Business Applications of Operations Research

CHAPTER 5

Planning Check-in Counters

We frequently encounter the frustration of waiting in queues that never seem to move. Let us explore the mathematics underlying queue behaviour in this chapter using an example.

Let us take the case of a fast food drive-in sales counter. If a customer arrives and finds no one in the queue, the customer gives the order at the sales counter, makes the payment, and drives to the delivery bay to await delivery. If the customer arrives and finds a queue ahead, the customer has to wait. How long does a customer wait, and how long would the queue be on an average?

To answer these questions, we have to understand the arrival process of customers and the service process at the sales counter. For most situations, customer ...