Summary

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The various forms of queuing systems can make queuing a potentially complex field of analysis. However, because queues are encountered often in our everyday life, the analysis of queues is an important and widely explored area of management science. We have considered only the fundamentals of a few basic types of queuing systems; a number of other analysis models have been developed to analyze the more complex queuing systems.

Some queuing situations, however, are so complex that it is impossible to develop an analytical model. When these situations occur, an alternative form of analysis is simulation , in which the real-life queuing system is simulated via a computerized mathematical model. The operating characteristics are determined by observing the simulated queuing system. This alternative technique, simulation, is the subject of the next chapter.