Server Staffing to Meet Time-Varying Demand

We consider a multiserver service system with general nonstationary arrival and service-time processes in which s(t), the number of servers as a function of time, needs to be selected to meet projected loads. We try to choose s(t) so that the probability of a delay (before beginning service) hits or falls just below a target probability at all times. We develop an approximate procedure based on a time-dependent normal distribution, where the mean and variance are determined by infinite-server approximations. We demonstrate that this approximation is effective by making comparisons with the exact numerical solution of the Markovian M t /M/s t model.

• 저널Management Science · 42(10) · 1383–1394
• 토픽Advanced Queuing Theory Analysis · Management Information Systems
• DOI10.1287/mnsc.42.10.1383
• 저자Otis B. Jennings, Avishai Mandelbaum, William A. Massey, Ward Whitt