“Delay is the enemy of efficiency” and “Waiting is the enemy of Utilization”

What is Queuing Theory ?

Queuing theory is the mathematical study of
waiting lines or queues .
Queueing theory is generally considered a
branch of Operation Research because the results
are often used when making business decisions
about the resources needed to provide service. It is
applicable in a wide variety of situations that may be
encountered in business, commerce, industry, public
service and engineering. Applications are frequently
encountered in Customer service situations as well
as transport and telecommunication .
 Waiting Line Examples

Situation Arrivals Servers Service Process

Bank Customers Teller Deposit etc.

Doctor’s Patient Doctor Treatment

office

Traffic Cars Light Controlled

intersection passage

Assembly line Parts Workers Assembly

 Queue

The theoretical study of waiting lines, expressed

in mathematical terms :

input server output

queue

Delay= queue time +service time

 Elements of a Queuing System

The basic elements of queuing system are

as follows :
 Input Process

 Queue Discipline

 Service Mechanism
 Input Process
This element is concerned with the pattern in
which the customers arrive for service .It can
be described by following three factors :
 Size of the Queue.
 Customer’s Behavior .
-Patient Customer
-Impatient Customer
- Balked
-Reneged
 Jockeyed
 Queue Discipline
It’s a rule according to which customers are
selected for service when a queue has been
formed . Different types of Queue discipline
are :
 FCFS / FIFO (First Come First Serve/ First in
First Out)
 LIFO (Last In First Out)
 SIRO( Selection for Service In Random Order)
 Service Mechanism
The service mechanism is concerned with service
time and service facilities .
The service time is the time interval from the
commencement of service to the completion of the
service .
Service facilities can be of the following types :
- Single Queue-One Server .
- Single Queue-Several Servers.
- Several Queues-One Server.
- Several Queues-Several Servers .
 Operating Characteristics of a QS
 Expected nos. of Customers in the system : Denoted by E (n) or L . It is the
average nos. of Customers in the system, both waiting and in the service .
Here , n –No. of Customers .
 Expected nos. of Customers in the Queue :
Denoted by E (m) . It is the average nos. of Customers waiting in the queue .
Here, m=n-1 i.e., excluding the customer being served .
 Expected Waiting Time in the system : Denoted by E (v) or W . It is the
average total time spent by a customer in the system . It is generally taken to be
the waiting time +servicing time .
 Expected Waiting Time in the Queue: Denoted by E (w) or Wq . It is the
average time spent by a customer in the queue before the commencement of his
service .
 The Server Utilization Factor (or Busy Period) :
Denoted by P(= Lambda/Mu) is the proportion of time that a server actually
spends with the customers .
Where, Lambda : Average no. of Customers arriving per unit of time .
Mu : Average no. of Customers completing service per unit
time . The Server Utilization Time is also known as “Traffic Intensity of the
QS “.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A WAITING-LINE SYSTEM

Arrival Characteristics
Waiting-Line Characteristics
Service Facility Characteristics
Measuring the Queue’s
Performance
Queuing Costs
 Waiting Line Terminology

 Queue: Waiting line

 Arrival: 1 person, machine, part, etc.
that arrives and demands service
 Queue discipline: Rules for determining
the order that arrivals receive service
 Channel: Number of waiting lines

 Phase: Number of steps in service

 Input Characteristics
Input Source
(Population)

Size Arrival Behavior

Pattern

Infinite Finite Random Non- Patient Impatient

Random

Poisson Other Estimate Move from

Wt and decide one to other
 Waiting Line Characteristics

Waiting Line

Length Queue
Discipline

FIFO
Unlimited Limited (FCFS) Random Priority
 Service Characteristics
Service
Facility

Configuration

Single Multi-
Channel Channel

Single
Phase
 Single-Channel, Single-Phase
System
Service system
Served
Arrivals Queue units
Service
facility

Ships at Ship unloading system Empty

sea Waiting ship line ships
Dock
 Single-Channel, Multi-Phase
System
Service system
Served
Arrivals Queue units
Service Service
facility facility

Cars McDonald’s drive-through

Cars
in area Waiting cars & food
Pay Pick-up
 Multi-Channel, Single Phase
System
Service system
Served
units
Service
Arrivals Queue facility

Service
facility

Example: Bank customers wait in single line for one

of several tellers.
 Multi-Channel, Multi-Phase
System
Service system
Served
units
Service Service
Arrivals Queue facility facility

Service Service
facility facility

Example: At a laundromat, customers use one of several

washers, then one of several dryers.
 Assumptions of the Basic
Simple Queuing Model
• Arrivals are served on a first come, first served basis
• Arrivals are independent of preceding arrivals
• Arrival rates are described by the Poisson
probability distribution, and customers come from a
very large population .
• Service times vary from one customer to another,
and are independent of one and other ; the average
service time is known .
• Service times are described by the negative
exponential probability distribution .
• The service rate is greater than the arrival rate
 Waiting-Line Performance
Measures
• Expected no. of arrivals per time period (Mean Arrival time); 
• Expected no. of items served per time period (Mean Service rate) ; 
• Average queue time, E(w) / Wq
• Average queue length, Lq
• Average time in system, E(v) or W
• Average number in system: E(n) or L
• Probability of idle service facility, P0
• System utilization/ Traffic Intensity, 
• Probability of k units in system, Pn > k
Simple (M/M/1) Model Equations

Average number of units Ls =
 -
in System
1
Average time in Ws =
 -
system 2

Average number of units Lq =
 ( -  )
in Queue

Average time in queue Wq =
 ( -  )

System utilization  =

Simple (M/M/1) Probability
Equations

Probability of 0 units in system, i.e., system idle:


P0 = 1 -  = 1 -

Probability of more than k units in system:

Pn>k = () k+1


Where n is the number of units in the system
 Remember:  &  are Rates

  = Mean number of If average service time is 15

minutes, then μ is 4
arrivals per time period customers/hour
– e.g., 3 units/hour
  = Mean number of
people or items served
per time period
– e.g., 4 units/hour
• 1/ = 15
minutes/unit © 1984-1994 T/Maker Co.
 Problems based
on
Queueing Theory
 Problem-1
A foreign bank is considering opening a drive –in
window for customer service . Management
estimates that customers will arrive for service at the
rate of 12 per hour . The teller whom it is considering
to staff the window can serve the customers at the
rate of one every 3 minutes . Assuming Poisson
arrivals and Exponential service, find :
(i) Utilization of Teller . (ii) Average no. in the
system .
(iii) Average waiting time in the line .
(iv) Average waiting time in the line .
 Problem-2
An airlines organization has one reservation clerk on
duty in its local branch at any given time . The clerk
handles information regarding passenger reservation and
flight timings . Assume that the no. of customers arriving
during any given period is Poisson distributed with
arrival rate of 8 per hour and that the reservation clerk
can serve a customer in six minutes on an average , with
exponentially distributed service time .
(i) What is the probability that the system is busy ?
(ii) What is the average time a customer spends in the
system ?
(iii) What is the average length of the Queue?
(iv)What is the average no. of customers in the system ?