At one point or another, we have all had to wait in line at banks, grocery stores and other similar places. For the businesses, the ultimate goal is to achieve an economic balance between the cost of service and the cost associated with the waiting for that service.Queuing theory is the mathematics of waiting lines. It is very useful in predicting and evaluating system performance.

In queuing theory, certain characteristics are considered. They are: arrival process, service time distribution, number of servers, system capacity, population size, and service discipline.There are questions that need to be answered so that management can evaluate alternatives in an attempt to control/improve the process. Some of the problems that are often investigated in practice are:

• Is it worthwhile to invest effort in reducing the service time?
• How many servers should be employed?
• Should priorities for certain types of customers be introduced?
• Is the waiting area for customers adequate

Question 1 -

What are the components of the following systems? Explain the configuration of each:

• Barbershop
• Car wash
• Laundromat
• Small grocery store
• Large department store (e.g., Wal-Mart)