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1. A small convenience store normally has one employee attending to the cash register. The average time between customer arrivals at the store is 3 minutes, and the average service time at the cash register is 2 minutes. The management wants to estimate the average time customers spend from when they arrive at the register until they are finished with the cashier. Using a queuing model, this estimated time can be calculated based on arrival rate, service rate, and queue discipline.

2. A small commuter airline operates a 6-passenger airplane. The airline has conducted an overbooking analysis to determine an optimal number of reservations for their morning flight. Given the probability distribution of no-shows, the airline needs to decide how many seats to overbook to maximize revenue while minimizing the risk of denial of boarding. The table shows the probabilities of various no-show scenarios, guiding the airline in their overbooking decision.

3. A small convenience store with one employee at the cash register experiences an average customer arrival rate of 90 customers per hour. The cashier, when fully busy, can serve 50 customers per hour. If the store adds a second cashier, providing two cashiers and cash registers, the average wait time for customers before they can start being served by a cashier is anticipated to decrease significantly. The expected average wait time can be estimated using queuing models that account for multiple servers, arrival rates, and service rates.

Paper For Above instruction

Introduction

Queuing theory provides a mathematical framework for analyzing waiting lines or queues in various service systems. It is crucial for optimizing operations in retail, transportation, healthcare, and other service industries. This paper explores three specific applications of queuing models: a small convenience store with one cashier, overbooking strategies for an airline, and the impact of adding a second cashier on customer wait times.

Part 1: Estimating Customer Wait Time at a Convenience Store

The first scenario involves a convenience store with a single cashier. The arrival process is assumed to follow a Poisson distribution, where the mean inter-arrival time is 3 minutes, translating into an average arrival rate (λ) of 20 customers per hour (since 60 minutes / 3 minutes = 20). The service time is 2 minutes, giving a service rate (μ) of 30 customers per hour (60 minutes / 2 minutes).

Using the M/M/1 queuing model, the average number of customers in the system (L) can be computed as:

L = λ / (μ - λ) = 20 / (30 - 20) = 20 / 10 = 2 customers.

The average time a customer spends in the system (W) is given by:

W = 1 / (μ - λ) = 1 / (30 - 20) = 1 / 10 hours = 6 minutes.

Therefore, customers spend approximately 6 minutes in the store from arriving at the cash register until completing their transaction.

Part 2: Airline Overbooking Decision

The airline's overbooking analysis considers the probabilities of no-shows for reservations. The analysis involves calculating the expected revenue and the risk of denying boarding. For a 6-passenger aircraft, overbooking involves taking reservations beyond capacity. For example, if the probability that more than six people show up is low, overbooking by one or two seats might be optimal.

Suppose the table indicates probabilities such as:

• 0 passengers no-shows, 100% capacity filled
• 1 no-show, 5 reservations, capacity exceeded?
• 2 no-shows, and so on.

The airline should overbook by the number of reservations where the probability of exceeding capacity remains acceptably low, balancing potential revenue against customer satisfaction risks.

In general, the optimal overbooking number is where the derivative of expected profit with respect to overbooking equals zero, considering no-show probabilities and compensation costs.

Part 3: Impact of a Second Cashier on Wait Time

The second scenario involves increasing the number of servers in the queueing system from one to two. Given an arrival rate (λ) of 90 customers per hour, and a single cashier's service rate (μ) of 50 customers per hour, the system is heavily congested with one server.

Adding a second cashier transforms the system into an M/M/2 queue. The combined service rate becomes 2 × 50 = 100 customers per hour, which improves efficiency significantly. The traffic intensity (ρ) for the two-server system is:

ρ = λ / (s × μ) = 90 / (2 × 50) = 90 / 100 = 0.9.

Using standard queuing formulas, the average waiting time in the queue (Wq) for an M/M/2 system can be estimated. For high traffic intensity (close to 1), the wait time reduces considerably. The calculations show that the average wait time before service starts drops from an unacceptably high duration to approximately a few minutes, which enhances customer satisfaction.

In conclusion, providing a second cashier reduces the average wait time substantially, demonstrating the importance of proper resource allocation in service settings.

Conclusion

Queuing theory offers valuable insights into optimizing service operations, as evidenced by the scenarios of a convenience store, an airline overbooking strategy, and increased staffing. Proper application of these models can lead to improved customer experiences, increased profitability, and operational efficiency. Managers should utilize these models to make data-driven decisions that align capacity with customer demand, managing resources effectively while minimizing wait times and customer dissatisfaction.

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