Queuing Theory Problems

Queuing Theory
Problems
Peachtree airport, Taiwan
• The Peachtree airport in Taiwan serves corporate aircraft. It has a

single runway and one ATC to land planes. It takes and airplane 8
minutes to land and clear the runway (Exp. D). Planes arrive at the
airport at the rate of 6 per hour (P.D)
• Determine the average number of airplanes that will stack up waiting to land
• Find the average time a plane must wait in line before it can land.
• Calculate the average time it takes a plane to clear the runway once it has
notified the airport that it is in the vicinity and wants to land.
• International air traffic controller rules say an air traffic controller can, on an
average, land planes a maximum of 45 minutes out of every hour. There must
be 15 minutes of idle time available to relieve the tension. Will this airport
have to hire an extra ATC?
The National Bank
The National bank of union city currently has one outside drive-up
teller. It takes a teller an average of 3 minutes to serve a bank customer.
Customers arrive at the drive-up window at the rate of 12 per hour. The
bank operations officer is currently analyzing the possibility of adding a
second drive-up window at an annual cost of $20,000. It can be
assumed that arriving cars would be equally divided into both windows.
The operations officer estimates that each minute’s reduction in
customer waiting time would increase the bank’s revenue by $2000
annually. Should the second drive-up window be installed? What other
factors should be considered in the decision besides cost?
Interstate 40
All trucks travelling on Interstate 40 between Kanpur and Kolkata are required to
stop at a Dharam Kanta. Trucks arrive at the Dharam Kanta at the rate of 120 per
8-hour day, and the station can weight 140 rucks per day, on an average.
a) Determine the average number of trucks waiting, the average time spent at
the weight station by each truck, and the average waiting time before being
weighed for each truck.
b) If the truck drivers find out they must remain at the weighing station longer
than 15 minutes on the average, they will start taking a different route or
travelling at night, thus depriving the state of taxes. The state of UP estimates
it looses Rs. 600,000 per year in taxes for each extra minutes the trucks must
remain at the kanta. A new set of scales would have the same service capacity
as the present set of scales, and it is assumed that the arriving trucks would
line up equally behind the two sets of scales. It would cost Rs. 3,000,000 per
year to operate the new scales. Should the state install the new set of scales?
Wallace publishers
Wallace publishers has a large number of employees who use a single fax machine. Employees
arrive randomly to the machine at an average rate of 20 per hour. Employees spent on an
average 2 minutes using the machine. They line up in FCFS system to use the machine.
Management has estimated that by having a operator for the machine the average service
time can be reduced to .5 minutes. However the fax operator’s salary is $8/hr. and he must
he/she must be paid at the rate of 8 hrs./day. Management has estimated the cost of
employee time spent waiting in line and at the fax machine during service to be 17 cents per
minute (based on average salary of 10.2/hr. per employee). Should the firm assign an operator
to the fax machine?
Scen-1: L=2 Scen-1: W=6 min

Scen-2: L = 1 Scen-2: W = 3 min
Therefore saving = Therefore saving =
2*10.2 – 1*10.2 per hour W’*λ*0.17 – W* λ*0.17 = (6-3)*20*0.17
= 10.2 per hour = 10.2 per hour
Seaboard shipping company
The Seaboard shipping company has a warehouse in Spartanburg, S. Caroline. The capacity
of each terminal dock is 3 trucks. As trucks enter the terminal, he drivers receive numbers,
and when one of the three dock spaces become available, the truck with the lowest
number enters the vacant dock. The average arrival rate at the terminal is 5 trucks/hr., and
the average service rate per dock is 2 trucks/hr.
a. The management of the shipping company is considering adding extra employees and
equipment to improve average service time per dock to 25 minutes per truck. It would
cost the company $18,000 per year to achieve this improved service. Management
estimates that it will increase it’s profits by $750 per year for each minute it is able to
reduce trucks waiting time. Determine whether management should make the
investment.
b. Now suppose the managers of the shipping company have decided that the truck
waiting time is too high. Two alternatives are available: they can add a 4th dock or they
can add extra employees and equipment at the existing docs, which will reduce the
average service time per location from 30 min/truck to 23 min/truck. Management
desires to implement the alternative that reduces waiting time by the greatest amount.
Which alternative should be selected?
Retail catalogue service
A retail catalogue operation employs a bank of 6 telephone operators

who process orders using computer terminals. When a terminal breaks
down it must be taken to a nearby electronics repair shop, where it is
repaired. The mean time between terminal breakdowns is six working
days, and the mean time required to repair a terminal is two working
days. As a result of lost sales, it costs the mail order operation an
estimated $50/day in lost profits each day a terminal is out for repair.
The company pays the electronics repair shop $3000 per year on a
service agreement to repair the terminals. The company is considering
the possibility of signing a new service agreement with another repair
shop that will provide substitute terminals while broken ones are at the
repair shop. However this would cost the operation $15,000 per year.
Assuming 250 working days an year, determine what they should do.

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Queuing Theory

• The Peachtree airport in Taiwan serves corporate aircraft. It has a

Scen-1: L=2 Scen-1: W=6 min

A retail catalogue operation employs a bank of 6 telephone operators

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