortized at a rate of $3 /truck unloaded.
Evaluate the costs versus benefits of the purchase.

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Constant service model

(Grocia-Golding Recycling
Example)/solution
Current waiting cost/trip=(1/4 hour waiting now)($60/hour cost)
= $15/trip
New system: = 8 trucks/hour arriving
= 12 trucks/hour served

Wq

8
1

hr
2 ( ) 2(12)(12 8) 12

Waiting cost/trip with new compactor= (1/12 hr wait) ($ 60/hr

cost) = $ 5/trip
Savings with new equipment = $ 15 (current) - $ 5 (new
system) = $ 10/trip
Cost of new equipment amortized =$ 3/trip
Net savings = $ 10 - $ 3 =$ 7/trip
To accompany

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Finite Population Model

(M/M/1 with finite source)
When there is a limited population of potential customers
for a service facility, we need to consider a different
queuing model.
The limited population model permits any number of
servers to be considered.
The reason this model differs from the three earlier
queuing models is that there is now a dependent
relationship between the length of the queue and the arrival
rate.
To illustrate the extreme situation, if your factory had five
machines and all were broken and awaiting repair, the
arrival rate would drop to zero.
In general, as the waiting line becomes longer in the limited
population model, the arrival rate of customers or
machines drops lower.

To accompany

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Finite Population Model

(M/M/1 with finite source)

1.
2.
3.
4.

In this case, we describe a finite calling population

model that has the following assumptions:
There is only one server
The population of units seeking service is finite
Arrivals follow a Poisson distribution, and service
times are exponentially distributed.
Customers are served on a first-comes, first-served
basis.

To accompany

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Finite Population Model

(M/M/1 with finite source)
Equations for the Finite Population Model
using

= mean arrival rate, = mean service rate, N= size of the population

P0

1
N!

n 0 ( N n )!
N

Lq N
1 P0

L Lq 1 P0
To accompany

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Finite Population Model

(M/M/1 with finite source)
Wq

Lq

N L

1
W Wq

N!
P0
P(n, n N) Pn
N n !
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Finite Population model

(Department of Commerce Example)
Past records indicate that each of the five high-speed page
printers at the U.S. Department of commerce, in Washington,
needs repair after about 20 hours of use. Breakdowns have
been determined to be Poisson distributed. The one
technician on duty can service a printer in average of 2
hours, following an exponential dist.
To compute the systems operation characteristics we first
note that the mean arrival rate is = 1/20=0.05 printer/hour.
The mean service rate is = =0.50 printer/hour. Then:
P0

1
N!

n 0 ( N n)!
N

To accompany

1
5

5!
0.05 n
(
)

n 0 (5 n)! 0.5

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Finite Population model

(Department of Commerce Example)
0.05 0.5

Lq N
)(1 0.564) 0.2 prin.
1 P0 5 (
0.05

L Lq 1 P0 0.2 (1 0.564) 0.64 prin.

Lq

0.2
Wq

0.91hr
N L (5 0.64)(0.05)

1
1
W Wq 0.91
2.91hr

0.5
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Finite Population model

(Department of Commerce Example)
If printer downtime costs $ 120/hr and the technician is
paid $ 25/hr:
Total hurly cost = (average number of printers down)
(cost per downtime hour) + cost / technician hr
=(0.64)($ 120) + $25= $ 101.8

To accompany

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