This summer, Chad will be selling ice cream cones from an open-air stand at the Market. The data show an expected high demand (48 customers per hour). Chad takes about one minute to prepare 1 cone. The stand owners will pay Chad $14 per hour and consider that each customer waiting in line costs them 25¢ ($0.25) per minute per customer. Assume that arrival and service times are exponential, that customers queue "first come, first served", that capacity is infinite, and that all customers who join the queue leave after getting their cornet (no abandonment). Determine the average cost per hour of stand operation?

Allison will also be selling cones at the market this summer. She'll be selling them from a small counter in one of the market buildings. Fortunately, the place is air-conditioned but can only accommodate a maximum of 6 customers inside, including the one being served. In addition to the waiting cost of 25¢ per minute per customer, the owners consider a blocked customer to be a loss, which they estimate at $5 per customer.
Using the same parameters and assumptions as above, determine the average cost per hour of counter operation.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

To determine the average cost per hour of stand operation for Chad and Allison we can use queuing th... View the full answer