EVENT-DRIVEN WAITING LINE ANALYSIS (CONDITION: OBSERVE FOR FIVE HOURS EACH FOR FIVE CONSECUTIVE DAYS)

2.1 Choose any relevant service organisation in South Africa where you will execute a waiting line/ queueing analysis.

2.1.1 Describe with the aid of a diagram, the queueing system configuration exhibited by the service organisation. [5]

2.1.2 For five days at a consistent time interval for five (5) hours; in a specified functional section or department of

the identified service organisation of your choice, compile a table with the following; [10] Table 1. Arrival and service rate of customers in a day

Period Customer Arrival Rate Customer Service Rate E.g. 9am to 10am 10 customers per hour 5 customers per hour

2.1.3 Using the customer arrival and service rate data for each hour, as a potential process analyst, determine the following operating characteristics of the waiting line with a view to ascertain the efficiency of the operation carried out in this service organisation.

a. the average number of customers in the system. [5]

b. the average time a customer spends in the system. [5]

c. the average number of customers in the queue. [5]

d. the average time a customer spends waiting in the queue. [5]

e. determine the utilisation of the service facility(ies) deployed in this service organisation. [5]

f. determine the probability that there will be zero customer in this service organisation. [5]

g. determine the probability that there will be more than eight (8) customers in this service organisation. [5]

2.1.4 Plot and briefly discuss the graph of average number of customers in the queue for the five days. [5]

2.1.5 Plot and briefly discuss the graph of customer average wait time in queue for the five days. [5]

2.1.6 Based on the waiting line performance analysis results obtained in question (2.1.3), determine the following:

a) the expected number of customers in the system.

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[5]

b) the expected time a customer spends in the system. [5]

c) the variance of the number of customers in the queue for five days. [5]

d) the variance of the customer wait time in the queue for five days. [5]

e) the standard deviation of the number of customers in the queue for five days. [5]

f) the standard deviation of the customer wait time in the queue for five days. [5]

2.1.7 Should the service organisation source extra service facility with a view service the customers? (Justify your answer based on the result of the existing waiting line performance analysis or using new waiting line performance analysis

if applicable).

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