WAITING LINES &

QUEUEING
THEORY MODELS

CHAPTER 5:
 LEARNING OUTCOMES
End of this topic student should be able to:

01 02 03
Section Section Section
DESCRIBE THE MEASURE THE DETERMINE THE TOTAL
CHARACTERISTICS OF A OPERATING COST OF WAITING LINES.
QUEUEING SYSTEM. CHARACTERISTICS OF
TWO BASICS QUEUEING
MODELS (M/M/1 AND
M/M/s).
 01
DESCRIBE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A
QUEUEING SYSTEM.
 INTRODUCTION

• The study of waiting lines, called queueing theory.

• Example: Making a bank deposit, tollbooth serving arriving vehicle,
cars in line to be washed, machines waiting to be repaired.
• Waiting lines are formed when people or things come faster than they
can be served.
• Under queueing theory, we are going to learn queueing formulas to
compute operating characteristics.
• Operating characteristics are the average values that describe the
performance of the queueing system.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUEING SYSTEM
 Arrival Characteristics
1. Size of the calling population
■ Population sizes are considered to be either unlimited (essentially infinite) or limited (finite).
■ When the number of customers or arrivals on hand at any given moment is just a small portion
of potential arrivals, the calling population is considered unlimited. Examples of
unlimited populations include cars arriving at a highway tollbooth.
■ Most queuing models assume such an infinite calling population. When this is not the case
(limited), modeling becomes much more complex. Example of a finite population is a
shop with only eight machines that might break down and require service.
 2. Patterns of arrivals at the system

●
Customers either arrive at a service facility according to some known schedule or else they arrive
randomly.

●
Arrivals are considered random (nonscheduled) when they are independent of one another and
their occurrence cannot be predicted exactly.
●The number of arrivals per unit of time can be estimated by a probability distribution known as the
Poisson distribution.
 3. Behaviour of the arrivals

Balking customer Reneging customers Patient customers Jokeying customers

Customers who Customers are Customers are Customers who

refuse to join the those who enter people or switch lines in an
waiting line the queue but then machines that wait attempt to reduce
because it is too become impatient in the queue until waiting time
long to suit their and leave without they are served
needs or interests. completing their and do not switch
transaction. between lines.
 Waiting Line Characteristics
1. Lengths of the line
■ A queue is limited when it cannot, by law of physical restrictions, increase to an
infinite length. Eg: A small restaurant has 10 tables and can serve no more than 50
diners an evening.
■ A queue is unlimited when its size is unrestricted. Eg: Tollbooth serving arriving
vehicles.

2. Queue discipline
● FIFO
● Priority
● LIFO
Service Facility
Characteristics
1. Number of channels (servers)
2. Number of phases (service
stops)
 A single-phase system is one in
which the customer receives service
from only one station/service stop
and then exits the system. Eg: fast
food restaurant –KFC (order, pay and
pickup food from same counter)
 A Multiphase implies two or more
stations/service stops before leaving
the system. Eg: Restaurant requires
you to place your order at one station,
pay at a second, and pick up the food
at a third service stop before leave the
restaurant.
 A single-channel system. Eg:
Bank with only one open teller.
 A multichannel system. Eg: Bank
with several tellers
3. Service time distribution
 Constant. It takes the same
amount of time to take care of
each customer. Eg: Automatic
carwash
 Random. In many cases it can be
assumed that random service
times are described by the
negative exponential probability
distribution.
FOUR POSSIBLE CONFIGURATIONS
02
Queuing Models
MODEL 1
SINGLE CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL M/M/1

M/M/1 model assumption:

1. A single channel.
2. A Poisson arrival rate (equivalently, the inter-arrival times follow a negative exponential
distribution).
3. A negative exponential service time.
4. First come, first served queuing discipline.
5. An infinite calling population.
6. Unlimited queue length.
7. When the system is stable (or at the steady state), the mean service rate is greater than the
mean arrival rate. (μ >λ )
Operating characteristics of the (M/M/1) queuing
system:

λ = mean arrival rate; (the average number of arrivals at a service

facility per time period).
μ = mean service rate; (the average number of customers served per
time period.)
EXAMPLE 1

A new shopping mall has opened a customer service counter manned by one
employee. It is believed that customers will arrive at the counter at a rate of 20
customers per hour and it takes an average of 2 minutes to answer a question
from a customer. It is assumed that the arrivals follow a Poisson distribution and
the answer time are exponentially distributed.
a)Find the probability of no customer in the system.
b)Compute the average number of customers waiting in line at the counter.
c)Determine the average time of a customer spends waiting in line at the counter.
Example 2

A post office has a single drive-in window for customers’ convenience. The
arrival rate of customers follows a Poisson distribution, while the service
time follows an exponential distribution. The average arrival rate is 10
customers per hour and the average service time is 3 minutes per customer.

a) Calculate the probability that the system is idle.

b) Determine the average number of customers in the queueing system.
(M/M/s) Model Assumptions:

1.More than one server or channel, and one-phase service.

2.Arrivals follow a Poisson probability distribution (arrivals are at random and independent of one
another) with mean arrival rate of λ per unit time.
3.Service times follow a negative exponential probability distribution with mean service rate of μ per
unit time.
4.The queuing discipline is first-come, first-served.
5.The calling population is infinite.
6.There is no limit on queue length.
7.All servers have the same mean service rate, μ.
8. When the system is stable, the number of servers, s, is greater than the ratio of λ to μ; s > λ/μ, or sμ
> λ.

MODEL 2
THE MULTICHANNEL QUEUEING MODEL
(M/M/S)
Operating Characteristics for Multiple-Channel,
Single-Phase Queuing Model (M/M/s)

λ = mean arrival rate;

μ = mean service rate;
s = no. of servers or channels; s > 1.
When the queuing system is stable, sμ >λ
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
 03
TOTAL COST OF
WAITING LINES
The waiting line models can be used to determine the number of channels that will meet the
manager’s waiting line performance goals.

On the other hand, may be the manager wants to determine the cost of the operating the queuing
system, then from the operating cost the decision will be based on the minimum operating cost.

So, it is important to determine the total cost of the queuing model. The total cost includes the cost
of waiting and the cost of the service.

Total Cost = Customer Waiting Cost + Service Cost

There are two different formulas for calculating total cost. The
formula to be used depends on two situations:
Example 1
Fattah is the owner of the Clean Car Wash and has gathered the following information.
Customers arrive at a rate of 8 per hour according to a Poisson distribution. A car washer
can service an average of 5 cars per hour with service times described by an exponential
distribution. Fattah realizes that how long the customer must wait is very important. He is
also concerned about customers balking when the waiting line is too long. Currently, Fattah
is hiring two washers (s=2). Fattah will consider adding another washer if the average
customer waiting time in the queue is greater than 15 minutes. Fattah pays RM5 per hour
for each washer hired and the waiting cost in line is estimated to be RM10 per hour.
Determine the optimal number of washers to be hired if Fattah wants cost to be minimized.
Example 2
 THANKS!
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