Question

The Arctic Flyers minor league hockey team has one box office clerk. On average, each customer that comes to see a game can be sold a ticket at the rate of 8 per minute. For normal games, customers arrive at the rate of 5 per minute. Assume arrivals follow the Poisson distribution and service times follow the exponential distribution.

The Flyers are playing in the league playoffs and anticipate more fans, estimating that the arrival rate will increase to 12 per minute. Output is supplied for a two-cashier and a three-cashier system.

Do you think it is more sensible for them to continue the one cashier system?

		Yes, it is too expensive to pay more than one cashier.
		Yes, one cashier can meet customer service requirements.
		No, the system cannot operate using one cashier because arrival rate exceeds the service rate.
		No, the system cannot operate with one cashier since the service rate exceeds the arrival rate.

Answer 1

Solution:

The Arctic Flyers minor league hockey team has one box office clerk. On average, each customer that comes to see a game can be sold a ticket at the rate of 8 per minute. For normal games, customers arrive at the rate of 5 per minute. Assume arrivals follow the Poisson distribution and service times follow the exponential distribution. The Flyers are playing in the league playoffs and anticipate more fans, estimating that the arrival rate will increase to 12 per minute. Output is supplied for a two-cashier and a three-cashier system. Do you think it is more sensible for them to continue the one cashier system? Answer: No, the system cannot operate using one cashier because arrival rate exceeds the service rate.