Queuing (Waiting Line) Models

Examples of a Queue
Patients waiting at the doctors clinic
Customers waiting at booking windows.
Letters to be typed at a typists desk.
Ships to be loaded or unloaded.
T.V. sets to be repaired at the repairers shop.
Phone calls arriving at the operators board.
Waiting Line Examples
Situation Arrivals Servers Service Process
Bank Customer Teller Deposit, etc.
Doctors Clinic Patient Doctor Treatment
Traffic
Intersection
Cars Light Controlled
Passage
Assembly Line Parts Workers Assembly
Tool crib Workers Clerks Check out / in
tools
FACT !!
Thus, queues not only
comprise of people but
also of goods.
Components of a Queuing System
P
o
p
u
l
a
t
i
o
n
Arrival
Process
Balk
Renege
Jockey
Queue
Discipline
Balking: Customer decides not to enter the waiting line.
Reneging: Customer enters the line but decides to exit before being served.
Jockeying: Customer enters one line and then switches to a different line in an effort to reduce
the waiting time.
Queuing System:
Performance Measures
1. Time related questions for the customers
a) What is the average (or expected) time an arriving customer has to wait in a queue before
being served.
b) What is the average (or expected) time an arriving customer spends in the system, including
waiting and service.
2. Quantitative questions related tot the no. of customers
a) The expected no. of customers who are in queue (queue length) for service.
b) The expected no. of customers who are in the system either waiting in the queue or being
serviced.
3. Questions involving value of time both for customers and servers
a) What is the probability that an arriving customer has to wait before being served?
b) What is the probability that a server is busy at any particular point in time?
c) What is the probability of n customers being in the queuing system when it is in steady
state condition?
d) What is the probability of service denial when an arriving customer cannot enter the system
because the queue is full?
4. Cost related questions
a) What is the average cost needed to operate the system per unit of time?
b) How many servers (service centres) are needed to achieve cost effectiveness?
Cost Relationship in Waiting Line
Analysis
E
x
p
e
c
t
e
d

c
o
s
t
s

Level of service
Total cost
Service cost
Waiting Costs
Suggestions for Managing Queues
1. Determine an acceptable waiting time for your customers.
2. Try to divert your customers attention when waiting.
3. Inform your customers of what to expect.
4. Keep employees not serving the customers out of sight.
5. Segment customers.
6. Train your servers to be friendly.
7. Encourage customers to come during the slack periods, will also
help in slackening the load.
8. Take a long-term perspective toward getting rid of the queues.
Develop plans for alternative ways to serve your customers.
Where appropriate, develop plans for automating or speeding up
the process in some manner. This is not to say you want to
eliminate personal attention; some customers expect this.
Terminologies used
Service Station
Unit being serviced
Units in Q
Units in
the system
Arrivals
Waiting Line Terminology
Queue: Waiting line
Arrival: A person, machine, part, etc. that
arrives and demands service
Queue discipline: Rules for determining the
order according to which that arrivals receive
service
Channel: Number of servers
Phase: Number of steps in service
Input
source
Service
facility
Waiting
line
Service system
1995 Corel Corp.
Line is
too long!
Balking
Reneging
Input
source
Service
facility
Waiting
line
Service system
1995 Corel Corp.
I give up!
Behavior of the arrivals
join the queue, and wait
until served
No balking; refusal to
join the line
No reneging; leaving the
line
Service
Facility
Waiting Line
+Pattern of arrivals
+random
+scheduled
Arrival Characteristics of a
Waiting Line System
Line Characteristics of a
Waiting Line System - continued
+Length of the
queue
+ limited
+ unlimited
+ Service priority
+ FIFO
+ LIFO
+SIRO
+Priority based
+Pre-emptive &
+non pre-emptive
+etc.
Service
Facility
Waiting Line
SIRO = Service in Random Order
Arrival Rate
Constant or Periodic
Ex. Intermediate Output of a production process.
Variable or Random
Customers arriving at a railway ticket counter.
Assumption:
the number of arrivals per time unit is Poisson
distributed, i.e., it follows an exponential pattern.

Where is the mean no. of arrivals per time
period.





Probability of n arrivals during time period is
given by:
Example: if the mean arrival rate of units into a
system is three per minute ( = 3) and we want to
find the probability that exactly five units will arrive
within a one-minute period (n = 5, T = 1), we have



That is, there is a 10.1 percent chance that there will
be five arrivals in any one-minute interval.

Waiting Line Models
Properties of some specific
Waiting Line models

Deterministic Waiting Line Models
Arrival rate = , customers arriving per unit time
Service rate = , customers per unit time
If > ,
1. Queue formation.
2. Indefinite Lengthening of queue.
3. Service facility would always be busy.
4. Service system eventually fails.

If < ,
1. No waiting time
2. Proportion of time the service facility would be idle = ( - )/ = 1 - /

The ratio, / = is called the average utilisation, or traffic intensity, or clearing
ratio
1. If > 1, the system would ultimately fail
2. If s 1, the system works and is the proportion of time it is busy.
Average utilisation of the server =
Average length of the system, L
S
=
L
S
= Arrival rate / time difference of ( - )


Average no. in the waiting line, L
Q
=
L
Q
= * L
S



=

( - )
L
S
=

2
( - )
L
Q
=
Average Waiting time in the system, W
S
= L
S
/

Average Waiting time in the Queue, W
Q
= L
Q
/
= * W
S

the probability that n customers are in the service system
at a given time = P
n
= (1 - )
n


Note: Before using the above formulas, make sure that
> , ie., Service rate is greater than Arrival rate.

1
( - )
=
Example Problem 1
Western National Bank is considering opening a drive-through window for
customer service. Management estimates that customers will arrive at the
rate of 15 per hour. The teller who will staff the window can service
customers at the rate of one every three minutes.
Part 1
Assuming Poisson arrivals and exponential service, find
1. Utilization of the teller.
2. Average number in the waiting line.
3. Average number in the system.
4. Average waiting time in line.
5. Average waiting time in the system, including service.
Part 2
Because of limited space availability and a desire to provide an acceptable
level of service, the bank manager would like to ensure, with 95 percent
confidence, that no more than three cars will be in the system at any time.
What is the present level of service for the three-car limit? What level of teller
use must be attained and what must be the service rate of the teller to ensure
the 95 percent level of service?
Average utilisation of the server = = / =
15/20 = 75%
Average length of the system, L
S
=
L
S
= Arrival rate / time difference of ( - )
L
S
= / ( - ) = 3 customers
Average no. in the waiting line, L
Q
=
L
Q
= * L
s
L
Q
=
2
= 2.25 customers
( - )
Arrival rate
time difference of ( - )
= * L
S
=
=
= * W
S
=
1
( - )
=
=
Example Problem 1: Solution
Average Waiting time in the system, W
S
= L
S
/
= 0.2 hr = 12 minutes

Average Waiting time in the Queue, W
Q
= L
Q
/
= * W
S
= 0.15 hr = 9 minutes

The probability that n customers are in the
service system at a given time = P
n
= (1 - )
n


1
( - )
=
= P
n
= (1 - )
n

Example Problem 1: Solution

Example Problem 1: Solution
Rate of service required to attain this 95 percent
service level = ????
solve the equation: /=0.47,
where =number of arrivals per hour = 15.
This gives; =32 per hour.

Conclusion:
That is, the teller must serve approximately 32 people per
hour (a 60 percent increase over the original 20-per-hour
capability) for 95 percent confidence that not more than
three cars will be in the system.
Note that the teller will be idle 53 percent of the time.
Multiple Server Formulas
form. eventually will line long infinitly an
case, not the is this If stability. system for : Note
n utilizatio system average
servers identical parallel, of number
server for rate service mean mu
rate arrival mean lambda

>
= =
=
= =
= =
s
s
s
one
Multiple Server Formulas (continued)
( ) ( )
( )
( )
in time point given a at system in the
customers of y probabilit
for
!
/
for
!
/
in time point given a at system in the customers
zero of y probabilit
1
1
!
/
!
/
0
0
1
1
0
0
n
s n P
s s
s n P
n
P
s n
P
s n
n
n
n
s
n
s n
=

>
s
=
=
(

|
|
.
|

\
|

+ =

Multiple Server Formulas (continued)
( )
( )
( )
system in customers of number average
service including system in time average
1
line in waiting spent time average
line in customers of number average
1 !
/
2
0
= =
= + =
= =
=

=
W L
W W
L W
s
P
L
q
q q
s
q

Example: Multiple Server
Computer Lab Help Desk
Now 45 students/hour need help.
3 servers, each with service rate of 18
students/hour
Based on this, we know:
= 18 students/hour
s = 3 servers
= 45 students/hour
Changing System Performance
Customer Arrival Rates
Try to smooth demand through non-peak discounts or price
promotions
Number and type of service facilities
Increase or decrease number of servers, or dedicate specific servers
for certain tasks (e.g., express line for under 10 items)
Change Number of Phases
Can use multi-phase system instead of single phase. This spreads the
workload among more servers and may result in better flow (e.g., fast
food restaurants having an order phase, pay phase, and pick-up phase
during busy hours)
Changing System Performance
Server efficiency
Add resources to each phase (e.g., bagger helping a
checker at the grocery store)
Use technology (e.g. price scanners) to improve efficiency
Change priority rules
Example: implement a reservation protocol
Change the number of lines
Reduce multiple lines to single queue to avoid jockeying
Dedicate specific servers to specific transactions
Thank you!!