Suppose that a coffee shop wants the average line length to be 5 customers and that 50 customers arrive each hour. The probability distributions that describe arrival and service times are unknown. How many minutes will the average customer wait in line?
A) 6 minutes
B) 5 minutes
C) 10 minutes
D) 0.1 minutes
E) 2.5 minutes

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Given that 50 customers arrive each hour, this translates to an average arrival rate of 1 customer per 1.2 minutes (60 minutes / 50 customers). If the coffee shop wants the average line length to be 5 customers, and assuming a steady state (where the arrival rate equals the service rate to maintain the desired line length), each customer would wait 6 minutes in line on average before being served (5 customers * 1.2 minutes/customer).

Suppose That a Coffee Shop Wants the Average Line Length