2. Objectives:
• Discuss the fundamental concepts of waiting lines.
• Determine the managerial implications of waiting lines.
3. • Waiting lines abound in all sorts of service systems and
they are non-valued-added occurrences.
• For customers, having to wait for service can range from
being acceptable (usually short waits), to being annoying
(longer waits), to being a matter of life and death (e.g. in
emergencies).
• For businesses, the cost of waiting come from lower
productivity and competitive disadvantage.
• For society, the costs are wasted resources (e.g., fuel
consumption of cars stuck in traffic) and reduced quality
of life.
4. • Waiting lines are commonly found wherever customers
arrive randomly for services. Some examples of waiting
lines we encounter in our daily lives include the lines at:
▫ Market checkouts
▫ Fast-food restaurants
▫ Airport ticket counters
▫ Theaters
▫ Post offices
▫ Tool booths
6. The Goal of Waiting Line Analysis
• The goal of queuing is essentially to minimize cost. There
are two basic categories of cost in a queuing situation:
those associated with customers waiting for the
service and those associated with capacity.
• The goal of waiting-line analysis is to balance the cost of
providing a level of service capacity with the cost of
customers waiting for service.
7.
8. Characteristics of Waiting Lines
1. Population source
2. Number of servers (channels)
3. Arrival and service patterns
4. Queue discipline (order of service)
9. Characteristics of Waiting Lines
1. Population source
The approach to use in analyzing a queuing problem
depends on whether the potential number of
customers is limited. There are two possibilities:
infinite-source and finite-source populations.
10. Characteristics of Waiting Lines
2. Number of Servers (Channels)
The capacity of queuing systems is a function of the
capacity of each server and the number of servers
being used. The term server and channel are
synonymous, and it is generally assumed that each
channel can handle one customer at a time. Systems
can be either single- or multiple channel.
11. Characteristics of Waiting Lines
3. Arrival and Service Patterns
Waiting lines are a direct result of arrival and service
variability. They occur because random, highly
variable arrival and service patterns cause systems to
be temporarily overloaded.
In many instances, the variabilities can be described
by theoretical distributions (Poisson and negative
exponential distributions).
16. 4. Queuing Discipline
It refers to the order in which customers are
processed. All but one of the models to be described
shortly assume that service is provided on a first-
come, first-served basis.
17. Measures of Waiting Line Performance
• The operations manager typically looks at the five
measures when evaluating existing or proposed service
systems:
1. The average number of customers waiting, either in
line or in the system.
2. The average time customers wait, either in line or in
the system.
3. System utilization, which refers to the percentage of
capacity utilized.
4. The implied cost of a given level of capacity and its
related waiting line.
5. The probability that an arrival will have to wait for
service.
18. Managerial Implications of Waiting
Lines
• Managers have a number of very good reasons to be
concerned with waiting lines. Chief among those reasons
are the following:
1. The cost to provide waiting space.
2. A possible loss of business should customers leave the
line before being served or refuse to wait at all.
3. A possible loss of goodwill.
4. A possible reduction in customer satisfaction.
5. The resulting congestion that may disrupt other
business operations and/or customers.
19. References
Juneja, P. (n.d.). MSG Management Study Guide.
Waiting Line (Queue) Management - Meaning and
Important Concepts. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from
https://www.managementstudyguide.com/waiting-line-
management.htm
Stevenson, W. J. (2005). Operations Management (8th
ed.). McGraw-Hill Education (Asia).
