Quantitative Analysis for Management, 12e (Render)

Chapter 12 Waiting Lines and Queuing Theory Models

1) A goal of many waiting line problems is to help a firm find the ideal level of services that minimize the
cost of waiting and the cost of providing the service.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: WAITING LINE COSTS

2) One difficulty in waiting line analysis is that it is sometimes difficult to place a value on customer
waiting time.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: WAITING LINE COSTS

3) The goal of most waiting line problems is to identify the service level that minimizes service cost.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: WAITING LINE COSTS

4) Two characteristics of arrivals are the line length and queue discipline.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

5) Limited calling populations are assumed for most queuing models.

Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

6) An "infinite calling population" occurs when the likelihood of a new arrival depends upon the number
of past arrivals.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

7) On a practical note–if we were to study the waiting lines in a hair salon that had only five chairs for
patrons waiting, we should use an infinite queue waiting line model.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

8) If we are studying the arrival of automobiles at a highway toll station, we can assume an infinite calling
population.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

1
9) When looking at the arrivals at the ticket counter of a movie theater, we can assume an unlimited
queue.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

10) Arrivals are random when they are dependent on one another and can be predicted.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

11) On a practical note–if we are using waiting line analysis to study customers calling a telephone
number for service, balking is probably not an issue.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

12) On a practical note–if we are using waiting line analysis to study cars passing through a single
tollbooth, reneging is probably not an issue.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

13) On a practical note–we should probably view the checkout counters in a grocery store as a set of
single channel systems.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

14) A bank with a single queue to move customers to several tellers is an example of a single-channel
system.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

15) Service times often follow a Poisson distribution.

Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

16) An M/M/2 model has Poisson arrivals exponential service times and two channels.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

17) In a single-channel, single-phase system, reducing the service time only reduces the total amount of
time spent in the system, not the time spent in the queue.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 3
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
2
18) The wait time for a single-channel system is more than twice that for a two-channel system using two
servers working at the same rate as the single server.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)

19) The study of waiting lines is called queuing theory.

Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1
Topic: INTRODUCTION

20) The three basic components of a queuing process are arrivals, service facilities, and the actual waiting
line.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: INTRODUCTION

21) In the multichannel model (M/M/m), we must assume that the average service time for all channels is
the same.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)

22) Queuing theory had its beginning in the research work of Albert Einstein.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: WAITING LINE COSTS

23) The arrivals or inputs to the system are sometimes referred to as the calling population.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

24) Frequently in queuing problems, the number of arrivals per unit of time can be estimated by a
probability distribution known as the Poisson distribution.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

25) An (M/D/1) queuing model is classified as probabilistic.

Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)

26) An automatic car wash is an example of a constant service time model.

Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)

3
27) Balking customers are those who enter the queue but then become impatient and leave without
completing the transaction.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

28) In a constant service time model, both the average queue length and average waiting time are halved.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)

29) A hospital ward with only 30 beds could be modeled using a finite population model.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: FINITE POPULATION MODEL (M/M/1 WITH FINITE SOURCE)

30) A finite population model differs from an infinite population model because there is a random
relationship between the length of the queue and the arrival rate.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)

31) A transient state is the normal operating condition of the queuing system.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: SOME GENERAL OPERATING CHARACTERISTIC RELATIONSHIPS

32) A queue system is in a transient state before the steady state is reached.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: SOME GENERAL OPERATING CHARACTERISTIC RELATIONSHIPS

33) Little's Flow Equations are applicable for single-channel systems only.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: SOME GENERAL OPERATING CHARACTERISTIC RELATIONSHIPS

34) Little's Flow Equations are advantageous because if one characteristic of the operating system is
known, the other characteristics can be easily found.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: SOME GENERAL OPERATING CHARACTERISTIC RELATIONSHIPS

35) Using a simulation model allows one to ignore the common assumptions required to use analytical
models.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: MORE COMPLEX QUEUING MODELS AND THE USE OF SIMULATION

4
36) If we are using a simulation queuing model, we still have to abide by the assumption of a Poisson
arrival rate, and negative exponential service rate.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: SOME GENERAL OPERATING CHARACTERISTIC RELATIONSHIPS

37) The Basic Kendall notation is based on arrival time distribution, service time distribution, and cost
characteristics.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

38) The percent idle time is equal to 1 minus the utilization factor.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)

39) Queuing theory had its beginning in the research work of

A) Albert Einstein.
B) A.K. Erlang.
C) J.K. Rowling.
D) P.K. Poisson.
E) A.K. Cox.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: WAITING LINE COSTS

40) Assume that we are using a waiting line model to analyze the number of service technicians required
to maintain machines in a factory. Our goal should be to
A) maximize productivity of the technicians.
B) minimize the number of machines needing repair.
C) minimize the downtime for individual machines.
D) minimize the percent of idle time of the technicians.
E) minimize the total cost (cost of maintenance plus cost of downtime).
Answer: E
Diff: 2
Topic: WAITING LINE COSTS

41) In queuing analysis, total expected cost is the sum of expected ________ plus expected ________.
A) service costs, arrival costs
B) facility costs, calling costs
C) calling cost, inventory costs
D) calling costs, waiting costs
E) service costs, waiting costs
Answer: E
Diff: 1
Topic: WAITING LINE COSTS

5
42) In queuing theory, the calling population is another name for
A) the queue size.
B) the servers.
C) the arrivals.
D) the service rate.
E) the market researchers.
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

43) Which of the following is not a valid queuing model based on the Kendall notation?
A) M/M/3
B) D/D/2
C) D/M/1
D) M/M/0
E) G/D/1
Answer: D
Diff: 1
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

44) Which of the following is not true about arrivals?

A) Random arrivals are independent of each other.
B) Random arrivals cannot be predicted exactly.
C) The Poisson distribution is often used to represent the arrival pattern.
D) Service times often follow the negative exponential distribution.
E) The exponential distribution is often used to represent the arrival pattern.
Answer: E
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

45) An arrival in a queue that reneges is one who

A) after joining the queue, becomes impatient and leaves.
B) refuses to join the queue because it is too long.
C) goes through the queue, but never returns.
D) jumps from one queue to another, trying to get through as quickly as possible.
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

46) The customer who arrives at a bank, sees a long line, and leaves to return another time is
A) balking.
B) cropping.
C) reneging.
D) blithering.
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

6
47) The customer who arrives at a bank, enters a line, and decides to leave is
A) balking.
B) cropping.
C) reneging.
D) blithering.
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

48) The three major characteristics of the input source that generates arrivals or customers for the service
system are
A) size, demographics, and behavior.
B) size, pattern, and behavior.
C) demographics, pattern, and behavior.
D) size, demographics, and pattern.
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

49) The term queue "discipline" describes the

A) degree to which members of the queue renege.
B) sequence in which members of the queue arrived.
C) degree to which members of the queue are orderly and quiet.
D) sequence in which members of the queue are serviced.
E) All of the above
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

50) A vendor selling newspapers on a street corner is an example of a

A) single-channel, multiphase system.
B) single-channel, single-phase system.
C) multichannel, multiphase system.
D) multichannel, single-phase system.
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

7
51) Lines at banks where customers wait for a teller window are usually representative of a
A) single-channel, multiphase system.
B) single-channel, single-phase system.
C) multichannel, multiphase system.
D) multichannel, single-phase system.
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

52) Which of the following distributions is most often used to estimate the arrival pattern?
A) negative exponential
B) normal
C) Poisson
D) Erlang
E) beta
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

53) A single automatic car wash with one bay and a cycle time of 2.5 minutes is what type of model?
A) M/M/1
B) M/M/2
C) M/D/2
D) M/D/1
E) M/G/1
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

54) A single automatic car wash with one bay and a service time that is normally distributed is what type
of model?
A) M/M/1
B) M/M/2
C) M/D/2
D) M/D/1
E) M/G/1
Answer: E
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

8
55) Which of the following is not an assumption in common queuing mathematical models?
A) Arrivals come from an infinite, or very large, population.
B) Arrivals are Poisson distributed.
C) Arrivals are treated on a first-in, first-out basis and do not balk or renege.
D) Service rates follow the normal distribution.
E) The average service rate is faster than the average arrival rate.
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)

56) The "utilization factor" is defined as the

A) percent of time the system is idle.
B) average percent of time the customers wait in line.
C) average time the service system is open.
D) percent of time that a single customer is in the system.
E) None of the above
Answer: E
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)

57) A suburban specialty restaurant has developed a single drive-thru window. Customers order, pay,
and pick up their food at the same window. Arrivals follow a Poisson distribution, while service times
follow an exponential distribution. What type of queuing model is exhibited in this problem?
A) M/M/1
B) M/M/2
C) M/D/2
D) M/D/1
E) M/G/1
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

58) A suburban specialty restaurant has developed a single drive-thru window. Customers order, pay,
and pick up their food at the same window. Arrivals follow a Poisson distribution, while service times
follow an exponential distribution. If the average number of arrivals is 6 per hour and the service rate is 2
every 15 minutes, what is the average number of customers in the system?
A) 0.50
B) 4.00
C) 2.25
D) 3.00
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills
9
59) A suburban specialty restaurant has developed a single drive-thru window. Customers order, pay,
and pick up their food at the same window. Arrivals follow a Poisson distribution while service times
follow an exponential distribution. If the average number of arrivals is 6 per hour and the service rate is 2
every 15 minutes, what is the average number of customers waiting in line behind the person being
served?
A) 0.50
B) 0.75
C) 2.25
D) 3.00
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

60) A suburban specialty restaurant has developed a single drive-thru window. Customers order, pay,
and pick up their food at the same window. Arrivals follow a Poisson distribution while service times
follow an exponential distribution. If the average number of arrivals is 6 per hour and the service rate is 2
every 15 minutes, what proportion of the time is the server busy?
A) 0.25
B) 0.50
C) 0.75
D) 2.25
E) 3.00
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

61) A suburban specialty restaurant has developed a single drive-thru window. Customers order, pay,
and pick up their food at the same window. Arrivals follow a Poisson distribution while service times
follow an exponential distribution. If the average number of arrivals is 6 per hour and the service rate is 2
every 15 minutes, how much time will elapse (in hours) from the time a customer enters the line until
he/she leaves the restaurant?
A) 0.50
B) 0.25
C) 0.75
D) 2.25
E) 3.00
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

10
62) Customers enter the waiting line at a cafeteria on a first-come, first-served basis. The arrival rate
follows a Poisson distribution, while service times follow an exponential distribution. If the average
number of arrivals is four per minute and the average service rate of a single server is seven per minute,
what is the average number of customers in the system?
A) 0.43
B) 1.67
C) 0.57
D) 1.33
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

63) Customers enter the waiting line at a cafeteria on a first-come, first-served basis. The arrival rate
follows a Poisson distribution, while service times follow an exponential distribution. If the average
number of arrivals is four per minute and the average service rate of a single server is seven per minute,
what is the average number of customers waiting in line behind the person being served?
A) 0.76
B) 0.19
C) 1.33
D) 1.67
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

64) Customers enter the waiting line to pay for food as they leave a cafeteria on a first-come, first-served
basis. The arrival rate follows a Poisson distribution, while service times follow an exponential
distribution. If the average number of arrivals is four per minute and the average service rate of a single
server is seven per minute, what proportion of the time is the server busy?
A) 0.43
B) 0.57
C) 0.75
D) 0.25
E) 0.33
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

11
65) Customers enter the waiting line to pay for food as they leave a cafeteria on a first-come, first-served
basis. The arrival rate follows a Poisson distribution, while service times follow an exponential
distribution. If the average number of arrivals is four per minute and the average service rate of a single
server is seven per minute, on average, how much time will elapse from the time a customer enters the
line until he/she leaves the cafeteria?
A) 0.67 minute
B) 0.50 minute
C) 0.75 minute
D) 0.33 minute
E) 1.33 minutes
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

66) At a local fast-food joint, cars arrive randomly at a rate of 12 every 30 minutes. The fast food joint
takes an average of 2 minutes to serve each arrival. The utilization factor for this system is
A) 0.467.
B) 0.547.
C) 0.800.
D) 0.133.
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

67) At a local fast food joint, cars arrive randomly at a rate of 12 every 30 minutes. Service times are
random (exponential) and average 2 minutes per arrival. The average time in the queue for each arrival is
A) 2 minutes.
B) 4 minutes.
C) 6 minutes.
D) 8 minutes.
E) 10 minutes.
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

12
68) Which of the following distributions is most often used to estimate service times?
A) negative exponential
B) normal
C) Poisson
D) Erlang
E) beta
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

69) Most systems use a queue discipline known as

A) shortest processing time.
B) longest processing time.
C) FIFO.
D) earliest due date.
E) critical ratio.
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

70) When waiting time is based on time in the queue, which of the following is the correct equation for
total cost?
A) mCs + λWCw
B) mCw + λWCs
C) mCs + λWqCs
D) mCs + λWqCw
E) mCw + λWqCs
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)

71) A queuing system with a normally distributed arrival pattern, exponential service times, and three
servers would be described as
A) G/G/3.
B) M/M/3.
C) G/M/3.
D) M/G/3.
E) N/E/3.
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

13
72) The initial state of a queuing system (for example, when a restaurant first opens), is referred to as the
________ state.
A) steady
B) primary
C) introductory
D) transient
E) start-up
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Topic: SOME GENERAL OPERATING CHARACTERISTIC RELATIONSHIPS

73) A post office has a single line for customers waiting for the next available postal clerk. There are two
postal clerks who work at the same rate. The arrival rate of customers follows a Poisson distribution,
while the service time follows an exponential distribution. What type of queuing model applies here?
A) M/M/1
B) M/M/2
C) M/D/2
D) M/D/1
E) M/G/1
Answer: B
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

74) A post office has a single line for customers waiting for the next available postal clerk. There are two
postal clerks who work at the same rate. The arrival rate of customers follows a Poisson distribution,
while the service time follows an normal distribution. What type of queuing model applies here?
A) M/M/1
B) M/M/2
C) M/D/2
D) M/D/1
E) M/G/2
Answer: E
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

14
75) A post office has a single line for customers waiting for the next available postal clerk. There are two
postal clerks who work at the same rate. The arrival rate of customers follows a Poisson distribution,
while the service time follows an exponential distribution. The average arrival rate is three per minute
and the average service rate is two per minute for each of the two clerks. What is the average length of the
line?
A) 3.429
B) 1.929
C) 1.143
D) 0.643
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Diff: 3
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

76) A post office has a single line for customers waiting for the next available postal clerk. There are two
postal clerks who work at the same rate. The arrival rate of customers follows a Poisson distribution,
while the service time follows an exponential distribution. The average arrival rate is three per minute
and the average service rate is two per minute for each of the two clerks. How long does the average
person spend waiting for a clerk?
A) 3.429 minutes
B) 1.929 minutes
C) 1.143 minutes
D) 0.643 minute
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Diff: 3
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

77) A post office has a single line for customers waiting for the next available postal clerk. There are two
postal clerks who work at the same rate. The arrival rate of customers follows a Poisson distribution,
while the service time follows an exponential distribution. The average arrival rate is three per minute
and the average service rate is two per minute for each of the two clerks. What proportion of time are
both clerks idle?
A) 0.643
B) 0.250
C) 0.750
D) 0.143
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Diff: 3
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

15
Table 12-1

M/M/2
Mean Arrival Rate: 9 occurrences per minute
Mean Service Rate: 8 occurrences per minute
Number of Servers: 2

Queue Statistics:
Mean Number of Units in the System: 1.646
Mean Number of Units in the Queue: 0.521
Mean Time in the System: 0.183 minutes
Mean Time in the Queue: 0.058 minutes
Service Facility Utilization Factor: 0.563
Probability in No Units in System: 0.280

78) According to the information provided in Table 12-1, on average, how many units are in the line?
A) 1.646
B) 0.563
C) 0.280
D) 1.125
E) 0.521
Answer: E
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

79) According to the information provided in Table 12-1, what proportion of time is at least one server
busy?
A) 0.563
B) 0.437
C) 0.720
D) 0.280
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

16
80) Using the information provided in Table 12-1 and counting each person being served and the people
in line, on average, how many people would be in this system?
A) 0.521
B) 1.646
C) 1.125
D) 0.183
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

81) According to the information provided in Table 12-1, what is the average time spent by a person in
this system?
A) 0.058 minute
B) 1.646 minutes
C) 0.521 minute
D) 0.183 minute
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

82) According to the information provided in Table 12-1, what percentage of the total available service
time is being used?
A) 72.0%
B) 28.0%
C) 56.3%
D) It could be any of the above, depending on other factors.
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

17
83) Cars arrive at a local JLUBE franchise at the rate of 1 every 12 minutes. Service times are exponentially
distributed with an average of 15 minutes. Jack Burns, the JLUBE owner, has decided to open a second
work bay, i.e., make the shop into a two-channel system. Under this new scheme, the average customer
will wait in an ________ line.
A) M/M/1
B) M/M/2
C) M/D/2
D) M/D/1
E) M/G/2
Answer: B
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

84) Cars arrive at a local JLUBE franchise at the rate of 1 every 12 minutes. Service times are exactly 15
minutes. Jack Burns, the JLUBE owner, has decided to open a second work bay, i.e., make the shop into a
two-channel system. Under this new scheme, the average customer will wait in an ________ line.
A) M/M/1
B) M/M/2
C) M/D/2
D) M/D/1
E) M/G/2
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

85) Cars arrive at a local JLUBE franchise at the rate of 1 every 12 minutes. Service times are exponentially
distributed with an average of 15 minutes. Jack Burns, the JLUBE owner, has decided to open a second
work bay, i.e., make the shop into a two-channel system. Under this new scheme, the average customer
will wait in line
A) approximately 9.6 minutes.
B) approximately 2.5 minutes.
C) approximately 24.6 minutes.
D) approximately 2.1 minutes.
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Diff: 3
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

18
86) Cars arrive at a local JLUBE franchise at the rate of 1 every 12 minutes. Service times are exponentially
distributed with an average of 15 minutes. Jack Burns, the JLUBE owner, has decided to open a second
work bay, i.e., make the shop into a two-channel system. Under this new scheme, the total time an
average customer spends in the system will be
A) 37 minutes.
B) 2.1 minutes.
C) 9.6 minutes.
D) 33.3 minutes.
E) 24.6 minutes.
Answer: E
Diff: 3
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

Table 12-2

M/M/2
Mean Arrival Rate: 5 occurrences per minute
Mean Service Rate: 3 occurrences per minute
Number of Servers: 2

Queue Statistics:
Mean Number of Units in the System: 5.455
Mean Number of Units in the Queue: 3.788
Mean Time in the System: 1.091 minutes
Mean Time in the Queue: 0.758 minutes
Service Facility Utilization Factor: 0.833
Probability in No Units in System: 0.091

87) According to the information provided in Table 12-2, which presents a queuing problem solution, on
average, how many units are in the line?
A) 5.455
B) 3.788
C) 1.091
D) 0.758
E) 0.833
Answer: B
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

19
88) According to the information provided in Table 12-2, which presents a queuing problem solution,
what proportion of time is at least one server busy?
A) 0.833
B) 0.758
C) 0.091
D) 0.909
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

89) According to the information provided in Table 12-2, which presents a queuing problem solution,
there are two servers in this system. Counting each person being served and the people in line, on
average, how many people would be in this system?
A) 5.455
B) 3.788
C) 9.243
D) 10.900
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

20
Table 12-3

M/M/3
Mean Arrival Rate: 4 occurrences per minute
Mean Service Rate: 2 occurrences per minute
Number of Servers: 3

Queue Statistics:
Mean Number of Units in the System: 2.889
Mean Number of Units in the Queue: 0.889
Mean Time in the System: 0.722 minutes
Mean Time in the Queue: 0.222 minutes
Service Facility Utilization Factor: 0.667
Probability in No Units in System: 0.111

90) According to the information provided in Table 12-3, which presents a queuing problem solution,
what proportion of time is the system totally empty?
A) 0.111
B) 0.333
C) 0.889
D) 0.667
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

91) According to the information provided in Table 12-3, which presents a queuing problem solution, on
average, how long does each customer spend waiting in line?
A) 0.333 minute
B) 0.889 minute
C) 0.222 minute
D) 0.722 minute
E) 0.111 minute
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

21
92) According to the information provided in Table 12-3, which presents a queuing problem solution,
what is the utilization rate of the service facility?
A) 0.111
B) 0.889
C) 0.222
D) 0.722
E) 0.667
Answer: E
Diff: 1
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)

93) Little's Flow Equations are transferable to a production environment. Which of the following would
be a proper interpretation of Little's Flow Equations?
A) Flow Rate = Inventory × Flow Time
B) Flow Time = Inventory × Flow Rate
C) Inventory = Flow Rate × Flow Time
D) Time to Take an Order = Flow Rate × Flow Time
E) Flow Rate = Time to Take an Order × Flow Time
Answer: C
Diff: 3
Topic: SOME GENERAL OPERATING CHARACTERISTIC RELATIONSHIPS

94) If everything else remains constant, including the mean arrival rate and service rate, except that the
service time becomes constant instead of exponential,
A) the average queue length will be halved.
B) the average waiting time will be doubled.
C) the average queue length will be doubled.
D) There is not enough information to know what will happen to the queue length and waiting time.
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)

95) At an automatic car wash, cars arrive randomly at a rate of 7 cars every 30 minutes. The car wash
takes exactly 4 minutes (this is constant). On average, what would be the length of the line?
A) 8.171
B) 7.467
C) 6.53
D) 0.467
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

22
96) At an automatic car wash, cars arrive randomly at a rate of 7 every 30 minutes. The car wash takes
exactly 4 minutes (this is constant). On average, how long would each car spend at the car wash?
A) 28 minutes
B) 32 minutes
C) 17 minutes
D) 24 minutes
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

97) At an automatic car wash, cars arrive randomly at a rate of 7 every 30 minutes. The car wash takes
exactly 4 minutes (this is constant). On average, how long would each driver have to wait before
receiving service?
A) 28 minutes
B) 32 minutes
C) 17 minutes
D) 24 minutes
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

98) At an automatic car wash, cars arrive randomly at a rate of 7 every 30 minutes. The car wash takes
exactly 4 minutes (this is constant). On average, how many customers would be at the car wash (waiting
in line or being serviced)?
A) 8.17
B) 7.46
C) 6.53
D) 0.46
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

99) A(n) ________ state is the normal operating condition of the queuing system.
A) primary
B) transient
C) NOC
D) balanced
E) steady
Answer: E
Diff: 2
Topic: SOME GENERAL OPERATING CHARACTERISTIC RELATIONSHIPS

23
100) At a local fast food joint, cars arrive randomly at a rate of 12 every 30 minutes. The fast food joint
takes exactly 2 minutes (this is constant). The average total time in the system is
A) 5.4 minutes.
B) 6.0 minutes.
C) 8.0 minutes.
D) 2.5 minutes.
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

Table 12-4

M/D/1
Mean Arrival Rate: 3 occurrences per minute
Constant Service Rate: 4 occurrences per minute

Queue Statistics:
Mean Number of Units in the System: 1.875
Mean Number of Units in the Queue: 1.125
Mean Time in the System: 0.625 minutes
Mean Time in the Queue: 0.375 minutes
Service Facility Utilization Factor: 0.750
Probability in No Units in System: 0.250

101) According to the information provided in Table 12-4, which presents a queuing problem solution for
a queuing problem with a constant service rate, on average, how much time is spent waiting in line?
A) 1.875 minutes
B) 1.125 minutes
C) 0.625 minute
D) 0.375 minute
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Diff: 1
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

102) According to the information provided in Table 12-4, which presents a queuing problem solution for
a queuing problem with a constant service rate, on average, how many customers are in the system?
A) 1.875
B) 1.125
C) 0.625
D) 0.375
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Diff: 1
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills
24
103) According to the information provided in Table 12-4, which presents a queuing problem solution for
a queuing problem with a constant service rate, on average, how many customers arrive per time period?
A) 3
B) 4
C) 1.875
D) 1.125
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Diff: 1
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

104) According to Table 12-4, which presents a queuing problem with a constant service rate, on average,
how many minutes does a customer spend in the service facility?
A) 0.375 minute
B) 4 minutes
C) 0.625 minute
D) 0.25 minute
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

Table 12-5

M/D/1
Mean Arrival Rate: 5 occurrences per minute
Constant Service Rate: 7 occurrences per minute

Queue Statistics:
Mean Number of Units in the System: 1.607
Mean Number of Units in the Queue: 0.893
Mean Time in the System: 0.321 minutes
Mean Time in the Queue: 0.179 minutes
Service Facility Utilization Factor: 0.714

105) According to the information provided in Table 12-5, which presents the solution for a queuing
problem with a constant service rate, on average, how much time is spent waiting in line?
A) 1.607 minutes
B) 0.714 minute
C) 0.179 minute
D) 0.893 minute
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills
25
106) According to the information provided in Table 12-5, which presents the solution for a queuing
problem with a constant service rate, on average, how many customers are in the system?
A) 0.893
B) 0.714
C) 1.607
D) 0.375
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

107) According to the information provided in Table 12-5, which presents a queuing problem solution for
a queuing problem with a constant service rate, on average, how many customers arrive per time period?
A) 5
B) 7
C) 1.607
D) 0.893
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Diff: 1
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

108) According to the information provided in Table 12-5, which presents the solution for a queuing
problem with a constant service rate, on average, how many minutes does a customer spend in the
system?
A) 0.893 minute
B) 0.321 minute
C) 0.714 minute
D) 1.607 minutes
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Diff: 1
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

109) According to the information provided in Table 12-5, which presents the solution for a queuing
problem with a constant service rate, what percentage of available service time is actually used?
A) 0.217
B) 0.643
C) 0.321
D) 0.179
E) None of the above
Answer: E
Diff: 1
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

26
110) According to the information provided in Table 12-5, which presents the solution for a queuing
problem with a constant service rate, the probability that the server is idle is
A) 0.217.
B) 0.643.
C) 0.286.
D) 0.714.
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

111) The school of business has 3 fax machines. The toner in each machine needs to be changed after
about 5 hours of use. There is one unit secretary who is responsible for the fax machine maintenance. It
takes him 15 minutes to replace the toner cartridge. What is the probability the system is empty?
A) 1.1500
B) 1.1658
C) .8578
D) .8696
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Diff: 3
Topic: FINITE POPULATION MODEL (M/M/1 WITH FINITE SOURCE)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

112) Which of the following is not an assumption for the M/M/1 model with finite population source?
A) There is only one server.
B) The population of units seeking service are finite.
C) Arrivals follow a Poisson distribution and service times are exponential.
D) Customers are served on a first come, first served basis.
E) The length of the queue is independent of the arrival rate.
Answer: E
Diff: 2
Topic: FINITE POPULATION MODEL (M/M/1 WITH FINITE SOURCE)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

113) The school of business has 3 fax machines. The toner in each machine needs to be changed after
about 5 hours of use. There is one unit secretary who is responsible for the fax machine maintenance. It
takes him 15 minutes to replace the toner cartridge. What is the average number of fax machines in the
queue?
A) 1.1658 fax machines
B) 2.9904 fax machines
C) .1563 fax machine
D) .0142 fax machine
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Diff: 3
Topic: FINITE POPULATION MODEL (M/M/1 WITH FINITE SOURCE)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

27
114) The school of business has 3 fax machines. The toner in each machine needs to be changed after
about 5 hours of use. There is one unit secretary who is responsible for the fax machine maintenance. It
takes him 15 minutes to replace the toner cartridge. What is the average number of fax machines in the
system?
A) .0142 fax machine
B) .1563 fax machine
C) .0249 fax machine
D) .2749 fax machine
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Diff: 3
Topic: FINITE POPULATION MODEL (M/M/1 WITH FINITE SOURCE)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

115) The school of business has 3 fax machines. The toner in each machine needs to be changed after
about 5 hours of use. There is one unit secretary who is responsible for the fax machine maintenance. It
takes him 15 minutes to replace the toner cartridge. What is the average waiting time in the queue?
A) .0142 hour
B) .1563 hour
C) .0249 hour
D) .2749 hour
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Diff: 3
Topic: FINITE POPULATION MODEL (M/M/1 WITH FINITE SOURCE)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

Table 12-6

Customers arrive at coffee shop at a rate of 40 per hour. There are 2 servers available and it takes an
average of 1 minute to serve each customer.

116) Using Table 12-6, what proportion of time are the servers busy?
A) 0
B) 0.333
C) 0.5
D) 0.6667
E) 1
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

28
117) Using Table 12-6, what is the probability of no customers in the system?
A) 0
B) 0.333
C) 0.5
D) 0.667
E) 1
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

118) Using Table 12-6, what is the average number of customers in the coffee shop?
A) 0.0833
B) 0.5
C) 0.75
D) 1.33
E) 2
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

119) Using Table 12-6, what is the average number of customers waiting in line?
A) 0.0833
B) 0.5
C) 0.75
D) 1.33
E) 2
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

120) The school of business has 3 fax machines. The toner in each machine needs to be changed after
about 5 hours of use. There is one unit secretary who is responsible for the fax machine maintenance. It
takes him 15 minutes to replace the toner cartridge. What is the average time spent in the system?
A) .0142 hour
B) .1563 hour
C) .0249 hour
D) .2749 hour
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Diff: 3
Topic: FINITE POPULATION MODEL (M/M/1 WITH FINITE SOURCE)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

29
121) The analytic technique used to analyze complex queuing models that cannot be captured in closed-
form expressions is called
A) extrapoloation.
B) interpolation.
C) simulation.
D) linear programming.
E) forecasting.
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Topic: MORE COMPLEX QUEUING MODELS AND THE USE OF SIMULATION

122) The school of business has 3 fax machines. The toner in each machine needs to be changed after
about 5 hours of use. There is one unit secretary who is responsible for the fax machine maintenance. It
takes him 15 minutes to replace the toner cartridge. What is the probability that 2 fax machines need
toner at the same time?
A) .8576
B) .1286
C) .0129
D) .1415
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Diff: 3
Topic: FINITE POPULATION MODEL (M/M/1 WITH FINITE SOURCE)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

123) A new shopping mall is considering setting up an information desk manned by one employee. Based
upon information obtained from similar information desks, it is believed that people will arrive at the
desk at the rate of 15 per hour. It takes an average of two minutes to answer a question. It is assumed that
arrivals are Poisson and answer times are exponentially distributed.
(a) Find the probability that the employee is idle.
(b) Find the proportion of time that the employee is busy.
(c) Find the average number of people receiving and waiting to receive information.
(d) Find the average number of people waiting in line to get information.
(e) Find the average time a person seeking information spends at the desk.
(f) Find the expected time a person spends waiting in line to have his question answered.
Answer:
(a) Po = 0.50
(b) ρ = 0.50
(c) L = 1
(d) Lq = 0.50
(e) W = 0.0667 hour
(f) Wq = 0.0333 hour
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

30
124) A new shopping mall is considering setting up an information desk manned by one employee. Based
upon information obtained from similar information desks, it is believed that people will arrive at the
desk at the rate of 15 per hour. It takes exactly two minutes to answer each question. It is assumed that
arrivals are Poisson.
(a) Find the probability that the employee is idle.
(b) Find the proportion of time that the employee is busy.
(c) Find the average number of people receiving and waiting to receive information.
(d) Find the average number of people waiting in line to get information.
(e) Find the average time a person seeking information spends at the desk.
(f) Find the expected time a person spends waiting in line to have his question answered.
Answer:
(a) Po = 0.50
(b) ρ = 0.50
(c) L = 0.75
(d) Lq = 0.25
(e) W = 0.05 hour
(f) Wq = 0.03 hour
Diff: 2
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

125) Sam the Vet is running a rabies vaccination clinic for dogs at the local grade school. Sam can
vaccinate a dog every 3 minutes. It is estimated that the dogs will arrive independently and randomly
throughout the day at a rate of 1 dog every 6 minutes, according to a Poisson distribution. Also assume
that Sam's vaccinating times are exponentially distributed.
(a) Find the probability that Sam is idle.
(b) Find the proportion of time that Sam is busy.
(c) Find the average number of dogs receiving or waiting to be vaccinated.
(d) Find the average number of dogs waiting to be vaccinated.
(e) Find the average time a dog waits before getting vaccinated.
(f) Find the average amount (mean) of time a dog spends between waiting in line and getting vaccinated.
Answer:
(a) Po = 0.5
(b) ρ = 0.5
(c) L = 1
(d) Lq = 0.5
(e) Wq = 0.05 hour
(f) W = 0.1 hour
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

31
126) Sam the Vet is running a rabies vaccination clinic for dogs at the local grade school. Sam can
vaccinate a dog every 3 minutes. It is estimated that the dogs will arrive independently and randomly
throughout the day at a rate of 1 dog every 4 minutes, according to a Poisson distribution. Also assume
that Sam's vaccinating times are exponentially distributed.
(a) Find the probability that Sam is idle.
(b) Find the proportion of time that Sam is busy.
(c) Find the average number of dogs receiving or waiting to be vaccinated.
(d) Find the average number of dogs waiting to be vaccinated.
(e) Find the average time a dog waits before getting vaccinated.
(f) Find the average amount (mean) of time a dog spends between waiting in line and getting vaccinated.
Answer:
(a) Po = 0.25
(b) ρ = 0.75
(c) L = 3
(d) Lq = 2.25
(e) Wq = 0.15 hour
(f) W = 0.2 hour
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

127) A dry cleaner has a single drive-thru window for customers. The arrival rate of cars follows a
Poisson distribution, while the service time follows an exponential distribution. The average arrival rate
is 16 per hour and the average service time is three minutes.
(a) What is the average number of cars in the line?
(b) What is the average time spent waiting to get to the service window?
(c) What percentage of time is the dry cleaner's drive-thru window idle?
(d) What is the probability there are more than 2 cars at the drive-thru window?
Answer:
(a) Lq = 3.2
(b) Wq = 0.2 hour (12 minutes)
(c) Po = 0.20
(d) Pn > k = 0.512
Diff: 2
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

32
128) A dry cleaner has a single drive-thru window for customers. The arrival rate of cars follows a
Poisson distribution, while the service time follows an exponential distribution. The average arrival rate
is 16 per hour and the average service time is three minutes. If the dry cleaner wants to accommodate
(have enough room for) all of the waiting cars at least 96 percent of the time, how many car-lengths
should they make the driveway leading to the window?
Answer: The probability of having more than 14 cars in the system is (16/20)14+1 = 0.035, so they should
make the driveway approximately 13 car-lengths long (because one car will be at the service window).
(The probability of having more than 13 cars in the system is 0.044 (which is too high), and the percentage
only gets worse as the queue length is shortened.)
Diff: 3
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

129) Sam the Vet is running a rabies vaccination clinic for dogs at the local grade school. Sam can
vaccinate a dog every 3 minutes. It is estimated that the dogs will arrive independently and randomly
throughout the day at a rate of 1 dog every 6 minutes, according to a Poisson distribution. Also assume
that Sam's vaccinating times are exponentially distributed. Sam would like to have each waiting dog
placed in a holding pen. If Sam wants to be certain he has enough cages to accommodate all dogs at least
90 percent of the time, how many cages should he prepare?
Answer: He needs to prepare 2 cages. The probability of having more than 3 dogs in the system is 0.0625
while the probability of having more than 2 dogs in the system is 0.125.
Diff: 3
Topic: SINGLE-CHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE
TIMES (M/M/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

130) A new shopping mall is considering setting up an information desk operated by two employees.
Based on information obtained from similar information desks, it is believed that people will arrive at the
desk at the rate of 20 per hour. It takes an average of 4 minutes to answer a question. It is assumed that
arrivals are Poisson and answer times are exponentially distributed.
(a) Find the proportion of the time that the employees are busy.
(b) Find the average number of people waiting in line to get some information.
(c) Find the expected time a person spends just waiting in line to have his question answered.
Answer:
(a) ρ = 0.667
(b) Lq = 1.0667
(c) Wq = 0.0533 hour
Diff: 3
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

33
131) Cars arrive at a parking lot entrance at the rate of 20 per hour. The average time to get a ticket and
proceed to a parking space is two minutes. There are two lot attendants at the current time. The Poisson
and exponential distribution appear to be relevant in this situation.
(a) What is the probability that an approaching auto must wait?
(b) What is the average waiting time?
(c) What is the average number of autos waiting to enter the garage?
Answer:
(a) Po = 0.50
(b) Wq = 0.25 minute
(c) Lq = 0.0833 auto
Diff: 3
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

132) Bank Boston has a branch at Bryant College. The branch is busiest at the beginning of the college
year when freshmen and transfer students open accounts. This year, freshmen arrived at the office at a
rate of 40 per day (8-hour day). On average, it takes the Bank Boston staff person about ten minutes to
process each account application. The bank is considering having one or two tellers. Each teller is paid
$12 per hour and the cost of waiting in line is assumed to be $8 per hour.
(a) What is the total daily waiting cost for the single teller model?
(b) What is the total daily waiting cost for the two-teller model?
(c) What is the total daily service cost for the single teller model?
(d) What is the total daily service cost for the two-teller model?
(e) Which model is preferred?
Answer:
(a) Total wait cost = [(5 * .833 hours) (8)] * 8 hours/day = $266.56
(b) Total wait cost = [(5 * .035 hours) (8)] * 8 hours/day = $11.20
(c) Total service cost = (1 * $12) * 8 hours/day = $96
(d) Total service cost = (2 * $12) * 8 hours/day = $192
(e) Two channel model
Diff: 3
Topic: VARIOUS
AACSB: Analytic Skills

34
133) At the start of football season, the ticket office gets busy the day before the first game. Customers
arrive at the rate of four every ten minutes. A ticket seller can service a customer in four minutes.
Traditionally, there are two ticket sellers working. The university is considering an automated ticket
machine similar to the airlines' e-ticket system. The automated ticket machine can service a customer in 2
minutes.
(a) What is the average length of the queue for the in-person model?
(b) What is the average length of the queue for the automated system model?
(c) What is the average time in the system for the in-person model?
(d) What is the average time in the system for the automated system model?
(e) Assume the ticket sellers earn $8 per hour and the machine costs $20 per hour (amortized over 5
years). The wait time is only $4 per hour because students are patient. What is the total cost of each
model?
Answer:
(a) Lq = 2.844
(b) Lq = 1.6
(c) W = 0.1852 hour or 11.11 minutes
(d) W = 0.1 hour or 6 minutes
(e) Total cost (in-person) = (2 ∗ $8/hour) + (24/hour ∗ .1852 hours) ($4/hour) = $33.78
Total cost (automated) = (1 ∗ $20/hour) + (24/hour ∗ .1 hour) ($4/hour) = $29.60
Diff: 3
Topic: VARIOUS
AACSB: Analytic Skills

134) Consider a single-server queuing system with Poisson arrivals of 10 units per hour and a constant
service time of 2 minutes per unit. How long will the customer waiting time be in seconds, on average?
Answer: 10 / [(2)(30)(30 − 10)] = .00833333 hours = 0.5 minute = 30 seconds
Diff: 2
Topic: CONSTANT SERVICE TIME MODEL (M/D/1)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

135) There is a tutoring lab at a university that holds 20 students. Due to the popularity of the 3 tutors, the
lab is always at capacity. Each student approaches a tutor an average of 2 times per hour, and a tutor
spends on average 5 minutes per question from a student. The service time follows an exponential
distribution.
(a) What proportion of the time are the tutors busy?
(b) What is the average waiting time for students in queue?
Answer:
(a) ρ = 0.86
(b) Wq = 0.06 hour
Diff: 2
Topic: FINITE POPULATION MODEL (M/M/1 WITH FINITE SOURCE)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

35
136) A professor decides to hold a three hour window open for student advising. The professor has 15
advisees. He's unsure if each advisee will show up, and its possible that a single advisee could show up
multiple times during the 3 hour window. On average, the professor will spend 12 minutes with each
student. He usually expects each student to arrive once during the 3 hour window.
(a) What proportion of the time can the professor expect to be busy during the window?
(b) What is the expected number of students in queue during the window?
(c) What is the expected wait time in queue during the window?
Answer:
(a) ρ = 0.82
(b) Lq = 1.88
(c) Wq = 0.46 hour
Diff: 3
Topic: FINITE POPULATION MODEL (M/M/1 WITH FINITE SOURCE)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

137) Customers arrive at a bank at a rate of 50 per hour. The bank has 3 tellers and on average, it takes 2
minutes to service a customer.
(a) What proportion of time are the tellers busy?
(b) What is the average number of customers in the bank?
(c) What is the average weight time?
Answer:
(a) ρ = 0.55
(b) L = 2.04
(c) Wq = 0.0075 hour
Diff: 3
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

138) Customers at a DMV arrive at a rate of 45 per hour. There are three servers that can process
customers at an average of 3 minutes.
(a) What is the average wait time?
(b) What is the average number of customers waiting?
(c) What is the average number of customers in the DMV?
Answer:
(a) Wq = 0.04 hour
(b) Lq = 1.70
(c) L= 3.95
Diff: 3
Topic: MULTICHANNEL QUEUING MODEL WITH POISSON ARRIVALS AND EXPONENTIAL SERVICE TIMES
(M/M/m)
AACSB: Analytic Skills

36
139) With regard to queuing theory, define what is meant by balking.
Answer: This refers to the situation when arriving customers choose to not enter the queue because it is
too long to suit their needs or interests.
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

140) With regard to queuing theory, define what is meant by reneging.

Answer: the situation when customers in a queue choose to leave the queue before getting service
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

141) What is meant by a single-channel queuing system?

Answer: one service facility system fed by one queue
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

142) What is meant by a multichannel queuing system?

Answer: more than one service facility all fed by the same queue
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

143) What is meant by a single-phase system?

Answer: Arrivals leave the system after receiving service at only one station.
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

144) What is meant by a multiphase system?

Answer: Service is provided at more than one station, one after the other.
Diff: 2
Topic: CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

145) What is the steady state of a queuing system?

Answer: The steady state is the normal operating condition of a queuing system.
Diff: 1
Topic: SOME GENERAL OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUEUING SYSTEM

37