A small medical insurance group employees 3 claims processors, each of whom serves claims from a specific (different) sales region. Claims arrive at each processor's inbox in a separate Poisson stream at the rate of 200/day (during business hours). The processors are each able to provide exponentially-distributed service at the rate of 220/day (during business hours). Two options for improvement of the claims processing department are being considered:

Design A: Merge the three arrival streams into a single Poisson stream with rate 600/day (during business hours), and pool the three existing claims processors to serve it (they each continue to provide exponentially-distributed service at rate 220/day (during business hours)).

Design B:Hire a 4th claims processor, and have the claims processors (who each provide exponentially-distributed service at the rate of 220/day (during business hours)) each serve a separate Poisson stream of claims that arrive at the rate of 150/day (during business hours).

Which design produces the lowest average time in system?

A small medical insurance group employees 3 claims processors, each of whom serves claims from a specific (different) sales region. Claims arrive at each processor's inbox in a separate Poisson stream at the rate of 200/day (during business hours). The processors are each able to provide exponentially-distributed service at the rate of 220/day (during business hours). Two options for improvement of the claims processing department are being considered:

Design A: Merge the three arrival streams into a single Poisson stream with rate 600/day (during business hours), and pool the three existing claims processors to serve it (they each continue to provide exponentially-distributed service at rate 220/day (during business hours)).

Design B:Hire a 4th claims processor, and have the claims processors (who each provide exponentially-distributed service at the rate of 220/day (during business hours)) each serve a separate Poisson stream of claims that arrive at the rate of 150/day (during business hours).

Which design produces the lowest average time in system?

Choose from the following:

Design A and Design B produce equivalent performance.

There is insufficient information to make a determination.

Neither design makes sense. Stay with the current setup.

Design B.

Design A.