A new appointment rule for a single-server, multiple-customer service system

Abstract

This paper proposes a new appointment rule for the single-server, multiple-customer service system. Unlike previous appointment rules, which perform well only in specific service environments, the new rule can be parameterized to perform well in different service environments. The new appointment rule is presented as a mathematical function of four environmental parameters, namely, the coefficient of variation of the service time, the percentage of customers' no-shows, the number of appointments per service session, and the cost ratio between the server's idle and customers' waiting cost per unit time. Once the values of these environmental parameters are estimated, the new appointment rule can be parameterized to perform well. The results show that new rule performs either as well as or better than existing appointment rules in a wide range of service environments. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.