Operations Management
SofOptics - Lecture 8
Dr. Ursula G. Kraus
1/16
Review
• Performance Measures for Queuing
Systems
• Special Queuing Models
2/16
Agenda
• Psychology of Waiting
• SofOptics
4/16
Psychology of Waiting Lines
The average person spends
5 years waiting in line!!
Hello...are you there?
This is the Microsoft Help
Desk, thank you for
holding.
© 1995 Corel Corp.
5/16
Psychology of Waiting Lines
First Law of Service
Service = Perception - Expectation
Second Law of Service
It’s hard to play “catch-up ball”
6/16
Propositions
1.
Unoccupied time feels longer than occupied time
2.
Pre-process waits feel longer than in-process waits
3.
Anxiety makes the wait seem longer
4.
Uncertain waits are longer than known, finite waits
5.
Unexplained waits are longer than explained waits
6.
Unfair waits are longer than equitable waits
7.
The more valuable the service, the longer the customer will wait
8.
Solo waits feel longer than group waits
7/16
Example: Disneyland, CA
About 13 million visitors per year
8/16
Disneyland – Queue Lengths
9/16
Disneyland – Queuing
Queue areas are elaborately decorated,
– with various holding areas fostering
anticipation,
– thus potentially shortening the perceived
wait for some people in the queue by
giving them something interesting to look
at as they wait, or
– the perception that they have arrived at the
threshold of the attraction.
10/16
Disneyland - FastPass
 In 1999, in an effort to offset the long waits for the most
popular attractions, Disney implemented a new service
named Fastpass.
 At attractions featuring Fastpass, a guest can use their
park admission ticket to obtain a Fastpass ticket with a
return time later that day printed on it.
 If the guest returns to the attraction at their return time,
they can wait in a shorter line and typically be on the
attraction within ten minutes.
Source: www.Disney.com
11/16
Disneyland - RideMax
 Software program, that calculates the best time to ride each ride at
Disneyland for the least amount of waiting and walking times.
 Logistics calls it "the time-dependent traveling salesman problem."
 Or, as kids would put it: How to visit Space Mountain, Mickey's Country
House and Pirates of the Caribbean without wasting hours in lines?
 Creating a tour for just 23 rides at America's favorite, and most crowded,
amusement park involves considering more than 25 *1021 combinations.
Source: www.ridemax.com
12/16
Disneyland - RideMax
…
Time
Attraction
Expected
Wait
Ride
Time
Walking Time
to
Next Attraction
8:05 AM
Astro Orbiter
5 Min
2 Min
0 Min
8:12 AM
Get Star Tours
FASTPASS
0 Min
1 Min
1 Min
8:14 AM
Autopia
6 Min
10 Min
7 Min
8:37 AM
Get Indiana
Jones
FASTPASS
0 Min
1 Min
0 Min
8:38 AM
Jungle Cruise
6 Min
8 Min
0 Min
8:52 AM
Jungle Cruise
7 Min
8 Min
1 Min
9:08 AM
Tarzan's Tree
House
1 Min
8 Min
0 Min
9:17 AM
Indiana Jones
(use
FASTPASS)
9 Min
5 Min
0 Min
5 Min
9 Min
0 Min
39 Min
52 Min
9 Min
9:31 AM
Free Time
9:40 AM
Star Tours (use
FASTPASS)
TOTALS
Source: www.ridemax.com
13/16
Agenda
• Psychology of Waiting
• SofOptics
14/16
Sof-Optics
15/16
Sof-Optics:
Incoming
calls
Ri
Order Queue
“buffer” size K
R
Queue
Rb
Blocked Calls
Server
(CSR)
Rp
Answered
Calls
Ra
Abandoned Calls
Source: Managing Business Process Flows (1999)
16/16