Chapter 6.

Waiting Line Analysis

Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

The Little’s Law represents the steady state relationship between Throughput,
Flow Time and Inventory in form of RT=I. Using this formula, and also the
using the unit load of each resource pool, Tp. And capacity of each resource
pool (c/Tp), we can compute utilizations. Using utilization (U) of each resource
pool, and c the number of resource units in each resource pool we can compute
the number of low units in each resource pool. Summation of the member of
flow units in each resource pool provide us with the total number of flow units
in all resource poos, i.e., in the process. That is what we refer to it as Ip
(number of flow units in the processes). If we add Tp of all the resource pools,
we then get the theoretical flow time (ThFt), by using the Little Law R(ThFT) =
Ip, we can find Ip in a different way. If the Ips obtained through the two
procedures are not equal, we have made a mistake, either in computing ThFT
or in not including c. However, a process does not contain the process alone,
usually, a waiting line exists in front of each process (even is capacity is larger
or much larger than demand Rp>>R), Why?

A Simple Process

R Process R
Waiting
Line

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Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

1. The Application to Waiting Lines:

In earlier chapters, we were introduced to formulas like:

I. Flow time T =T i+T p

 Explains that flow time (T ) is equal to buffer time (T i) + processing time (
T p)

II. Inventory I =I i+ I p
 Explains that Inventory ( I ) is equal to the number of flow units in the
buffer ( I i) + the total number of flow units in all processors ( I p)

III. I i=R x T i
 Explains that the number of flow units in the buffer ( I i) is equal to
throughput ( R x buffer time (T i)

IV. I p=R x T p

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Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

 Explains that the total number of flow units in all processors ( I p) is equal
to throughput x processing time (T p)

Hence we can conclude that:

I Ii I p
R= = =
T Ti T p

We also have to take into consideration the formulas that we learn in Capacity
such as:

I. U =R / R p
 Explains that utilization is equal to throughput ( R ) divided capacity ( R p)

II. R p =c /T p
 Explains that Capacity ( R p) is equal to the number of processors (c )
divided by processing time (T p)

III. R=I p /T p
 Explains that throughput ( R ) is equal to the total number of flow units in
all processors ( I p) divided by processing time (T p)

Hence we conclude that:

U=
R
=
( )( )
Ip
Rp T p
c
Tp
=
Ip
c

Ip
U=
c
B. Characteristics of Waiting Lines

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Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

1. Variability in arrival time and service time leads to

a) Idleness of resources
b) Waiting time of flow units

As utilization goes up, the number of people in the buffer goes up. The other
one is variability; If every four minutes, exactly every four minutes, one
customer arrives, and it takes exactly three minutes for that flow unit to pass
the processor, then we never observe the waiting line.

In this case, utilization is one hundred percent, that is the maximum possible
utilization, but there is absolutely no variability, neither in inter-arrival time nor
flow time, then we never see flow units in the buffer.

2. We are interested in two measures

a) Average waiting time of flow units in the waiting line and in the
system (Waiting line + Processor).
b) Average number of flow units waiting in the waiting line (to be then
processed).
C. Operational Performance Measures

As explained earlier, if we know R , and we know T p, we can easily computer I p.

Therefore all we need to compute is T i∧I i . And if we know one of them because
we know throughput ( R ), then we can computer the other one.

I. Flow time T =T i+T p

II. Inventory I =I i+ I p

We have an approximation formula for Ii and we have exact formula for some
specific cases of waiting line.

D. Utilization – Variability - Delay Curve

The graph below explains the relationship between utilization and variability.
As utilization increases, the waiting time increases and as variability increases,
the waiting time increases and vice versa.
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Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

1. Utilization and Variability:

A. Our two measures of effectiveness (average number of flow units

waiting and their average waiting time) are driven by
1. Utilization: The higher the utilization the longer the waiting
line/time.

2. Variability: The higher the variability, the longer the waiting

line/time.

B. High utilization U =R / R por low safety capacity Rs=R p−R , due to

1. High inflow rate R

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Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

2. Low processing rate R p =c /T p , which may be due to small-scale c

and/or slow speed 1/T p

2. Drivers of Process Performance:

Variability in the inter arrival time and processing time is measured using
standard deviation (or Variance). Higher standard deviation (or Variance)
means greater variability. The formula for variance is:
V ( X )=E ¿
Standard deviation is computed by taking the square root of variance. The
formula for standard deviation is:
σ X = √ V ( x )=√ E ¿ ¿
Standard deviation is not enough to understand the extent of variability. Does
a standard deviation of 20 for an average of 80 represents more variability or a
standard deviation of 150 for an average of 1000?
Coefficient of Variation: The ratios of the standard deviation of inter arrival time
(or processing time) to the mean (average).
We refer to coefficient of variation of inter-arrival time as C a, and coefficient of
variation of processing time as C p, capital C . The number of servers we show it
by small c , coefficient of variation, we show it by capital C . Capital C small a for
coefficient of variation of inter-arrival time, and capital C small p for coefficient
of variation of processing time.
C a=¿coefficient of variation forinterarrival time ¿
C p=¿coefficient of variation for processing time¿
3. The Queue Length Approximation Formula:

The approximation formula is used for the number of flow units in the buffer. Ii,
the number of flow units in the buffer is equal to utilization to the power of two
times one plus the number of servers divided by one minus the utilization and
we refer to it as utilization affect or u-part. Utilization affect is multiplied by
variability affect. And that is squared coefficient of variability of inter-arrival
time plus square of coefficient of variability of processing time divided by two.
And we refer to it as variability affect or v-part.

U √ 2( c+1) Ca +Cp
2 2
I i= x
1−U 2

And we have to keep in mind that:

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Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

R
 U= , where R p=c /T p
Rp
 C a and C p are the Coefficients of Variation
 Standard Deviation/Mean of the inter-arrival or processing times
(assumed independent)

4. Factors affecting Queue Length:

A. Utilization effect; the queue length increases rapidly as U approaches

1.

U √ 2( c+1)
I i=
1−U

B. Variability effect; the queue length increases as the variability in inter

arrival and processing times increases.

2 2
Ca +Cp
2

C. While the capacity is not fully utilized, if there is variability in arrival or

in processing times, queues will build up and customers will have to
wait.

E. Coefficient of Variations for Alternative Distributions:

 T p: average processing time: R p =c /T p
 T a: average inter arrival time: Ra =1/T a
 S p : standard deviation of the processing time
 Sa : standard deviation of the inter arrival time

If processing time does not have a specific distribution such as exponential,

Poisson, or constant, and if its average isT p, and its standard deviation is S p ,
then its coefficient of variation, is S p divided by T p.

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Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

The same is for inter-arrival time. If inter-arrival time is a general distribution,

and by general distribution we mean it is not Poisson, not exponential, and it is
not constant, and it has an average of T aand standard deviation of Sa , then for
inter-arrival time, coefficient of variation is Sa divided by T .
This is explained by the table below:
Inter arrival time
or Processing Time General (G) Poisson (M) Exponential (M) Constant (D)
distribution
Mean arrival time
or Processing Time
T p (¿ T a) T p (¿ T a) T p (¿ T a) T p (¿ T a)
Standard deviation
ofInter arrival time S p (¿ T a ) T p (¿ T a) T p (¿ T a) 0
or Processing Time
Coefficient of
Variation of Inter
arrival time or
S p /T p (¿ S a /T a) 1 1 0
Processing Time

Therefore exponential distribution shows the time between two events and
Poisson distribution shows the number of events over a specific time period.

Example 1:

A sample of 10 observations on inter arrival times in minutes are:

10, 10, 2, 10, 1, 3, 7, 9, 2, 6 minutes.

T a=¿ average of sample = 6 minutes

1 1
Ra = = arrivals per minute
Ta 6
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Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

Sa =¿ standard deviation, found through the use of excel: 3.94

C a=Sa /T a = 3.94/6 = 0.66

Example 1b:

A sample of 10 observations on inter arrival times in minutes are:

7, 1, 7, 2, 8, 7, 4, 8, 5, 1 minutes.

T p=¿ average of sample = 5 minutes

1 1
Rp= = arrivals per minute
Tp 5

S p=¿ standard deviation, found through the use of excel: 2.83

C p=S p /T p = 2.83 /5 = 0.57

Using examples 1 and 1b, we are able to figure out how many people are in the
waiting line and what is the safety capacity with the use of the queue length
approximation formula. We can also compute what is the waiting time in the
line and system. (Example 1c)

Example 1c:

1
Ra = per minute or 10 per hour.
6

1
Rp= per minute or 12 per hour.
5

Ra < R p . Since Ra =R ,U =R/ R p = (1/6)/(1/5) = 0.83

C a= 0.66 and C p= 0.57

By using the queue length approximation formula, we have the following:

0.83√ 2 (1+1 ) 0.66 +0.57

2 2
I i= x
1−0.83 2
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Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

I i=¿ 1.56 passengers waiting in line.

To compute safety capacity, we use Rs=R p−R .

Rs = (1/5) – (1/6) = 1/30 passengers per minute or (60)(1/30) = 2 passenger

per hour.

We want to compute what is the waiting time for each person in the waiting
line. The Little’s law states that I = RT, therefore R T i =I i . We can conclude that
T i=I i /R .

T i=¿1.56/(1/6) = 9.4 minutes

The approximate waiting time in the line is 9.4 minutes. We can also calculate
the waiting time in the whole system.

T =T i+T p

Because we know that T p is 5 minute, the waiting time in the whole system is
14.4 minutes (5 + 9.4).

Using Little’s Law (I = RT) we are able to calculate the total number of people
in the system.

I =RT =( 16 )( 14.4 )=¿ 2.4 people

We know that there are 1.56 people in the buffer. To calculate the total number
of people in the processor, we add 1.56 to .83, the arrivals per minute to get
2.39.

Now let us suppose we have two servers instead of one, are we able to
calculate the new waiting line and time? The following examples show how two
servers change the waiting line and waiting time.

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Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

Example 1c-a:

1
Ra = per minute or 10 per hour.
6

2
Rp= per minute or 24 per hour.
5

Ra < R p . Since Ra =R ,U =R/ R p = (1/6)/(2/5) = (5/12) = 0.417

C a= 0.66 and C p= 0.57

By using the queue length approximation formula, we have the following:

0.417√ 2 (2+1 ) 0.66 +0.57

2 2
I i= x
1−0.417 2

I i=¿ 0.076 passengers waiting in line.

To compute safety capacity, we use Rs=R p−R .

Rs = (2/5) – (1/6) = 7/30 passengers per minute or (60)(7/30) = 14 passenger

per hour.

We want to compute what is the waiting time for each person in the waiting
line. The Little’s law states that I = RT, therefore R T i =I i . We can conclude that
T i=I i /R .

T i=¿0.076/(1/6) = 0.46 minutes

The approximate waiting time in the line is 9.4 minutes. We can also calculate
the waiting time in the whole system.

T =T i+T p

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Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

Because we know that T p is 5 minute, the waiting time in the whole system is
5.46 minutes (5 + 0.46).

Using Little’s Law (I = RT) we are able to calculate the total number of people
in the system.

I =RT = ( 16 )( 5.46 )=¿ 0.91 people

We know that there are 0.076 people in the buffer. To calculate the total
number of people in the processor, we add 0.076 to 0.417, the arrivals per
minute to get 0.91.

Example 2:

A call center has 11 operators. The arrival rate of calls is 200 calls per hour.
Each of the operators can serve 20 customers per hour. Assume inter-arrival
time and processing time follow Poisson and Exponential, respectively. What is
the average waiting time (time before a customer’s call is answered?)

By using the queue length approximation formula, we have the following:

0.91√ 2( 11+1 ) 1 +1
2 2
I i= x
1−0.91 2

I i=6.89

Therefore:

I =RT =200 ( T i ) =6.89

T i=¿ 2.1 minutes

Example 2a:

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Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

The average waiting time before a call is answered is 2.1 minutes. Now let us
suppose the service time is constant. Will the waiting time be more or less than
2.1 minutes?

0.91√ 2( 11+1 ) 1 + 0
2 2
I i= x
1−0.91 2

I i=3.45

Therefore:

I =RT =200 ( T i ) =3.45

T i=¿ 1.03 minutes

Example 3:

Vons contains 7 checkout stands. The arrival rate of customers is 175 per hour.
Each of the checkout stands can serve 15 customers per hour. What is the
average waiting time (time before a customer gets to the cashier?)

By using the queue length approximation formula, we have the following:

0.92√ 2( 7+1 ) 1 +1
2 2
I i= x
1−0.92 2

I i=8.95 minutes
Example 4:
A small room has been assigned on a University campus, for honor students to
have a quiet place to study by themselves. Since the room is so small, the only
other use for it would be storage. The room is open 16 hours every day. Only
one student can use the room at a time. The dean wants to know if the room is
being fully utilized by students, or of the room should be changed to a storage
space. The best SOM professor at the University was assigned to solve this
problem. In his research, he found that students arrive at the room at a rate of
3 per hour following Poisson distribution. The students stay in the room an
average of 15 minutes and deviation of 5 minutes.
a. What percentage of time is the room idle (rounded)?
( 3∗15 )
¿ 1− =25 %
60

b. What is the utilization rate of the room?

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Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

( 3∗15 )
¿ =75 %
60

c. What is the average number of students in the waiting line?

√2( 1+1)
0 .75
Ii= =2 .25
(1−0. 75 )
d. How much time, on average, does a student spend in the waiting line?
I =RT =3T =¿ 2.25

T =.75 hrs=45 minutes

Example 5:
Yogurtland has one cashier. Every 5 minutes, a new customer comes in. It
takes the cashier about 5 minutes to weigh the yogurt and ring up each
customer. Yogurtland has been losing customers to the new frozen yogurt shop
next door. In order to stop this, Yogurtland has implemented a new policy to
pay customers waiting in line. The customer will get paid 1 dollar per minute of
waiting time. A SOM professor has been recruited from a nearby university to
analyze the cost of the new pay while you wait policy. Preliminary studies the
SOM professor did, indicated that there are an average of .5 people waiting in
line. Assume that arrivals follow Poisson and service time follows exponential
distribution.
a. What is the capacity of the cashier per hour?

It takes a cashier 5 minutes per customer, therefore, 60 minutes / 5

minutes per customer = 12 customers.
b. What proportion of the time is the cashier busy?
R
U = =¿ 6/12 = 50%
Rp

c. On average, how long does a customer wait in line?

0 . 52 1+1
Ii= × =0 . 5
(1−0 .5 ) 2

.05 * 60 minutes = 3 minutes

d. What is the hourly cost of the new policy?

The hourly cost of the new policy is 1 * 60 = $60. Because there are .5
customers in the line at all ties, .5 * 60 = $30.

e. What is the most Yogurtland would be willing to pay for another cashier?
Answer = $30.

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Chapter 6. Waiting Line Analysis

Another cashier would increase Rp to 24 customers per hour. If Rp is 24 per

hour, there would be no waiting line because there are only 12 customer per
hour. Yogurtland would only be willing to pay the amount that would be saved
by having a new cashier.

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