Waiting Lines and SimulationFor eac

Waiting Lines and SimulationFor each of the problems we analyzed with the waiting-line models, the arrivals had a Poisson distribution (or exponential interarrival times), the service times had an exponential distribution, the service facilities had a simple arrangement, the waiting line was unlimited, and the priority discipline was firstcome, first-served. Waiting-line theory has been used to develop other models in which these criteria are not met, but these models are complex. For example, POM for Windows includes a finite system-size model in which limits can be placed on the size of the system (waiting line and server capacity). It also has several models that relax assumptions on the service time distribution. Nonetheless, many times the nature of the customer population, the constraints on the line, the priority rule, the service-time distribution, and the arrangement of the facilities are such that waiting-line theory is no longer useful. In these cases, simulation often is used. MyOMLab Supplement E, “Simulation,” discusses simulation programming languages and powerful PC-based packages. Here we illustrateprocess simulation with the SimQuick software (also provided in MyOMLab)