Analyzing a waiting line in which arrivals are affected by the number of customers waiting for service
Consider a tool crib with two attendants (c=2). Time studies indicate customers arrive in a Poisson fashion at a rate of 12 per hour, so long as no more than one customer is waiting to be served. If two customers are waiting, the rate at which people enter the tool crib is reduced to eight per hour. If three customers are waiting, customers enter at a rate of four per hour. No additional customers enter if four customers are waiting. Hence, the maximum number of customers in the system (N) equals 6 . The time required to fill a customer’s order is exponentially distributed with a mean of 10 minutes.