OPIM 201 OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Queuing Practice
QUESTION 1
Quick Lube Inc. operates a fast lube and oil change garage. On a typical day, customers
arrive at the rate of three per hour and lube jobs are performed at an average rate of one every
15 minutes. The mechanics operate as a team on one car at a time. Assuming Poisson arrivals
and exponential service, find
1.
2.
3.
4.

Utilization of the lube team.

The average number of cars in line.
The average time a car waits before it is lubed.
The total time it takes to go through the system.

QUESTION 2
The Robot Company franchises car wash stations throughout the United States. For a car
wash, Robot charges $5. The cost of the car wash to Robot is $1. Robot stays open 14 hours
per day. Robot has two power units and drive assemblies, and a franchisee must select the
unit preferred. Unit I can wash cars at the rate of one every five minutes and is leased for
$120 per day. Unit II, a larger unit, can wash cars at the rate of one every four minutes but
costs $160 per day.
The franchisee estimates that customers will not wait in line more than five minutes for a car
wash. A longer time will cause Robot to lose the car wash sale. If the estimate of customer
arrivals is 10 per hour, which wash unit should be selected?

QUESTION 3
In the service department of the Glenn-Mark Auto Agency, mechanics requiring parts for
auto repair or service present their request forms at the parts department counter. A mechanic
has to wait until a parts clerk is available to fill a request. Mechanics arrive in a random
(Poisson) fashion at the rate of 40 per hour, and a clerk can fill requests at the rate of 20 per
hour (exponential). Glenn-Mark can hire up to four parts clerks and it operates eight hours a
day. If the cost for parts clerk is $6 per hour and the cost for a mechanic is $12 per hour,
determine the optimum number of clerks to staff the counter.

Answers
Question 1:

This is an M/M/1 queue with = 3 and = 4 .

1.
2.
3.
4.

Utilization = 75%
= 2.25
= 0.75
= 1

Question 2:
This is an M/D/1 queue with = 10 . Using Unit I, = 12 and

= 0.2083 = 12.5
Using Unit II, = 15 and
= 0.0667 = 4
Since customers will not wait in line more than five minutes, using Unit I, some customers
would renege because of 12.5-minute wait. We can gain some estimate of lost sales with Unit
I by setting = 5 and solving for the corresponding .

1
=
=

2( ) 12
= 8
Therefore, an estimated 2 customers per hour will be lost. = 2 14
$4 = $112, whereas the additional cost of Unit II is only $160 $120 = $40. So Unit II
should be selected.

Question 3:

Having only one or two clerks would create infinitely long lines.
Hiring 3 clerks, this is an M/M/3 queue with = 40 and = 20 .
= 0.953
The cost of mechanics is 0.953 8 $12 = $91.49. The cost of clerks is 3 8 $6 =
$144. So the total cost is $235.49.
Hiring 4 clerks, this is an M/M/4 queue.
= 0.223
The cost of mechanics is 0.223 8 $12 = $21.41. The cost of clerks is 4 8 $6 =
$192. So the total cost is $213.41< $235.49. Therefore, Glenn-Mark should hire 4 clerks.