Quantitative Methods for Decision Making

Waiting Lines and Queuing

Theory Models
Learning Objectives (1 of 2)

After completing this chapter, students will be able to:

12.1 Describe the trade-off curves for cost-of-waiting time
and cost of service.
12.2 Describe the basic queuing system configurations and
the three parts of a queuing system: the calling
population, the queue itself, and the service facility.
12.3 Analyze a variety of operating characteristics of waiting
lines for single-channel models with exponential service
times and infinite calling populations.
Learning Objectives (2 of 2)

After completing this chapter, students will be able to:

12.5 Analyze a variety of operating characteristics of waiting
lines for single-channel models with deterministic
service times and infinite calling populations.
12.6 Analyze a variety of operating characteristics of waiting
lines for single-channel models with exponential service
times and finite calling populations.
Introduction
• Queuing theory is the study of waiting lines
– One of the oldest and most widely used quantitative
analysis techniques
• The three basic components of a queuing process
– Arrivals
– Service facilities
– The actual waiting line
• Analytical models of waiting lines can help managers
evaluate the cost and effectiveness of service systems
Waiting Line Costs (1 of 2)
• Most waiting line problems are focused on finding the ideal
level of service a firm should provide
• Generally service level is something management can control
• Often try to find the balance between two extremes
– A large staff and many service facilities
▪ High levels of service but high costs
– The minimum number of service facilities
▪ Service cost is lower but may result in dissatisfied
customers
• Service facilities are evaluated on their total expected cost
which is the sum of service costs and waiting costs
– Find the service level that minimizes the total expected cost
Waiting Line Costs (2 of 2)
Figure 12.1 Queuing Costs and Service Levels
Three Rivers Shipping Company (1 of 2)
• Three Rivers Shipping operates a docking facility at the
Tema Harbour
– An average of 5 ships arrive to unload their cargos
each shift
– Idle ships are expensive
– More staff can be hired to unload the ships, but that is
expensive as well
• Three Rivers Shipping Company wants to determine the
optimal number of teams of stevedores to employ each
shift to obtain the minimum total expected cost
Three Rivers Shipping Company (2 of 2)
Table 12.1 Three Rivers Shipping Company Waiting Line Cost
Analysis
NUMBER OF TEAMS OF STEVEDORES WORKING
Characteristics of a Queuing System
(1 of 10)
• There are three parts to a queuing system
1. Arrivals or inputs to the system (sometimes referred
to as the calling population)
2. The queue or waiting line itself
3. The service facility
• These components have certain characteristics that must
be examined before mathematical queuing models can be
developed
Characteristics of a Queuing System
(2 of 10)
• Arrival Characteristics have three major characteristics
– Size of the calling population
▪ Unlimited (essentially infinite) or limited (finite)
– Pattern of arrivals
▪ Arrive according to a known pattern or can arrive
randomly
▪ Random arrivals generally follow a Poisson
distribution
Characteristics of a Queuing System
(3 of 10)
• Arrival Characteristics have three major characteristics
– Behavior of arrivals
▪ Most queuing models assume customers are
patient and will wait in the queue until they are
served and do not switch lines
▪ Balking refers to customers who refuse to join the
queue
▪ Reneging customers enter the queue but become
impatient and leave without receiving their service
Characteristics of a Queuing System
(4 of 10)
• Waiting Line Characteristics
– Can be either limited or unlimited
– Queue discipline refers to the rule by which
customers in the line receive service
– Most common rule is first-in, first-out (F I F O)
– Other rules can be applied to select which customers
enter which queue, but may apply F I F O once they are
in the queue
Characteristics of a Queuing System
(5 of 10)
• Service Facility Characteristics
1. Configuration of the queuing system
▪ Single-channel system
– One server
▪ Multichannel systems
– Multiple servers fed by one common waiting line
Characteristics of a Queuing System
(6 of 10)
• Service Facility Characteristics
2. Pattern of service times
▪ Single-phase system
– Customer receives service form just one server
▪ Multiphase system
– Customer goes through more than one server
Characteristics of a Queuing System
(7 of 10)
Figure 12.2 Four Basic Queuing System Configurations
Characteristics of a Queuing System
(8 of 10)
Figure 12.2 Four Basic Queuing System Configurations
Characteristics of a Queuing System
(9 of 10)
Figure 12.2 Four Basic Queuing System Configurations
Characteristics of a Queuing System
(10 of 10)
• Service Time Distribution
– Service patterns can be either constant or random
– Constant service times are often machine controlled
– Generally service times are randomly distributed
according to a negative exponential probability
distribution
– Analysts should observe, collect, and plot service time
data to ensure that the observations fit the assumed
distributions when applying these models
Identifying Models Using Kendall
Notation (1 of 2)
• for notation for queuing models that specifies the pattern of
arrival, the service time distribution, and the number of
channels
• Basic three-symbol Kendall notation has the m

Arrival Service time Number of service

distribution distribution channels open

• Specific letters used to represent probability distributions

M = Poisson distribution for number of occurrences
D = constant  deterministic  rate
G = general distribution with mean and variance known
Identifying Models Using Kendall
Notation (2 of 2)
• A single-channel model with Poisson arrivals and
exponential service times would be represented by
M / M /1
• When a second channel is added
M /M /2
A three-channel system with Poisson arrivals and constant
service time would be
M /D/3
• A four-channel system with Poisson arrivals and normally
distributed service times would be
M /G / 4
Single-Channel Model, Poisson
Arrivals and Exponential Service
Times (M /M /1) (1 of 6)
Left parenthesis, M slash M slash 1, right parenthesis.

• Assumptions of the model

1. Arrivals are served on a FIF O basis

2. There is no balking or reneging
3. Arrivals are independent of each other but the arrival rate is
constant over time
4. Arrivals follow a Poisson distribution
5. Service times are variable and independent but the average is
known
6. Service times follow a negative exponential distribution
7. Average service rate is greater than the average arrival rate
Single-Channel Model, Poisson
Arrivals and Exponential Service
Times (M /M /1) (2 of 6)
Left parenthesis, M slash M slash 1, right parenthesis.

• When these assumptions are met, we can develop a

series of equations that define the queue’s operating
characteristics
Single-Channel Model, Poisson
Arrivals and Exponential Service
Times (M /M /1) (3 of 6)
Left parenthesis, M slash M slash 1, right parenthesis.

• Queuing Equations

Let
λ = mean number of arrivals per time period
μ = mean number of customers or units
served per time period
• The same time period must be used for the arrival rate
and service rate
Single-Channel Model, Poisson
Arrivals and Exponential Service
Times (M /M /1) (4 of 6)
Left parenthesis, M slash M slash 1, right parenthesis.

1. The average number of customers or units in the system, L


L
 
2. The average time a customer spends in the system, W
1
W 
 
3. The average number of customers in the queue, Lq
2
Lq 
(   )
Single-Channel Model, Poisson
Arrivals and Exponential Service
Times (M /M /1) (5 of 6)
Left parenthesis, M slash M slash 1, right parenthesis.

4. The average time a customer spends waiting in the

queue, Wq

Wq 
(   )
5. The utilization factor for the system,  , the probability
the service facility is being used



Single-Channel Model, Poisson
Arrivals and Exponential Service
Times (M /M /1) (6 of 6)
Left parenthesis, M slash M slash 1, right parenthesis.

6. The percent idle time, P0 , or the probability no one is in

the system

P0  1 


7. The probability that the number of customers in the

system is greater than k, Pn>k
k 1

Pn>k  

Amin’s Muffler Shop (1 of 12)
• Amin’s mechanic can install mufflers at a rate of 3 per
hour
– Customers arrive at a rate of 2 per hour
So
  2 cars arriving per hour
  3 cars serviced per hour

 2 2
L   = 2 cars in the system on average
  3–2 1

1 1
W   = 1 hour that an average car spends in
  3 – 2 the system
Amin’s Muffler Shop(2 of 12)

2 22 4
Lq    = 1.33 cars waiting in line on
 (    ) 3(3 – 2) 3(1) average

 2
Wq   hour = 40 minutes average waiting
(   ) 3
time per car
 2
    0.67 = percentage of time
 3 mechanic is busy
 2
P0  1   1 –  0.33 = probability that there are 0
 3
cars in the system
Amin’s Muffler Shop(3 of 12)
• Probability of more than k cars in the system
Amin’s Muffler Shop(4 of 12)
• Introducing costs into the model
– Arnold wants to do an economic analysis of the
queuing system and determine the waiting cost and
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
Amin’s Muffler Shop(5 of 12)
– Waiting cost when the cost is based on time in the system
Total waiting cost = (Total time spent waiting by all arrivals) ×
(Cost of waiting)
= (Number of arrivals) × (Average wait per
arrival) Cw

Total waiting cost = ( λW )CW

– If waiting time cost is based on time in the queue

Total waiting cost = ( λWq )CW

Amin’s Muffler Shop(6 of 12)
• So the total cost of the queuing system when based on
time in the system is
Total cost = Total service cost + Total waiting cost
Total cost = mCs + λWCw
– And when based on time in the queue
Total cost = mCs + λWqCw
Amin’s Muffler Shop(7 of 12)
• Arnold estimates the cost of customer waiting time in line
is $50 per hour
Total daily waiting cost = 8 hours per day  λWqCw
2
= 8  2    $50  = $533.33 / day
3
• The mechanic’s wage is $15 per hour
Total daily service cost = 8 hours per day  mCs
= 8 1$15  = $120 / day
• Total cost of the system is
Total daily cost of the queuing system = $533.33 + $120
= $653.33
Amin’s Muffler Shop (8 of 12)
• Arnold is thinking about hiring a different mechanic who
can install mufflers at a faster rate
– The new operating characteristics would be
 = 2 cars arriving per hour
μ = 4 cars serviced per hour

 2 2
L    1 car in the system on the average
  4–2 2
1 1  1/2 hour that an average car spends in the system
W  
  4 – 2
Amin’s Muffler Shop (9 of 12)
2 22 4
Lq     1/ 2 car waiting in line on the average
 (    ) 4(4 – 2) 8(1)
 1
Wq   hour  15 minutes average waiting time per car
(   ) 4
 2  percentage of time mechanic is busy
   0.5
 4

 2
P0  1   1 –  0.5  probability that there are 0 cars in
 4
the system
Amin’s Muffler Shop (10 of 12)
–Probability of more than k cars in the system

Pn >k =  2 4 
k +1
k P sub n greater than k equals, left parenthesis, 2 over 4, right parenthesis, super k plus 1.

0 0.500
1 0.250
2 0.125
3 0.062
4 0.031
5 0.016
6 0.008
7 0.004
Amin’s Muffler Shop (11 of 12)
– The customer waiting cost is the same $50 per hour
Total daily waiting cost = 8 hours per day  w qCw

 4  $50  = $200.00 / day

= 8  2  1

– The new mechanic is more expensive at $20 per hour:

Total daily service cost = 8 hours per day  mCs
= 8 1$20  = $160 / day

– So the total cost of the system is:

Total daily cost of the queuing system = $200 +$160 = $360
Amin’s Muffler Shop (12 of 12)
– The total time spent waiting for the 16 customers per day
was formerly
16 cars per day  × 2/3 hour per car  = 10.67 hours
– It is now
16 cars per day  × 1/4 hour per car  = 4 hours
– The total daily system costs are less with the new
mechanic resulting in significant savings
$653.33  $360 = $293.33
Enhancing the Queuing Environment
• Reducing waiting time is not the only way to reduce
waiting cost
• Reducing the unit waiting cost (CW ) will also reduce total
waiting cost
• This might be less expensive to achieve than reducing
either W or Wq
Constant Service Time Model (M /D /1) Left parenthesis, M slash D slash 1, right parenthesis.

(1 of 3)
• Constant service times are used when customers or units
are processed according to a fixed cycle
• The values for Lq ,Wq , L, and W are always less than they
would be for models with variable service time
– Both average queue length and average waiting time
are halved in constant service rate models
Constant Service Time Model (M /D /1) Left parenthesis, M slash D slash 1, right parenthesis.

(2 of 3)

• Equations for the Constant Service Time Model

1. Average length of the queue

2
Lq 
2 (    )

2. Average waiting time in the queue


Wq 
2 (    )
Constant Service Time Model (M /D /1) Left parenthesis, M slash D slash 1, right parenthesis.

(3 of 3)

3. Average number of customers in the system


L  Lq 


4. Average time in the system

1
W  Wq 

Garcia-Golding Recycling, Inc. (1 of 2)
• The company collects and compacts aluminum cans and
glass bottles
• Trucks arrive at an average rate of 8 per hour (Poisson
distribution)
• Truck drivers wait about 15 minutes before they empty
their load
• Drivers and trucks cost $60 per hour
• A new automated machine can process truckloads at a
constant rate of 12 per hour
• A new compactor would be amortized at $3 per truck
unloaded
Garcia-Golding Recycling, Inc. (2 of 2)
• Analysis of cost versus benefit of the purchase
Current waiting cost/trip = (¼ hour waiting time) $60/hour cost 
= $15/trip
New system:  = 8 trucks/hour arriving
 = 12 trucks/hour served
Average waiting time
in queue = Wq = 1
12 hour
Waiting cost/trip with
new compactor = ( 112 hour wait) $60/hour cost  = $5/trip
Savings with new
equipment = $15 current system   $5 new system 
= $10 per trip
Cost of new equipment
amortized = $3/trip
Net savings = $7/trip