Chapter 78. Queuing Theory: The Mathematics of Waiting in Line

Questions answered in this chapter:

  • What factors affect the number of people and the time we spend waiting in line?

  • What conditions should be met before analyzing the average number of people present or the average time spent in a queuing system?

  • Why does variability degrade the performance of a queuing system?

  • Can I easily determine the average time a person spends at airport security or waiting in line at a bank?

We have all spent a lot of time waiting in lines, and you’ll soon see that a slight increase in service capacity can often greatly reduce the size of the lines we encounter. If you run a business, ensuring that your customers do not spend too much time waiting is important. Therefore, ...

Get Microsoft® Excel® 2010: Data Analysis and Business Modeling now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.