On selecting a process with the smallest number of unfortunate events

Abstract

Managers often desire to assign resources to minimize balking in service systems. Discrete event simulations are often used to study alternative assignments. When the distribution of the number of balking events in a business day is approximated by a Poisson distribution, the objective becomes that of selecting a population corresponding to the smallest mean number of unfortunate events. A procedure for selecting a Poisson population with the smallest mean is described in which the selection is carried out based on a random sample of size n from each population. Examples of a bank lobby and manufacturing process are used to illustrate this procedure.

Keywords:

• selection process
• discrete event simulation
• balking rates
• Poisson populations