Increasing productivity in exponential queues by server-sharing

This paper sets out to investigate the effects of productivity improvements on the operation of queueing systems, the most noticeable effect being a change in the quality of the service that is provided to customers. A bulk-service queueing model is developed and solved, in which the average service time per batch is assumed to increase with the batch size, and the implications for service quality are discussed. The analysis shows that, under certain conditions, the benefits of group service over those of serving customers individually are quite substantial.