Waiting in line is a facet of everyday life. Be it waiting in grocery stores, malls, to buy tickets, banking halls or even in hospitals, people have to spend time waiting. Often the number of hours spend in waiting will depend on several factors. For instance, how many people are in the queue, the number of servers available and the amount of time spend saving every individual client. There are three main queuing models namely single-server waiting line, multiple single-server waiting lines and multiple-server waiting line
Single- server waiting line can be seen in a food truck. Here the people wait in a single line to be served. Here one is served as he or she shows up and after being served they leave and then the next person follows and is served. Often in a single line, there is only one server, only one customer (Eiselt " Sandblom, 2010). This type of queuing model is often based on a first come first serve basis.
The second queuing model is multiple-single server waiting line. An example is in banking halls or most check out points like airports where clients wait in a single line for services. There are often several tellers who serve clients but the line is only one. When one teller is done with a client, the teller becomes available and the next client in line goes to him or her. This type of model is also based on a first come first serve basis.
Multiple server waiting lines exist in grocery stores or supermarkets. There are multiple waiting lines. There are several servers with a single server for each line. People can choose any line particularly if there are few people in that queue. Often the clients are serviced in the order they come, but one at a time in every register (Stallings, 2000). These queues are interesting because one can have so many items that they take longer to be served or even the server could be slow. On the other hand, the other servers can be very swift an efficient. In grocery stores, for instance, a queue can move very slowly when someone has so many items where the one who has only one item might be tempted to skip the line. Often the waiting time shall depend on the efficiency of the servers or cashiers and the goods bought. This type of model is quite ideal for stores since it is very efficient and customers get to choose where they want to be served quickly.
The queuing model that is most ideal and I would prefer is the multiple-single server waiting line. Research shows that it is often the fastest and most ideal. This model has a shorter wait time. It may seem that single-line queue comes with a long wait, however in contrast with multiple lines, individuals who are in a single line take less time than if they have selected from multiple lines. Often one is relieved from chatty or slow cashiers/servers. Additionally, there is no worry of a slow customer. The service points are designed in a way that a single line benefits from a swift efficient server so the pain of a slow customer or inefficient server is distributed evenly (Klukin, 2014). There are cases in multiple lines when one choose the shortest queue but ends up waiting for a very long time to be served that even those who came much behind him or her will have been served and gone.
Single line enhances fairness. The first come first serve basis is the fairest line to serve clients. When all clients are in the same queue, the perception is that everyone is serviced fairly without anyone getting attention before the rest. Single line reduces stress. The customers are relieved of the stress of choosing the right line. Additionally, if they were to choose a particular line and it was not moving fast, they shall be under duress of having selected the wrong line and ends up being frustrated rather than enjoying the service.
The single line as well lessens line switching which can be frustrating for business and clients as well. Customers often move around queues attempting to check which line moves fast. Others pick one line then start jumping from one to another if the chosen line was slow and it causes chaos and wastes the client’s time as well.
The multiple-single server waiting line reduces employee theft where a cashier fails to scan a few items or only scan low priced goods as a favor to a friend or family member. In multiple lines, a cashier can collaborate with a friend or kin to steal and often that person will always be choosing that line. In a single line, however, everyone is at the mercy of the system, one never gets to choose which cashier to go to and hence it eliminates such thefts. The randomness of the single line helps in reducing familiarity which could be a cause for fraud.
Multiple-single server waiting line has been researched as the most ideal waiting line model.
References
Eiselt, H. A., " Sandblom, C. L. (2010). Waiting Line Models. In Operations Research (pp. 379-394). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Klukin, P. (2014). Single Line or Multiple Lines: Which Should You Choose?. Retrieved from https://www.lavi.com/en/single-line-multiple-line-queue
Stallings, W. (2000). Queuing analysis. WilliamStallings. com/StudentSupport. html.
