Related papers: Dynamic Control of Service Systems with Returns: A…
We consider an automatic overload control for two large service systems modeled as multi-server queues, such as call centers. We assume that the two systems are designed to operate independently, but want to help each other respond to…
Performance modeling is a key issue in queuing theory and operation research. It is well-known that the length of a queue that awaits service or the time spent by a job in a queue depends not only on the service rate, but also crucially on…
We study a simple rate control scheme for a multiclass queuing network for which customers are partitioned into distinct flows that are queued separately at each station. The control scheme discards customers that arrive to the network…
This paper studies a diffusion control problem motivated by challenges faced by public health agencies who run clinics to serve the public. A key challenge for these agencies is to motivate individuals to participate in the services…
We study a make-to-order system with a finite set of customers. Production is stochastic with a nonlinear dependence between the ordered quantity and the production rate. Customers may have to queue until their turn arrives, and therefore…
Motivated by the operational problems in click and collect systems, such as curbside pickup programs, we study a joint admission control and capacity allocation problem. We consider a system where arriving customers have preferred service…
What determines the average length of a queue which stretches in front of a service station? The answer to this question clearly depends on the average rate at which jobs arrive at the queue and on the average rate of service. Somewhat less…
We consider a single server queueing system with admission control and the possibility to switch dynamically between a low and a high service rate, and examine the benefit of this service rate flexibility. We formulate a discounted Markov…
We study randomized experiments in a service system when stochastic congestion can arise from temporarily limited supply or excess demand. Such congestion gives rise to cross-unit interference between the waiting customers, and analytic…
We study a system, where a random flow of customers is served by servers (called agents) invited on-demand. Each invited agent arrives into the system after a random time; after each service completion, an agent returns to the system or…
We introduce a novel single-server queue with general retrial times and event-dependent arrivals. This is a versatile model for the study of service systems, in which the server needs a non-negligible time to retrieve waiting customers upon…
We consider the problem of load balancing in parallel queues by transferring customers between them at discrete points in time. Holding costs accrue as customers wait in the queue, while transfer decisions incur both fixed (setup) costs and…
We study optimal scheduling in multi-class queueing systems with reentrance, where jobs may return for additional service after completion. Such reentrance creates feedback loops that fundamentally alter congestion dynamics and challenge…
We address a single server queue control problem (QCP) in heavy traffic originating from Lee and Weerasinghe (2011). The state process represents the offered waiting time, the customer arrival has a state-dependent intensity, and the…
We consider the problem of service rate control of a single server queueing system with a finite-state Markov-modulated Poisson arrival process. We show that the optimal service rate is non-decreasing in the number of customers in the…
We study flow shop scheduling with stochastic reentry, where jobs must complete multiple passes through the entire shop, and the number of passes that a job requires for completion is drawn from a discrete probability distribution. The goal…
Motivated by applications in online marketplaces such as ride-hailing platforms and payment channel networks, we study a single-server queue with state-dependent arrival control. The service operator dynamically chooses the arrival rate as…
We consider a controlled double-ended queue consisting of two classes of customers, labeled sellers and buyers. The sellers and buyers arrive in a trading market according to two independent renewal processes. Whenever there is a seller and…
This paper studies a sequential decision-making problem in a two-stage queueing system modeled after operations in CVS MinuteClinics, where nurse practitioners (NPs) oversee patient care throughout the entire visit. All services are…
This paper introduces and analyzes the notion of throughput suboptimality for many-server queueing systems in heavy traffic. The queueing model under consideration has multiple customer classes, indexed by a finite set $\mathcal{I}$, and…