ON MANAGING OPERATING CAPACITY TO REDUCE CONGESTION IN-SERVICE SYSTEMS

This paper presents an alternative framework in which service systems are classified according to the 'visibility level' of the queue length in the system to the customers. By directly considering the customer' s behavior while waiting in the system, we develop two simple models t hat analyze the benefit of adjusting the 'operating' capacity dynamica lly for two different types of service systems: a system with invisibl e queue length and a system with visible queue length. The first syste m is motivated by a customer support service system in which the calle r cannot 'see' the queue length while the second system is motivated b y a check-out service system in which the queue length is highly 'visi ble' to the customers. For each service system, we first specify a pol icy for adjusting the 'operating capacity' dynamically according to th e physical environment of the operation. Then we develop a queueing mo del that analyzes the benefit of managing the capacity dynamically. Th e analysis provides useful managerial insights for managing capacity i n these types of service systems.