Services Processes and

Waiting Line Analysis

Selected Slides from Jacobs et al, 9th Edition
Operations and Supply Management
Chapter 8 and 8A
Edited, Annotated and Supplemented by
Peter Jurkat

8-2

Service Businesses

A service business is the management of organizations whose primary

business requires interaction with the customer to produce the service

Customer is the entire focus of attention a common

definition of quality is satisfaction of the customer (more
on quality later)

Facilities-based services: Where the customer must go to

the service facility
Field-based services: Where the production and
consumption of the service takes place in the customers
environment

Characteristics of Workers, Operations, and Innovations Relative to the Degree of

Customer/Service Contact

8-3

Service Blueprint, Failure Anticipation, and Poka-Yokes

Complete blueprint (p262-3)

identifies 16 failure opportunities

8-4

8-5

8-6

Three Contrasting Service Designs

The production line approach (ex.

McDonalds)
The self-service approach (ex. automatic
teller machines)
The personal attention approach (ex.
Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company)

Well Designed Services

1. Each element of the service
system is consistent with
the operating focus of the
firm
2. It is user-friendly

3. It is robust (avoid failures,

poka-yokes)
4. It is structured so that
consistent performance by
its people and systems is
easily maintained

5. It provides effective links

between the back office
and the front office so that
nothing falls between[sic]
the cracks

6. It manages the evidence of

service quality in such a
way that customers see the
value of the service
provided
7. It is cost-effective

Lets consider Problem 8.4, p272

Behavior and Guarantees

The front-end and back-end

of the encounter are not
created equal

Segment the pleasure,

combine the pain

Let the customer control the

process

Pay attention to norms and

rituals

People are easier to blame

than systems

Let the punishment fit the

crime in service recovery
(task error vs. treatment
error vs.

Recent research suggests:

Any guarantee is better
than no guarantee
Involve the customer as
well as employees in the
design
Avoid complexity or
legalistic language
Do not quibble or wriggle
when a customer invokes
a guarantee
Make it clear that you are
happy for customers to
invoke the guarantee

Waiting Lines
Almost all services can have waiting lines, even
along manufacturing line
Waiting lines involve both layout and service
management
Can be the most damaging of service failures
since customer never gets to experience the
service
Waiting lines also called queues (first in, first out)
Trade-off: more service (cost) vs. longer waits
(customer dissatisfaction)

Managing Queues
1. Determine an acceptable
waiting time for your
customers
2. Try to divert your
customers attention
when waiting
3. Inform your customers of
what to expect
4. Keep employees not
serving the customers
out of sight
5. Segment customers

6. Train your servers to be

friendly
7. Encourage customers to
come during the slack
periods
8. Take a long-term
perspective toward
getting rid of the queues

Components of the Queuing System

Servicing System
Servers
Queue or
Customer
Arrivals

Waiting Line
Exit

Customer Service Population Sources

Population Source

Finite

Example: Number of
machines needing
repair when a
company only has
three machines.

Infinite
(without known bound)

Example: The
number of people
who could wait in a
line for gasoline.

Arrival Processes: (usually measured by time between arrivals)

Constant (e.g., assembly line)
Deterministic (e.g., based on occurrence of another event)
Random/Stochastic (e.g., Exponential, Erlang)
Batched (e.g., elevator, bus load at rest stop)
Depends on number in system (e.g., machine repair)

Service Pattern

Service
Pattern

Constant

Example: Items
coming down an
automated assembly
line.

Variable

Example: People
spending time
shopping.
Same classification as arrival process

The Queuing System

Length
Single Q, single S
Single Q, multiple S
Multiple Qs, multiple Ss,
w/ Q switching

Queue Discipline

Queuing
System

First in, first out (FIFO)

First in, last out (LIFO)
Various priorities
Service Time
Distribution

Number of Lines &

Line Structures

Constant inter-arrival times

Random
Event dependent

Examples of Line Structures

Single
Phase

Multiphase
(Sequential Servers)

Single Channel

One-person
barber shop

Car wash

Multichannel

Bank tellers
windows

Hospital
admissions

Degree of Patience

No Way!

BALK

No Way!

RENEG

Examples
Service Systems:
Traffic on Networks: messages to/from computers, cars on
roads/rails, airplanes to/from airports/gates, ships to/from
harbors/piers, elevators
Retail/Service: stores selling goods, service/repair shops

Manufacturing Systems:
Primarily job shops, piece work, mass customization
Appliances, Automobiles/Trucks, Toys, Clothing
Logistics/inventory/distribution/MRP

12/9/2014

MPJ/UNM CS452/Mgt 532 I. Introduction

17

Notation
Many combinations of arrival and service
processes, queue disciplines, populations, etc.
Standard notation: A/S/c/N/K/Qdiscipline

A: Arrival Process ; e.g., C for constant, M for Markov (exponential),

Ek for Erlang, G for arbitrary
S: Server Process ; e.g., C for constant, M for Markov (exponential),
Ek for Erlang, G for arbitrary
c: Number of Servers
N: System Capacity ; both queues and server stations
K: Size of Calling Population
Queue Discipline: FIFO, LIFO, various priorities

M/M/1///FIFO default, shown as M/M/1

Various A/S distributions possible; most frequent
are constant, exponential, Gamma, empirical

Poisson Process
Inter-arrival time is
exponentially distributed
Completely determined by
average time between arrivals
Easy to specify (count arrivals
and divide by time period)

Equivalent to exponential
inter-arrival time
Provides probability of a
given number of arrivals in
unit time

Notation: Infinite Queuing: Models 1-3

= Arrival rate
= Service rate

See Exhibit 8A.8, p26

Average service time

Average time between arrivals

= = Ratio of total arrival rate to sevice rate

for a single server

Lq Average number waiting in line

Infinite Queuing Models 1-3 (Continued)

Ls = Average number in system

(including those being served)
Wq = Average time waiting in line
Ws Average total time in system
(including time to be served)
n Number of units in the system
S = Number of identical service channels
Pn Probabilit y of exactly n units in system
Pw Probabilit y of waiting in line

Utilization
Notice how sharply
the average length of
the queue grows with
increasing average
utilization
For average > .7
short term increases in
arrival () and/or
service () can make
queues so long that
recovery is very long
or may never happen

Calculating Performance

Different models and conditions will generally

dictate different equations for each performance
measure
Most situations fall into one of four models (all
assume FIFO):

Single server, single queue (SSQ: M/M/1)

Multiple servers, single queue (M/M/c) call center
Finite system capacity (M/M/c/N)
Finite population (M/M/c/K/K) maintenance crew of c
for K machines

Most included in available tables and software and

approximations - see Ch08A_Queue.xlsx,
Ch08A_Queue_Models.xlsx