| Article ID: | iaor20022256 |
| Country: | Brazil |
| Volume: | 20 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Start Page Number: | 59 |
| End Page Number: | 71 |
| Publication Date: | Jun 2000 |
| Journal: | Pesquisa Operacional |
| Authors: | Morabito R., Lima F.C.R. |
| Keywords: | retailing |
In this study we applied queuing theory to analyze the problem of congestion in supermarket checkouts. We are particularly concerned with modelling the mean user waiting time in the queue, viewed as an important component of the user service, as a function of the capacity of the system (i.e., the number of cashiers in a given time period). Three models are explored: (i) to represent the system by means of a simple M/M/m queuing model, where m is the number of cashiers, (ii) to represent the system by means of m parallel and independent M/M/1 queuing models, and (iii) to represent the system by means of a more generic Markovian model, where the former models can be viewed as particular cases. In order to evaluate the performance of the models, we developed a case study in one of the supermarkets of JaúServe chain located in São Paulo State. The results showed that the third model can yield a good approximation for the problem, different from the first two models.