Measuring

Performance of
Simulation Model
WMSU

WESTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY

BASIC SIMULATION
MODEL
Basic Simulation Model
• For demonstration purposes, consider the simplest
possible system that may be of interest to the practitioner.
• Examples of this simple type of system would include, but
not be limited to:
– A customer service center with one representative
– A barber shop with one barber
– A mortgage loan officer in a bank
– A piece of computer-controlled machine in a factory
– An ATM machine
Basic Simulation Model Components
Each of these simple systems consists of three types of
major components:
• Entities
• Queues
• Resources
Entities
• The first type of component is an entity: something that
changes the state of the system.
• The entity may be a person. In the customer service
center, the entities are the customers.
• Entities do not necessarily have to be people; they can
also be objects.
• entities that the mortgage loan officer deals with are loan
applications. Similarly, in the factory example, the entities
are components waiting to be machined.
Entities
Entities
(A) Entity Batches
• The number of entities that arrive in the system at the
same given time is known as the batch size. In some
systems, the batch size is always one.
• In others, the entities may arrive in groups of different
sizes.
• Examples of batch arrivals are families going to a movie
theater. The batch sizes may be two, three, four, or more.
Entities
(B) Entity Interarrival Times
• This is the amount of time between batch arrivals
• It does not matter whether the normal batch size is one or more. The
previous batch may have had only one entity, whereas the next batch
has more than one.
• We are interested only in the interval from when the last batch
arrived to when the current batch arrives.
• Interarrival time is also the reciprocal of the arrival rate.
– In collecting entity arrival data it is usually easier to collect the batch
interarrival time. However, some historical data may be in arrival rate format.
• Interarrival time is considered input data that the practitioner would
have to provide for the model.
Entities
(C) Entity Attributes
• These are variables that have values unique to each entity
in the system.
• Even though the entity attribute will have the same name,
there could be as many different values as there are entities.
• An example of an attribute of this type involves the entity’s
arrival time.
– Each entity’s attribute ARRTIME would store the simulation
system time that the entity arrived in the system.
– So, unless a batch of entities arrived at the same time, each entity
would have a unique value in its attribute ARRTIME.
Entities
(C) Entity Attributes
• Some entity attributes may have the same value. In the case of
airline passengers, the attribute PASSSENGER_TYPE could
hold a value corresponding to the type of passenger the entity
represents.
– A value of 1 in PASSENGER_TYPE could represent a first-class
passenger, and a value of 2 could represent a coach-class passenger.
• As an Example, 20% of the entities in a simulation might have a
value of 1 for PASSENGER_TYPE, and the remaining 80%
would have a value of 2 for PASSTYPE.
• In the actual model, the attribute PASSTYPE would be used to
prioritize the servicing and loading of passengers.
Entities
(C) Entity Attributes
• Simulation programs may also utilize global variables.
Global variables are not to be confused with entity
attributes.
• These variables differ from entity attributes in that each
global variable can maintain only one value at a given
time.
• A typical use of a global variable in a simulation program
is the variable that keeps track of the simulation run time.
Queues
• The second major type of components that simple systems possess
is queues.
• Queues are the simulation term for lines.
• Entities generally wait in a queue until it is their turn to be
processed.
– Simple systems generally use first-in-first-out (FIFO) queue priorities.
– Another characteristic of simple systems is that once customers enter the
system, they must enter the queue.
– Furthermore, once entities enter the queue, they cannot depart before
receiving service.
• There are different variations of queue priorities and queue behavior
Resources
• These process or serve the entities that are in the queue.
• Examples of resources are:
– Customer service representatives
– Barbers
– Loan officers
– Factory machines
– ATMs
Resources
• In simple models, resources can be either idle or busy.
– Resources are idle when they are available for processing, but there are no
more entities waiting in the queue.
– Resources are busy when they are processing entities. In more complex
models, resources may also be temporarily inactive or failed.
• Inactive resources are unavailable because of:
– Scheduled work breaks
– Meals
– Vacations
– Preventive maintenance periods
• Failed resources would correspond to:
– Broken machines
–
Resources
• Resources take a certain amount of processing time to
service the entities, for example, the time to total an order
and receive payment, process a loan, or machine a part.
• The processing time is also frequently referred to as
processing delay time or service time.
• Processing time is considered input data that the
practitioner would normally have to collect by observation
Simulation Event List
• The simulation event list is a means of keeping track of
the different things that occur during a simulation run.
• Anything that occurs during the simulation run that can
affect the state of the system is defined as an event.
– Typical events in a simple simulation include entity arrivals to
the queue, the beginning of service times for entities, and the
ending of service times for entities.
– These events change the state of the system because they can
increase or decrease the number of entities in the queue or
change the state of the resources between idle and busy
Simulation Event List
• The event list is controlled by advances in the simulation
clock.
• In our basic simulation model, the simulation clock
advances in discrete jumps to each event on the event
list. This type of model is called a discrete event
simulation.
• In more sophisticated models, the simulation clock may
operate continuously. The continuous event model is
usually associated with processes involving materials that
could be modeled as fluids.
Simulation Event List
• These types of models involve continuous event simulation
which is usually significantly more difficult to model because it
involves the use of differential equations.
• It is also possible to model a system that involves both discrete
and continuous components. An example of this would be a
refinery that fills tanker trucks.
– The refinery tanks that store liquid would require continuous simulation,
while the individual tanker trucks would need to be modeled discretely
• Regardless of whether the model is discrete, continuous, or
combined, the simulation event list is extremely important to the
practitioner.
 Simulation Event List
• In even our very simple simulation model, many different events can occur
simultaneously.
• For example, entities may arrive at any give time, or a service period may
end at any given time.
– This means that one moment an entity may arrive, and a second entity may arrive
before the first entity receives service
– Similarly, the first entity may arrive, receive processing, and depart before the
second entity arrives.
– The arrival, service start, and service end processes can take on an infinite
number of possible sequences.
• Without a formal means of keeping track of these events, the output
measures of performance of the system would become hopelessly
complicated.
MEASURES OF
PERFORMANCE
STATISTICS
Measures of Performance Statistics
• We are almost always interested in how well the actual
system and the system model performs. In order to know this
we will need to calculate some sort of output measure to
eventually compare with other alternative forms of the model.
• Output measures of performance can be either observational
or time dependent.
– Observational performance measures are based on the number of
entities observed going through the process.
– Time-dependent measures are based on the length of time the
statistics are collected.
Measures of Performance Statistics
• There are four commonly utilized measures of
performance:
1. System time
2. Queue time
3. Time average number in queue
4. Utilization
(1) System Time
• System time is an observational output measure.
• It is the total amount of time that the entity spends in the
system
• System time begins when the entity arrives in the system
and enters the queue.
• It ends when the entity’s service time is complete and it
exits the system.
• The average system time for all of the entities is of most
importance to the practitioner.
(1) System Time

• Where T is the entity’s System Time (Time Arrived – Time

Departed)
• Where n is the Number of Entities served by the system
 (2) Queue Time
• Queue time is also an observational measure.
• It is similar to system time, except it accounts only for the time
that an entity spends in the queue.
• It preferred by some practitioners because they think that the
most objectionable (objectively useful) time period, at least in
customer-service processes, is the waiting time in the queue.
• Many customers are at least partially satisfied when their service
times begin, even though the service time itself may be lengthy.
• Queue Time can be calculated from the customer’s arrival time
– service begin time
(2) Queue Time

• Where D is the entity’s Queue Time (Time Arrived – Time

Service Started)
• Where n is the Number of Entities served by the system
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
• The time-average number in queue is a time-dependent statistic.
• As a time-dependent statistic, the time-average number in queue is not
directly a function of the number of entities that have been processed
through the queue.
• It is rather the average number of entities that you could expect to see
in the queue at any given time during the period of interest.
• At any given time the queue will actually have a discrete number of
entities. However, because the time-average number in queue is an
average value, it will usually yield a number that also has a fractional
value.
• For lightly loaded queues it is actually possible for the time average
number in queue to be less than 1.
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue

• Where:
• Q = the number in the queue for a given length of time
• dt = Length of Time that Q is observed
• T = The Total Length of Time for the Simulation
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
• The equation essentially calculates the total entity-time in the queue
that is observed during the simulation run divided by the total
simulation run time.
• In an entity customer simulation, this would correspond to the customer
waiting time by all of the customers that were waiting in line.
• Each period of time is calculated by multiplying the number of customers
waiting in line for the amount of time that number of customers waited in
line.
• A change in the number of customers waiting in line triggers the
beginning of a new period of calculation.
• At the end, all of the periods with customer-minutes are totaled and
divided by the length of the simulation.
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
• Manual calculations of the time-average number in queue
are best handled by drawing a two-axis graph of the
system.
– The vertical Y axis records the number of entities in the queue.
– The horizontal X axis records the simulation time.
• A box is drawn at the number of entities in the queue for
the length of time that number of entities is in the queue.
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
(1) The entity time is calculated by calculating the area of each
box, which is the number of entities waiting multiplied by
the ending time for that number of entities in the queue
minus the starting time for that number of entities in the
queue. || Number_of_Entities * (End Time – Start Time) ||
(2) The total area is calculated by summing all of the individual
areas.
(3) The time average number in queue is then calculated by
dividing the total area by the length of the simulation run.
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue

Area = Number_of_Entities * (End Time – Start Time)

(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
Area = N * (E – S)
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
Area = N * (E – S)
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
Area = N * (E – S)
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
Area = N * (E – S)

Area = 5
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
Area = N * (E – S)

Area = 5
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
Area = N * (E – S)

Area = 5
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
Area = N * (E – S)

Area = 5
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
Area = N * (E – S)

Area = 5
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue
Area = N * (E – S)

Area = 16
Area = 5
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue

Total Area = 5 + 16

Area = 16
Area = 5
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue

Area = 16
Area = 5
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue

Area = 16
Area = 5
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue

Average Number In Queue = Total Area / Total Time

Area = 16
Area = 5
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue

Average Number In Queue = 21/14

Area = 16
Area = 5
(3) Time-Average Number in Queue

Area = 16
Area = 5
(4) Resource Utilization
• Resource utilization is also a time-dependent statistic. At
any given time a single resource can be either idle or
busy.
– The idle state corresponds to a resource utilization level of 0.
– Naturally, the busy state corresponds to a resource utilization
level of 1.
• The length of time that the resource is either at a 0 level
or a 1 level is a function of the entities that come into the
system.
(4) Resource Utilization

• B = either 0 for idle or 1 for busy.

• dt = the length of time that B is observed.
• T = the total length of time for the simulation.
(4) Resource Utilization
• As with the time-average number in queue, we are
summing the length of time that the resource is meither
busy or idle and then dividing by the total time of the
simulation run.
• The average utilization rate can be calculated using a bar
chart in the same manner as for the time-average number
in queue.
• The only difference is that the vertical axis of the graph can
take only a value of either 0 or 1
MANUAL SIMULATION
EXAMPLE
Manual Simulation Example
The following interarrival and service times were observed
in a single-server, single-queue system:
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Calculate summary statistics for the time-average number
in queue, average system time, and average utilization
based on 20 min.
Example Solution
• It is best to begin by organizing our data in a chart with
headings for the number arrival, arrival time, begin-
service time, end-service time, and total system time.
• We can then populate the chart with our input data:
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
 Example Solution
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2

• The first event is the arrival of the first customer, which occurs at 1 min after the
system starts.
• The service start is the second system event. Because there is no one else in
the queue, and the server is idle, the customer can immediately seize the resource
and begin the service time. This means that the service time also begins 1 min after
the system starts.
• The service end is the third system event. The service time for the first customer
was 2 min. This means that the service end occurs at 3 min.
• Note also that the system time or total time that the customer was in the system is
the service end or departure time of 3 min minus the arrival time of 1 min. (3 – 1)
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5

• The fourth event that occurs is the arrival of the second

entity.
• Because there is no one in the queue, and the server is
idle, this entity also goes directly to the server.
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5

• At this point two different things could occur. The service

time end for entity-2 could occur at 10 min, or another
entity could arrive in the system before 10 min.
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5
3 7
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5
3 7
4 8
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10
3 7
4 8
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7
4 8
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10
4 8
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14
4 8
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8
5
6
7
8
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8
5 16
6
7
8
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8
5 16
6 18
7
8
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8
5 16
6 18
7 22
8
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8
5 16
6 18
7 22
8 25
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8
5 16
6 18
7 22
8 25
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8
5 16
6 18
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8 14
5 16
6 18
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8 14 15
5 16
6 18
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8 14 15 7
5 16
6 18
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8 14 15 7
5 16 16
6 18
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8 14 15 7
5 16 16 19
6 18
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8 14 15 7
5 16 16 19 3
6 18
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8 14 15 7
5 16 16 19 3
6 18 19
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8 14 15 7
5 16 16 19 3
6 18 19 21
Manual Simulation Example
• Interarrival times (In minutes): 1, 4, 2, 1, 8, 2, 4, 3
• Service times (In minutes): 2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8 14 15 7
5 16 16 19 3
6 18 19 21
Manual Simulation Example
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time End Service Time System Time
1 1 1 3 2
2 5 5 10 5
3 7 10 14 7
4 8 14 15 7
5 16 16 19 3
6 18 19 21

• Our event list is now complete, and we can turn our

attention to calculating the output measures of
performance.
• The easiest measure of performance to calculate is the
system time of the entities.
(1) System Time
• At time 20, only five different customers have exited the system.
• We do not need to be concerned about any entities still in the
system when we are calculating an observational type of
measure such as system time.
• We can calculate the average system time by summing all of
the individual system times and dividing by the number of
System Times recorded within 20 minutes.
(2) Queue Time
• We can similarly calculate the average queue time for each customer in a
timeframe of 20 minutes
• Time spent in Queue is the Service Time – Arrival Time
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time Queue Time
1 1 1 0
2 5 5 0
3 7 10 3
4 8 14 6
5 16 16 0
6 18 19 1

Average Queue Time = (0 + 0 + 3 + 6 + 0 + 1) / 6

AQT = 1.67 Minutes in Queue on Average
(3) Time Average Number in Queue
• For entity 1 at 1min and entity 2 at 5min, service is
available immediately.
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time Queue Time
1 1 1 0
2 5 5 0

• When entity 3 arrives at 7min, it must wait in line.

Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time Queue Time
3 7 10 3
(3) Time Average Number in Queue
• For entity 1 at 1min and entity 2 at 5min, service is
available immediately.
Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time Queue Time
1 1 1 0
2 5 5 0

• When entity 3 arrives at 7min, it must wait in line.

Arrival Number Arrival Time Begin Service Time Queue Time
3 7 10 3

• Then entity 4 arrives at 8min, joining entity 3 in line.

(3) Time Average Number in Queue
• At 10min, Entity 2 Finished Service. This means that two
entities, Entities 3 and 4, waited in the queue for the
period between 8min and 10min
• At 10min, there is only one entity, Entity 4, in the queue.
• The next relevant event is the service end of Entity 3 at
14min. After waiting in the queue between 10min and
14min, Entity 4 exits the queue and enters service,
making the queue empty
(3) Time Average Number in Queue
• The next event is the arrival of entity 5 at 16min. Because
there is no one in the queue, and the server is idle, entity
5 does not have any queue time.
• The next event that occurs is the arrival of entity 6 at
18min. The server is busy, so entity 6 enters the queue.
• The next relevant event is the end of service time for
entity 5 at 19 min. This event causes entity 6 to leave the
queue
(3) Time Average Number in Queue
(3) Time Average Number in Queue
(3) Time Average Number in Queue

A = 1 entity in the queue × (8 – 7) min = 1 entity-min

B = 2 entities in the queue × (10 – 8) min = 4 entity-min
C = 1 entity in the queue × (14 – 10) min = 4 entity-min
D = 1 entity in the queue × (19 – 18) min = 1 entity-min
(3) Time Average Number in Queue

1+4+4+1
= 0.50
20

A = 1 entity in the queue × (8 – 7) min = 1 entity-min

B = 2 entities in the queue × (10 – 8) min = 4 entity-min
C = 1 entity in the queue × (14 – 10) min = 4 entity-min
D = 1 entity in the queue × (19 – 18) min = 1 entity-min
(4) Average Resource Utilization
• The average utilization calculations are somewhat easier
to compute because the single resource can be only idle
or busy.
(4) Average Resource Utilization
1) Entity 1 arrives and finds the queue empty and the
server idle. So between 0 and 1 min, the utilization rate
is 0:
– 0 resources busy × (1 – 0) min = 0
2) The resource remains busy until the end of the service
time for entity 1. This occurs at 3min. This area is
calculated by:
– 1 resource busy × (3 – 1) min = 2 resource-min
(4) Average Resource Utilization
3) At 3 min, there are no entities waiting in the queue. The
next resource event occurs at 5min, when entity 2
arrives to an empty queue and an idle server:
– 0 resources busy × (5 – 3) min = 0 resource-min
4) The server stays busy with entity 2 until the end of entity
2’s service time at 10min:
– 1 resource busy × (10 – 5) min = 5 resource-min
(4) Average Resource Utilization
5) At the end of entity 2’s service time, entity 3 is already
waiting in the queue. Entity 3 immediately seizes the
resource for its service time of 4 min, until 14 min into the
simulation:
– 1 resource busy × (14 – 10) min = 4 resource-min
6) At the end of entity 3’s service time, entity 4 is waiting in
line. Entity 4 immediately seizes the resource for its
service time of 1min, until 15min into the simulation:
– 1 resource busy × (15 – 14) min = 1 resource-min
(4) Average Resource Utilization
7) At 15 min, there are no entities waiting in the queue. The
next entity arrives at 16 min:
– 0 resources busy × (16 – 15) min = 0 resource-min
8) At 16 min, entity 5 arrives and immediately seizes the
resource. Entity 5 uses the resource for 3 min, until 19
min into the simulation:
– 1 resource busy × (19 – 16) min = 3 resource-min
(4) Average Resource Utilization
9) At 19 min, entity 6 is already waiting in the queue. It
immediately seizes the resource at 19 min and keeps it
past our cutoff time of 20 min.
– 1 resources busy × (20 – 19) min = 1 resource-min
(4) Average Resource Utilization

0+2+0+5+4+1+0+ 3+ 1
20
(4) Average Resource Utilization

2+5+4+1+3+1
= 0.80
20