Week Ten

Waiting Lines and Queuing Theory Models

The study of waiting lines is called queuing theory.
Waiting lines are an everyday occurrence affecting people,
1. shopping,
2. Buying fuel,
3. Making a bank deposit,
4. tracks online to be loaded etc.
The three basic components of a queuing process are:
a) arrivals,
b) service facilities and
c) the actual waiting line.

The rationale is how analytical models of waiting lines can help

managers evaluate the cost and effectiveness of service
systems.
Example:
i. supermarkets must decide how many cash register
checkout positions should be opened.
ii. Fuel stations should decide how many pumps should be
opened and how many attendants should be on duty.

One of the means of evaluating a service facility is to look at

total expected cost.

Total expected cost is the sum of expected service cost +

expected waiting cost.
The input source that generates arrivals of customers for the
service system has 3 major characteristics. It is important to
consider:
-The size of the calling population (arrivals)
- The pattern of arrivals at the queuing system
- The behavior of the arrivals

Size
Population size is considered to be either unlimited (infinite) or
limited (finite).
When the number of arrivals at any given moment is just a small
portion of potential arrivals, the calling population is considered
to be unlimited e.g. shoppers arriving in a supermarket. Most
calling models assume an infinite calling population when this is
not the case modeling become complex.
Pattern
Customers either arrive at a service facility according to some
known schedule e.g. one patient every 15 minutes or else they
arrive randomly. The number of arrivals per unit of time can be
estimated by a probability distribution known as Poisson
distribution.
Most systems use a que discipline known as FIFO rule. (LCLS).
However, patients who are critically ill injured will move ahead
in treatment priority. This is what is referred to as service
according to priority. Service systems are usually classified in
terms of their number of channels or number of servers.
Illustration
Arrivals Service facility departure after service

Single channel, single phase system.

Arrivals departure
Type 2 facility
Type 1 facility

Single channel, multi – phase system.

Service facility 1

Arrivals Service facility 2 departure

Service facility 3

Multichannel multiphase system

Service patterns like arrivals can be either constant or random.

If the service time is constant, it takes the same amount of
time to take care of each customer but more often service
times are randomly distributed. In many cases it is distributed
by a negative exponential probability distribution.

Single channel queuing model with Poisson arrivals and

exponential probability service times. (M/M/1)
Assumptions:
1. Arrivals are served on FIFO basis.
2. Every arrival waits to be served regardless to the length
of the line
3. Arrivals are independent but the arrival rate does not
change with time.
 4. The average service rate is greater than the average
arrival rate.
Let
𝜆= mean number of arrival (per time period, hour, min, sec)
µ = mean number of people/ items served per time period.

1. The number of the customers in the system i.e. the

number in line + those being served
𝜆
L=
𝜇−𝜆
2. The average time a customer spends in the system i.e.
the time spent in line + the time spent being served
1
W=
𝜇−𝜆
3. The number of customers in the que
𝜆2
Lq =
𝜇(𝜇−𝜆
4. The average time a customer spends waiting in the que
𝜆
Wq=
𝜇(𝜇−𝜆)
5. The utilization factor for the system i.e. the probability
that the service facility is being used
𝜆
𝜌=
𝜇

Example
A shop can serve about one customer for every 20 minutes. A
customer needing the service arrives at the shop on the
average of 2 per hour.
1. The number of the customers in the system i.e. the
number in line + those being served
 𝜆 2
L= = = 2 people
𝜇−𝜆 3−2
2. The average time a customer spends in the system i.e.
the time spent in line + the time spent being served
1 1
W= = = 1ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟
𝜇−𝜆 3−2
3. The number of customers in the que
𝜆2 22
Lq = = = 4/3
𝜇(𝜇−𝜆 3(3−2)
4. The average time a customer spends waiting in the que
𝜆 2
Wq= = = 40 𝑚𝑖𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠
𝜇(𝜇−𝜆) 3(3−2)
5. The utilization factor for the system i.e. the probability
that the service facility is being used
𝜆 2
𝜌= = = 0.67
𝜇 3

The solution to the queuing problem may require management

to make a trade-off between the increased cost of providing a
service and the decreased waiting cost derived from providing
that service.
Total service cost = no. of channels × cost per channel
Total waiting cost = total time spent waiting × cost of waiting

From the previous example the shop estimates that the cost of
a customer waiting time in terms of customer dissatisfaction
and lost goodwill is 50 per hour of time spent waiting in line
because on average a customer has 2/3 awaiting and there are
approximately 16 customers served per day. i.e.
2×8 =16 hours. The total number of hours spend waiting each
2
day is 2/3 ×16 = 10 hours.
3
 2
Total daily waiting cost =10 ×50 = 533.33
3
If the server is paid 15 shillings per hour the total service cost
will be = 15 × 8= 120
So the total daily cost of the queuing system = 120 + 533.33 =
633.33 shillings.

Exercise
1. Students arrive at the head office of Universal Teacher
Publications according to a Poisson input process with a mean
rate of 40 per hour. The time required to serve a student
has an exponential distribution with a mean of 50 per hour.
Assume that the students are served by a single individual,
find the average waiting time of a student.

2. New Delhi Railway Station has a single ticket counter. During

the rush hours, customers arrive at the rate of 10 per hour.
The average number of customers that can be served is 12
per hour. Find out the following:
a) Probability that the ticket counter is free.
b) Average number of customers in the queue.
3. At Kobil petrol pump, customers arrive according to a Poisson
process with an average time of 5 minutes between arrivals.
The service time is exponentially distributed with mean time
= 2 minutes. On the basis of this information, find out
a) What would be the average queue length?
b) What would be the average number of customers in the
queuing system?
 c) What is the average time spent by a car in the petrol
pump?
d) What is the average waiting time of a car before
receiving petrol?
4. Universal Bank is considering opening a drive in window for
customer service. Management estimates that customers will
arrive at the rate of 15 per hour. The teller whom it is
considering to staff the window can service customers at the
rate of one every three minutes. Assuming Poisson arrivals
and exponential service find:
a) Average number in the waiting line.
b) Average number in the system.
c) Average waiting time in line.
d) Average waiting time in the system.

In summary
A Queue is a system of waiting line. It comes in operation for
the purpose of discipline, order and good service. Used in
waiting to pay bills, at the bank, Bus station to board a bus, In
a waiting room to see a doctor, etc
Queue Elements are:
a). Arrival process
b). Service system
c). Departure process
Classes of Queue Systems
a). Single service facility – Example, one line with one service
point
b). Parallel facilities with a single queue – Example, one line in
a bank with multiple tellers
c). Multiple queues with parallel facilities – Example at the
offices while paying bills
d). Service facilities in a certain serial order – Example, self
service in a restaurant

Simple Queue Characteristics

a). First - come – first – served (FIFO)
b). Last come last served (LILO)
c). Service at random – each in the queue has an equal
chance of being served
d). Service according to priority – Example, emergency cases
in an hospital

Terminologies used in Queue Theory

a). Waiting time in the queue – average time spent by a
customer in the queue waiting for service
b). Length of the queue – the average number of persons
waiting in the queue to get service
c). Length of the entire queue system – average number of
persons waiting to be served plus the number of persons
being served
d). Idle time of the server – time the server remains idle
without any customer to serve
e). Total time in the system – average time a customer
spends from the time of his entering the queue till the time
the service provided to him/ her gets completed.
Simple Queue Formula
The formulas are based on
o Arrival rate - 
o Service rate - 
o Traffic intensity - 

a). Arrival rate – the average rate of arrival of items per

unit of time.
Example, if 9 customers arrived at the bank per one hour,
then t  9
b). Service Rate – Average number of services completed in
a unit of time
Example, from the 9 customers arriving, if 6 are served per
hour, then   6
c). Traffic Intensity – the probability that the service
facility is busy
   
Arrival _ Rate
Service _ Rate
d). Idle time  1 

o If   1, then - the system is efficient

o If   1 , then  - there is no waiting time
o If   1 , then  - the system is inefficient