Queuing Theory - 4 customers max

[zilch4ry]

hi all,

i was just wondering if anybody knows of a calculation which could be used to generate the minimum number of tills needed open. I have been given an ITC problem which states i must find the minimum number of tills needed open for maximum profit gain; I must then create a spreadsheet which shows all this information. I have at the moment a method which i thought to be correct, but after reviewing it im not sure that it takes the maximum number of queuing customers into account. The solution i have uses:

average number of customers per hour *(times) Average no. of items purchased per customer visit /(divided by) the average number of items a till member can scan per hour.

If anybody can improve on that it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Tom

 

[brettdj]

this is an Operation Research question.

While its been some time since I looked at queing problems (I have a textbook which I will provide you the name of) you will need to understand the arrival frequency to formulate the solution

There are software packages for Excel such as RiskOptimiser that are designed to model these dynamic problems

Cheers

Dave

 

[zilch4ry]

thanks for the help Dave, ill make sure to give riskoptimizer a go