Spreadsheet Models for Managers

Session 12
Service Systems

service system is a system in which customers present themselves, are serviced, and depart. For example, an airline ticket counter is a service system. Service systems are very common in business, and knowing how to model a service system's capacity is an important skill for a modeler.

As common as service systems might seem, they are actually even more common. For example, a telephone switch is a service system — and so is the printer and copier in that little room down the hall from your office. So modeling service systems is even more important than you might think at first.

In this session, we'll study single-server systems, probably the simplest form of service system, but also the most common. We'll give you the tools you need to model them with enough fidelity that your models will make useful predictions of their capability and capacity. This is just what you need to determine whether these systems fulfill — or over-fulfill — the needs of the businesses they serve.

Below is a summary of the materials for Session 12.

• Readings
  • Service Systems
• Class notes
  • As PowerPoint: 2000-4 or 2007+
  • As Web pages
• Demonstration
  • Narrative
  • Excel Example: 2000-4 or 2007+
• Homework assignment
• Solution to Problem Set 11
  • Narrative
  • Excel Solution: 2000-4 or 2007+