Professional Documents
Culture Documents
18
Management of
Waiting Lines
18-2
Learning Objectives
Explain why waiting lines form in systems.
Implications of waiting line
Goal of waiting line management
Characteristics of waiting line
Measures of waiting line performance
Queuing models – Infinite Source and Finite
Source
Constraint management
Psychology of waiting
Operations strategy
18-3
Why do waiting lines form?
Waiting lines occur when there is a temporary
imbalance between supply (capacity) and demand.
Waiting lines add to the cost of operation and they
reflect negatively on customer service,
It is important to balance the cost of having
customers wait with the cost of providing service
capacity.
From a managerial perspective, the key is to
determine the balance that will provide an adequate
level of service at a reasonable cost.
18-4
Disney World
Waiting in lines does not add enjoyment
Waiting in lines does not generate
revenue
Waiting lines are non-value added occurrences
18-5
Waiting lines
Waiting Time: Operators and machines
waiting for parts or work to arrive from
suppliers or other operations. Customers
waiting in line.
One of the “seven wastes”
18-6
Waiting Lines
18-7
Goal of waiting line management
Minimize the sum of two costs: customer waiting costs and
service capacity costs
Total Customer Capacity
cost = waiting cost + cost
Cost
Total cost
Cost of
service
capacity
Cost of
customers
waiting
18-9
System Characteristics
Population Source
Infinite source: customer arrivals are
unrestricted
Finite source: number of potential
customers is limited
Number of Servers (channels)
Arrival and service patterns
Queue discipline (order of service)
18-10
System Characteristics:
Number of servers/phases
Multiple channel
Multiple phase
Channel: A server in
a service system
18-11
System Characteristics:
Arrival and Service Patterns
The Poisson distribution often provides a reasonably
good description of customer arrivals per unit of time
(e.g., per hour).
A discrete probability distribution
probability of a given number of events occurring in a fixed
interval of time
events occur with a known average rate and independently.
The expected value and variance of (random) variable is equal to λ
P(r) = (e-λ λr ) / r! where m = the average number
r = arrivals/time unit and of customers who can be
λ = mean arrivals/time unit served per time period.
f(t) = μe – μt
where t = service time and Mean service time = 1/m
μ = mean service time
18-12
System Characteristics:
Queue Discipline
First-come, first-served
Priority
Preferred (loyalty programs/fee-based)
Reservation (appointment)
18-13
Waiting line Models
Patient
Customers enter the waiting line and remain until
served
Reneging
Waiting customers grow impatient and leave the
line
Jockeying
Customers may switch to another line
Balking
Upon arriving, decide the line is too long and decide
not to enter the line
18-14
Waiting Line Performance
Waiting line performance relates to potential
customer dissatisfaction and cost:
The average number of customers, either in line
or in the system
The average time the customer waits, either in
line or in the system
System utilization
The implied cost of a given level of capacity and
its related waiting line
The probability that an arrival would have to wait
18-15
Waiting Time vs. Utilization
System utilization reflects the extent to which
servers are busy 100
%
is n ut
ot a ilization
goa real
l istic
Average number on
time waiting in line
0 100%
System Utilization
18-16
Queuing Models: Infinite-Source
18-18
Infinite Source
18-19
LEGENDS
M/M/1 – Poisson Arrival Rate (the first M),
Poisson (or exponential) service rate (the
second M), and 1 server (the 1)
M/D/1 – Poisson Arrival Rate (the first M),
deterministic (constant) service rate (the D),
and 1 server (the 1)
M/M/S - Poisson Arrival Rate (the first M),
Poisson (or exponential) service rate (the
second M), and multiple servers (the S)
18-20
Infinite source
Lq is a key value, and generally one of the first values we should calculate
18-21
Example: Infinite Source
Customers arrive at a bakery at an average rate of 18 per hour on
weekday mornings. The arrival distribution can be described by a
Poisson distribution with a mean of 18. Each clerk can serve a
customer in an average of three minutes; this time can be described by
an exponential distribution with a mean of 3.0 minutes.
A.What are the arrival and service rates?
B.Compute the average number of customers being served at any time.
C.Suppose it has been determined that the average number of
customers waiting in line is 8.1. Compute the average number of
customers in the system (i.e., waiting in line or being served), the
average time customers wait in line, and the average time in the
system.
D.Determine the system utilization for M = 1, 2, and 3 servers.
18-22
Example: Infinite Source
λ=18 customers per hour
We need to change the service time to comparable
hourly rate. 60 minutes per hour, and 3 minutes
per customer means 20 customers per hour. μ =
20 customers/per hour
18-23
Different models within Infinite
Source
Single Server, Exponential Service Time,
M/M/1
The queue discipline is first-come, first-served, and it is
assumed that the customer arrival rate can be approximated
by a Poisson distribution and service time by a negative
exponential distribution. There is no limit on length of queue
18-24
M/M/1 Example
An airline is planning to open a satellite ticket desk in a new shopping
plaza, staffed by one ticket agent. It is estimated that requests for tickets
and information will average 15 per hour, and requests will have a
Poisson distribution. Service time is assumed to be exponentially
distributed. Previous experience with similar satellite operations suggests
that mean service time should average about three minutes per request.
Determine each of the following:
18-25
M/M/1 Example
18-26
Different models within Infinite
Source
Single Server, Constant Service Time, M/D/1
Waiting lines are a consequence of random, highly variable
arrival and service rates. If a system can reduce or eliminate
the variability of either or both, it can shorten waiting lines
noticeably. A case in point is a system with constant service
time. The effect of a constant service time is to cut in half the
average number of customers waiting in line
The average time customers spend waiting in line is also cut in half.
Similar improvements can be realized by smoothing arrival times (e.g., by
use of appointments).
18-27
M/D/1 Example
Wanda's Car Wash & Dry is an automatic, five-
minute operation with a single bay. On a typical
Saturday morning, cars arrive at a mean rate of
eight per hour, with arrivals tending to follow a
Poisson distribution. Find
18-28
M/D/1 Example
18-29
18-30
Different models within Infinite
Source
Multiple Servers, M/M/S
Two or more servers are working independently. Use
of the model involves the following assumptions:
1. A Poisson arrival rate and exponential service
time.
2. Servers all work at the same average rate.
3. Customers form a single waiting line (in order to
maintain first-come, first-served processing).
The multiple-server formulas are more complex than
the single-server formulas, especially the formulas for
Lq and P0..
18-31
M/M/S Equations
18-32
Queuing Model: Finite Source
Calling population is limited
One person may be responsible for handling
breakdowns on 15 machines
There may be more than one server or channel
Arrival rates are required to be Poisson and
service times exponential.
arrival rate of customers here is affected by the
length of the waiting line
the arrival rate decreases as the length of the line
increases
18-33
Finite Source Queuing
Formulas and Notations
18-34
Constraint Management
Managers may be able to reduce waiting times
by actively managing one or more system
constraints.
Use temporary workers
Shift demand
Standardize the service
Look for a bottleneck
18-35
Psychology of waiting
Occupied time feels shorter than unoccupied time
People want to get started
Anxiety makes waits seem longer
Uncertain waits are longer than known, finite waits
Unexplained waits are longer than explained waits
Unfair waits are longer than equitable waits
The more valuable the service, the longer the
customer will wait
Solo waits feel longer than group waits
Source: David H. Maister, “The Psychology of Waiting Lines,”
davidmaister.com, blog, September 8, 2008
18-36
Two key items to remember
Waiting lines forms because arrival rates and
services rates are different. In other words,
there is mismatch between supply and
demand, or waiting lines happen due to the
variability in arrival and service rates.
Increase in system utilization results in an
exponential increase in customer waiting
time.
18-37
Disney’s approach to
managing waiting lines
Provide distractions
Provide alternatives for those willing to
pay a premium
Keep customers informed
Exceed expectations
Comfortable waiting environment and
other distractions
A form of reservations (Fast Pass)
18-38
Operations Strategy
Carefully assess the costs and benefits of various
alternatives for capacity of service systems.
Increase the processing rate vs. number of servers.
New processing equipment/methods
Standardization (reduce variability in processing)
Shift some arrivals to “off-times” by using
reservations systems
“early-bird” specials
senior discounts
18-39