Queuing Theory

(Waiting Line Model)

Dr. T. T. Kachwala
Queuing Theory or Waiting line Models

Queuing theory or Waiting line models are applicable in

situations where there is a collection of customers waiting to
avail the services from a queuing system.

Consider an example of a passenger purchasing a ticket from

a ticket window (assuming only one window). Passenger is
the Customer, Window attendant is the Server, Collection of
passengers waiting to buy ticket is a Queue

A waiting line or queue forms whenever the current demand

for some type of service exceeds the current capacity to
provide that service.
 Single Channel Queuing System - Definitions

A single channel Queuing system is characterized by a single Queue

and a single Server
Following is a schematic diagram of Single Channel Queuing System

 Queue is an aggregation or collection of a set of discreet items that wants

to avail the services of a Queuing system, i.e. Queue is a collection of
customers
 Customer is a discreet item that wants to avail the services of the Queuing
system.
 Server is a discreet item that provides the services in the Queuing system
 Queuing Theory - Basic Concepts

 A customer is said to be a part of the queuing system if he is either

waiting in the queue or is being served
 When the average arrival rate of a customer exceeds the average
service rate of the server, a queue is formed. Formation of Queue
occasionally can lead to loss of customers particularly if alternate
server is available. Such a loss of customer is a poor reflection of
management.
 In any application of queuing theory the time spent waiting is
undesirable, however, adding more servers is not always the most
economical strategy for improving service, because if there are more
servers than required it may lead to another type of problem namely
idle time of the server which is equally undesirable for the
management. So business needs to determine ways to keep waiting
time within tolerable limits.
Queuing Theory - Basic Concepts

Queuing analysis can be used by the manager to determine the optimum

number of servers by balancing waiting time of customers on one hand & idle
time of the server on the other.

Waiting line models have been developed to help managers understand and
make better decisions concerning the operations of waiting lines. They consist
of mathematical formulae and relationships that can be used to determine the
operating characteristics (performance measures) for a waiting line which are
based on certain assumptions.
Examples of Single Channel Queuing System

1. Letters waiting to be typed by a secretary

2. Machines awaiting repair by a mechanic

3. Product waiting for next operation in batch production

4. Customer waiting for a teller at a local bank

5. Patients waiting for a doctor at a dispensary

6. Cars waiting for a petrol fill at a petrol pump station

7. Aircraft waiting for the runway at the airport

Examples of Single Channel Queuing System

1. A queue need not consist of people. It might consist of ships

awaiting an unloading dock, failed machines awaiting repair, or
computer programs awaiting execution.
2. Nor does a queue need to be a physical one forming in front of a
physical structure that provides service. For example, consider a
company that repairs failed duplicating machines dispersed
throughout some geographical area. The sheet of paper that lists the
locations of the failed machines in the order in which they are to be
repaired signifies a Queue.
3. As another example, consider the callers to an airline’s phone
reservation system who are put “on hold.” Such callers do not
physically join a queue; instead, they are in an electronic queue
that records the order in which the calls are received.
Queuing Analysis

Rather than provide a mathematically rigorous introduction, this

course (lecture) provides a Qualitative introduction to the topic. The
objective is to learn the type of information that queuing analysis
provides and how a manager can interpret and apply this
information.

Providing too much service capacity is costly (owing to idle

employees or equipment) and providing too little service capacity is
costly (owing to waiting members of the queue). The purpose of
queuing analysis is to provide information a manager can use to
determine an acceptable level of service.
Assumptions of Single Channel Queuing System

1. Arrival rate of the customers are assumed to be

Poisson distributed.

2. Service rate of the server is assumed to be negative

exponentially distributed.

3. There is a single server in the system.

4. Customers observe a single queue

5. Queue discipline is First Come First Serve (FCFS)

Single Channel Queuing System (M/M/1)

Explanation of M/M/1

M/M/1 is Kendal’s notation for Waiting Line Model. It

simply means that the arrival of the customer is Poisson
distributed, service rate of the server is negative
exponentially distributed and there is single server in the
system.
Characteristics of Single Channel Queuing System
(M/M/1)

 Arrival of the customer in the system is Poisson distributed with

the average arrival rate ‘’

 The reciprocal
1 is the average inter-arrival time
λ

 Service rate of the server is negative exponentially distributed with

the average service rate ‘’

 The reciprocal μ1 is the average service time

Characteristics of Single Channel Queuing System
(M/M/1)

Typically in Queuing analysis, the values of (lambda)  &

(mu)  are given. One has to obtain the following Operating
Characteristics:

1. The traffic intensity  (rho) or pw – the probability that

customer has to wait or server utilization factor

2. The probability (or percentage of time) that a specified

number of customers are present in the queuing system.
(pn) - this includes customers waiting in the queue and
undergoing service

3. The probability (or percentage of time) that no (zero)

customers are present in the queuing system (p0)
Characteristics of Single Channel Queuing System
(M/M/1)

4. The average number of customers in the queuing system.

(L - This includes customers waiting in the queue and
undergoing service.)

5. The average number of customers in the queue.

(Lq - this excludes customers undergoing service).

6. The average time each customer spends in the queue.

(wq - this excludes time spent undergoing service).

7. The average time each customer spends in the queuing

system. (w - This includes time spent waiting in the queue
and undergoing service.)
Characteristics of Single Channel Queuing System
(M/M/1)

1. Traffic intensity or pw : It is the ratio of the average arrival rate to the

average service rate
λ average arrival rate
Traffic Intensity or pw = ρ  μ  average service rate

2. Probability of obtaining ‘n’ number of Customers = Pn = n  P0

3. Probability of obtaining zero number of Customers = P0 = 1 - 

ρ
4. Average number of Customers in the system = L 
1- ρ
Characteristics of Single Channel Queuing System
(M/M/1)

5. Average number of Customers in the Queue = Lq = L - 

Lq
6. Average time a customer spends in the Queue = w 
q λ

7. Average time a customer spends in the system = w = w q  1

μ
Interpretation of Characteristics of Single Channel
Queuing System (M/M/1)

Traffic Intensity (): is defined as a ratio of average arrival rate to

average service rate (mathematically  =  / ). To understand the
significance of , consider the following two extreme possibilities:

a)  >> , ( = 60 customers / hour &  = 6 customers / hour) then

 >> 1. In such a situation queue length will tend to infinity.
Conversely, when  >> 1, the queue length is infinite

b)  << , ( = 6 customers / hour &  = 60 customers / hour) then

 << 1. In such a situation queue length will be finite.
Conversely, when  << 1, the queue length is finite
Interpretation of Characteristics of Single Channel
Queuing System (M/M/1)

Average number of Customers in the Queue = Lq: Suppose an

analysis of a queuing system produces the result that Lq= 5.
Sometimes we might observe 3 customers in the queue, sometimes
8 customers, sometimes 0 customers, and so on. Thus Lq is an
average or mean value. It provides the best estimate of how many
customers we expect to find in the queue. Note that, because Lq is
an average, it will usually have a non integer value such as 5.71.
Similar interpretations also apply to the other operating
characteristics.