WAITING LINE AND
QUEUING THEORY
Wasawas Florence Troy
Heyrosa, Mark Anthony
Lauron, Erika
Pacana, Gemma
Panero, Anselma
Saromines, Nekie
Ytang, Mariel
WAITING LINES
Often called queuing theory
Waiting lines are common situations
Useful in both manufacturing and service areas
COMMON QUEUING SITUATIONS
Situation Arrivals in Queue Service Process
Supermarket Grocery shoppers Checkout clerks at cash
register
Highway toll booth Automobiles Collection of tolls at booth
Doctor’s office Patients Treatment by doctors and
nurses
Computer system Programs to be run Computer processes jobs
Telephone company Callers Switching equipment to
forward calls
Bank Customer Transactions handled by teller
Machine Broken machines Repair people fix machines
maintenance
Harbor Ships and barges Dock workers load and unload
Four characteristics of a queuing system are:
– the manner in which customers arrive
– the time required for service
– the priority determining the order of service
– the number and configuration of servers in
the system.
PARTS OF A WAITING LINE
Population of Arrivals Queue Service Exit the system
dirty cars from the (waiting line) facility
general
population … Dave’s
Car Wash
Enter Exit
Arrivals to the system In the system Exit the system
Arrival Characteristics Waiting Line Service Characteristics
• Size of the population Characteristics • Service design
• Behavior of arrivals • Limited vs. unlimited • Statistical distribution
• Statistical distribution • Queue discipline of service
of arrivals
Distribution of Arrivals
Generally, the arrival of customers into the system is a
random event.
Frequently the arrival pattern is modeled as a Poisson
process.
Distribution of Service Times
Service time is also usually a random variable.
A distribution commonly used to describe service time is
the exponential distribution.
POISSON PROBABILITY
x e
P( x) for x = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4,
x! …
Where P(x) = probability of x arrivals
x = number of arrivals per unit of
time
λ = average arrival rate
e = 2.71828
EXPONENTIAL PROBABILITY
P( service time t ) 1 e t
µ =Mean number of units served per
time period
e = 2.71828
POISSON DISTRIBUTION
x e
P( x)
x!
0.25 – 0.25 –
0.02 – 0.02 –
Probability
Probability
0.15 – 0.15 –
0.10 – 0.10 –
0.05 – 0.05 –
– –
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 x 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 x
Distribution for = 2 Distribution for = 4
WAITING-LINE CHARACTERISTICS
• Limited or unlimited queue length
• Queue discipline - first-in, first-out
(FIFO) is most common
• Other priority rules may be used in
special circumstances
SERVICE CHARACTERISTICS
• Queuing system designs
• Single-channel system, multiple-channel
system
• Single-phase system, multiphase system
• Service time distribution
• Constant service time
• Random service times, usually a negative
exponential distribution
QUEUING SYSTEM DESIGNS
Queue
Service Departures
Arrivals facility after service
Single-channel, single-phase system
Queue
Phase 1 Phase 2 Departures
Arrivals service service
after service
facility facility
Single-channel, multiphase system
Service
facility
Channel 1
Queue
Service Departures
Arrivals facility
after service
Channel 2
Service
facility
Channel 3
Multi-channel, single-phase system
Phase 1 Phase 2
service service
Queue facility facility
Channel 1 Channel 1
Departures
Arrivals after service
Phase 1 Phase 2
service service
facility facility
Channel 2 Channel 2
Multi-channel, multiphase system
NEGATIVE EXPONENTIAL DISTRIBUTION
Probability that service time is greater than t = e-µt for t ≥ 1
1.0 –
Probability that service time ≥ 1
0.9 –
µ = Average service rate
e = 2.7183
0.8 –
0.7 – Average service rate (µ) = 3 customers per hour
0.6 – Average service time = 20 minutes per customer
0.5 –
0.4 –
0.3 –
Average service rate (µ) =
0.2 –
1 customer per hour
0.1 –
0.0 |– | | | | | | | | | | | |
0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 2.25 2.50 2.75 3.00
Time t (hours)
MEASURING QUEUE PERFORMANCE
1. Average time that each customer or object spends in the queue
2. Average queue length
3. Average time each customer spends in the system
4. Average number of customers in the system
5. Probability that the service facility will be idle
6. Utilization factor for the system
7. Probability of a specific number of customers in the system
WAITING LINE COSTS
Cost
Waiting time cost
Optimal Level of service
QUEUING SYSTEMS
• A three part code of the form A/B/k is used to
describe various queuing systems.
• A identifies the arrival distribution, B the service
(departure) distribution and k the number of
channels for the system.
• Symbols used for the arrival and service processes
are: M - Markov distributions (Poisson/exponential),
D - Deterministic (constant) and G - General
distribution (with a known mean and variance).
• For example, M/M/k refers to a system in which
arrivals occur according to a Poisson distribution,
service times follow an exponential distribution and
there are k (sometimes others say s) servers working
at identical service rates.
QUEUING SYSTEM INPUT
CHARACTERISTICS
= the average arrival rate
1/ = the average time between arrivals
µ = the average service rate for each server
1/µ = the average service time
= the standard deviation of the service time
ANALYTICAL FORMULAS
• For nearly all queuing systems, there is a
relationship between the average time a unit
spends in the system or queue and the
average number of units in the system or
queue.
• These relationships, known as Little's flow
equations are:
L = W and Lq = Wq
• When the queue discipline is FCFS,
analytical formulas have been derived for
several different queuing models including
the following:
– M/M/1
– M/M/k
– M/G/1
– M/G/k with blocked customers cleared
– M/M/1 with a finite calling population
• Analytical formulas are not available for all
possible queuing systems. In this event,
insights may be gained through a
simulation of the system.
M/M/1
Ls • Ls = average number of units
in the system (waiting and
1 being served)
Ws • Ws = average time a unit
spends in the system
2 • Lq = average number of units
Lq waiting in the queue
• Wq = Average time a unit
spends waiting in the queue
Wq
• Utilization factor for the
system
• Probability of 0 units in the
system
• Probability of more than k
P0 1 units in the system, where n is
the number of units in the
k 1
system
Pn k
M/M/K QUEUING SYSTEM
• Multiple channels (with one central waiting line)
• Poisson arrival-rate distribution
• Exponential service-time distribution
• Unlimited maximum queue length
• Infinite calling population
• Examples:
– Four-teller transaction counter in bank
– Two-clerk returns counter in retail store
M/M/S
M • Ls = average number of
units in the system (waiting
Ls p
M 1!M 2 0
and being served)
P0
1
forM
• Ws = average time a unit
1 1
M 1 n m
M spends in the system
n 0 n! M ! M • Lq = average number of
M units waiting in the queue
Ws P
1 Ls
• Wq = Average time a unit
M 1!M 2 0
spends waiting in the queue
• Probability of 0 units in the
Lq Ls
system
1 Lq
Wq Ws
