A defense researcher analyzes (1) customer satisfaction in a shopping scenario and (2) the efficient use of warplanes in battle. He comes up with a mathematical model common to both—in which “[the] parameter of principal interest is the expected customer-survival rate.” Here’s his paper on how the two relate: “Queuing with Impatient Customers and Indifferent Clerks,” […]
Tag: queuing
Wait, do tell: Why your line is slow
Are you waiting in a line at a store right how, fuming? Bill Hammack gives about as clear an explanation as possible for why your line probably moves slower than a line next to you: (Thanks to Gizmodo and Kristine Danowski for bringing this to our attention.)