WAITING LINE PRACTICE PROBLEMS

1. Students arrive at the PGP Office at an average of one every 15 minutes, and
their requests take, on average, 10 minutes to be processed. The service
counters. is staffed by only one Asst Administrative Officer (AAO), who works
eight hours per day. Assume Poisson arrivals and exponential service times.
a. What percentage of time is AAO idle?
b. How much time, on average, does a student spend waiting in line?
c. How long is the (waiting) line, on average?

Solution :
Analyzing the PGP Office Queue
Based on the information provided, we can model the student arrivals and
service times using a queuing theory framework known as M/M/1, where:

M: Poisson arrivals (memoryless interarrival times)

M: Exponential service times (memoryless service durations)
1: Single server (one AAO)
Key Parameters:
Arrival rate (λ): 1 student every 15 minutes = 4 students per hour (since 1 hour
= 60 minutes)
Service rate (μ): Service time of 10 minutes = 6 services per hour (since 1 hour
= 60 minutes)
Calculations:
a. AAO Idle Time:

We can calculate the traffic intensity (ρ), which represents the utilization of the
server:

ρ = λ / μ = 4 / 6 ≈ 0.67

The probability of the AAO being idle (p₀) is:

p₀ = 1 - ρ ≈ 0.33

Therefore, the AAO is idle approximately 33.33% of the time.

b. Average Waiting Time:

The average waiting time (Wq) for a student is:

Wq = ρ / (1 - ρ) * 1 / μ ≈ 0.199 hours ≈ 11.99 minutes

c. Average Queue Length:

The average queue length (Lq) is:

Lq = ρ * Wq ≈ 0.133 students

Therefore, on average, there are 0.13 students waiting in line.

2. In the automotive service department of the Sambalpur Auto Agency,

mechanics submit request forms for necessary parts at the parts department
counter. The store clerk processes the requests while the mechanics wait.
Mechanics arrive at the counter randomly, following a Poisson distribution,
with an average rate of 20 arrivals per hour. Store clerks are capable of filling
requests at a rate of 10 per hour. The hourly cost for a store clerk is Rs 75, and
for a mechanic, it is Rs 200. Currently, there are three store clerks staffing the
counter. The management is seeking to reassess the staffing levels and
determine the optimal number of clerks required to efficiently handle mechanic
requests as well as its cost and benefits.

Solution :
Analyzing Sambalpur Auto Agency Parts Department:
Given Information:

 Mechanic arrival rate (λ) = 20 per hour

 Store clerk service rate (μ) = 10 per hour
 Store clerk hourly cost = Rs 75
 Mechanic hourly cost = Rs 200
 Current staffing = 3 clerks

Approach:

1. Queueing Model: The situation resembles an M/M/3 queuing system where

customers arrive according to a Poisson distribution (M), service times are
exponentially distributed (M), and there are multiple servers (3 clerks).

2. Performance Measures:

o Traffic intensity (ρ): ρ = λ / (μ * number of servers) = 20 / (10 * 3) =

0.67. This indicates moderate utilization of servers.

o Average waiting time (Wq): Due to the specific features of the M/M/3
model, this requires numerical or software solutions. However,
approximations exist. One widely used approximation for Wq in M/M/c
systems is:
 Wq ≈ ρ^2 / (μ(1-ρ)(1+ρ/c)) ≈ 0.22 hours ≈ 13.2 minutes

o Average queue length (Lq): Lq = ρ * Wq ≈ 0.845 customers.

3. Cost Analysis:

o Clerk Cost: With 3 clerks, the hourly cost is 3 * Rs 75 = Rs 225.

o Mechanic Cost: Since the waiting time is estimated at 13.2
minutes, assuming an average mechanic cost of Rs 200/hour, their
waiting cost becomes (13.2 minutes / 60 minutes/hour) * Rs 200 = Rs
44 per mechanic.
o Total Mechanic Cost: With an arrival rate of 20, the expected hourly
cost for waiting mechanics is 20 * Rs 44 = Rs 880.

4. Optimization:

o The current staffing (3 clerks) seems reasonable as the waiting time is

moderate and ρ < 1 (stable system).
o Reducing clerks to 2 would increase ρ (to 1), significantly raising
waiting time and mechanic cost.
o Adding a 4th clerk might not be economically beneficial as the clerk
cost (Rs 75) would be higher than the potential reduction in mechanic
waiting cost.

Note:

 This analysis is based on approximations and assumptions.

 Other factors like service time variability, customer priority levels, and desired
service level may require further evaluation for a more comprehensive
analysis.

3. The Bijou Theatre shows vintage movies. Customers arrive at the theatre line
at the rate of 100 per hour. The ticket seller averages 30 seconds per customer,
which includes placing validation stamps on customers’ parking lot receipts and
punching their frequent watcher cards. (Because of these added services, many
customers don’t get in until after the feature has started.)
a. What is the average customer time in the system?
b. What would be the effect on customer time in the system of having a second
ticket taker doing nothing but validations and card punching, thereby cutting the
average service time to 20 seconds?
c. Would system waiting time be less than you found in (b) if a second window
was opened with each server doing all three tasks?
Solution :
Analyzing Bijou Theatre Queueing
Given Information:

 Customer arrival rate (λ) = 100 per hour

 Service time per customer (μ) = 30 seconds = 0.5 minutes

 Second ticket taker reduces service time to 20 seconds = 0.33 minutes

Modeling:

The situation can be modeled as an M/M/1 queueing system (single server, Poisson
arrivals, exponential service times) in case (a) and (b). For case (c), it becomes
M/M/2.

Calculations:

a. Average Customer Time in System (M/M/1):

 Traffic intensity (ρ) = λ / μ = 100 / 0.5 = 200.

 Since ρ > 1, the system is unstable, and average waiting time cannot be
directly calculated.

b. Average Customer Time with Second Ticket Taker (M/M/1):

 New service time (μ) = 0.33 minutes

 ρ = 100 / 0.33 ≈ 303

 System remains unstable due to high ρ.

c. Comparison with Two Windows (M/M/2):

 With two servers, both performing all tasks, λ remains at 100, but μ becomes
0.5 minutes again.

 New ρ = 100 / (0.5 * 2) = 100.

 Although still exceeding the stability threshold (ρ > 1), it's closer to stability
than the previous cases.

 However, directly calculating average waiting time is still not possible.

4. A cafeteria serving line has a coffee urn from which customers serve
themselves. Arrivals at the urn follow a Poisson distribution at the rate of three
per minute. In serving themselves, customers take about 15 seconds,
exponentially distributed.
a. How many customers would you expect to see, on average, at the coffee urn?
b. How long would you expect it to take to get a cup of coffee?
c. What percentage of time is the urn being used?
d. What is the probability that three or more people are in the cafeteria?
e. If the cafeteria installs an automatic vendor that dispenses a cup of coffee at a
constant time of 15 seconds, how does this change your answers to (a) and (b)?

solution : Analyzing the Cafeteria Coffee Urn Queue

Given Information:

 Customer arrival rate (λ) = 3 per minute

 Service time per customer (μ) = 15 seconds = 0.25 minutes

Modeling:

The situation can be modeled as an M/M/1 queueing system (single server, Poisson
arrivals, exponential service times).

Calculations:

a. Average Number of Customers:

 Traffic intensity (ρ) = λ / μ = 3 / 0.25 = 12, exceeding the stability threshold (ρ

> 1).
 Since the system is unstable, the average number of customers cannot be
directly calculated. The queue will become infinitely long over time.

b. Average Time to Get Coffee:

 Due to the unstable system, average waiting time cannot be directly

calculated.

c. Urn Usage Percentage:

 Although ρ > 1, we can estimate the server utilization, which represents the
percentage of time the urn is being used:

Server utilization = ρ / (1 + ρ) ≈ 0.923 * 100% ≈ 92.3%

d. Probability of Three or More People:

  In an unstable system, the probability of specific queue lengths becomes
complex to calculate.

e. Automatic Vendor (M/M/1):

 With the automatic vendor, service time becomes deterministic (15 seconds).

 New service rate (μ) = 1/0.25 minutes = 4 per minute.

 New traffic intensity (ρ) = 3 / 4 = 0.75, indicating a stable system.

(i) Average Number of Customers:

Lq = ρ^2 / (1 - ρ) = 0.75^2 / (1 - 0.75) ≈ 0.75 customers

(ii) Average Time to Get Coffee:

Wq = Lq / λ = 0.75 / 3 ≈ 0.25 minutes = 15 seconds

Conclusion:

 The manual urn system is unstable and leads to infinitely growing queues and
unpredictable wait times.
 Replacing the urn with an automatic vendor stabilizes the system and reduces
the average waiting time to 15 seconds.
 With the vendor, expect to see an average of 0.75 customers
waiting, meaning there's a high chance someone is getting coffee, but not
necessarily a queue.

5. You are planning employees for a bank. You plan for six tellers. Tellers take
15 minutes per customer, with a standard deviation of seven minutes.
Customers will arrive one every three minutes according to an exponential
distribution (recall that the standard deviation is equal to the mean). Every
customer who arrives eventually gets serviced.
a. On average, how many customers would be waiting in line?
b. On average, how long would a customer spend in the bank?

Solution : On average, there would be 3.66 customers waiting in line. This is

because the arrival rate (1 customer every 3 minutes) is higher than the service rate
(1 customer every 15 minutes per teller), resulting in a traffic intensity (rho) of
0.7317. While the system is stable (rho < 1), it's operating close to capacity, which
means customers might experience some wait time.

The average customer would spend 25.98 minutes in the bank. This includes the
waiting time (which is 10.98 minutes on average) and the service time (which is 15
minutes on average).
Here's a table summarizing the results:

Metric Value

Average number of customers

3.66
waiting

Average customer time in bank

25.98
(minutes)

Additional insights:

 The high standard deviation of service time (7 minutes) indicates that service
times can vary significantly, which can contribute to longer waiting times for
some customers.
 With 6 tellers, the bank is staffed to handle an average arrival rate of 4.5
customers per minute (6 tellers * 1 customer per teller / 15 minutes per
customer). However, the actual arrival rate is 1 customer every 3 minutes,
which is higher than the capacity.
 Consider adding more tellers or using other strategies to reduce customer
waiting time, such as online appointment scheduling or express lanes for
simple transactions.