IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/oropre/v56y2008i1p173-187.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dimensioning Large-Scale Membership Services

Author

Listed:
  • Francis de Véricourt

    (European School of Management and Technology, Berlin 10178, Germany)

  • Otis B. Jennings

    (Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708)

Abstract

Motivated by workforce planning problems in health care, professional, warranty, and repair services, we propose modeling service centers that are exclusively dedicated to fixed client constituencies as closed multiserver queueing systems, a framework we refer to as membership services . We provide fluid and diffusion approximations of the number of users within the membership who are requesting service. The approximations are obtained via many-server limit theorems, where the limiting regime assumptions of each theorem correspond to a particular staffing strategy a manager might employ. Accordingly, we propose staffing rules designed to meet a certain desired performance criterion. In particular, when the objective is to minimize the staffing size subject to a constraint on the probability of delay for a service-requesting customer, we suggest staffing rules inspired by the so-called quality- and efficiency-driven (QED), or Halfin-Whitt, limiting regime. Numerical evaluations of our proposed QED scheme indicate that, although justified for large systems, the staffing rule performs well for memberships of all sizes.

Suggested Citation

  • Francis de Véricourt & Otis B. Jennings, 2008. "Dimensioning Large-Scale Membership Services," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 56(1), pages 173-187, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:56:y:2008:i:1:p:173-187
    DOI: 10.1287/opre.1070.0464
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/opre.1070.0464
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/opre.1070.0464?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ward Whitt, 2005. "Engineering Solution of a Basic Call-Center Model," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(2), pages 221-235, February.
    2. Shlomo Halfin & Ward Whitt, 1981. "Heavy-Traffic Limits for Queues with Many Exponential Servers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 567-588, June.
    3. J. Michael Harrison & Assaf Zeevi, 2004. "Dynamic Scheduling of a Multiclass Queue in the Halfin-Whitt Heavy Traffic Regime," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 52(2), pages 243-257, April.
    4. Ward Whitt, 2004. "Efficiency-Driven Heavy-Traffic Approximations for Many-Server Queues with Abandonments," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(10), pages 1449-1461, October.
    5. Ward Whitt, 1992. "Understanding the Efficiency of Multi-Server Service Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(5), pages 708-723, May.
    6. Sem Borst & Avi Mandelbaum & Martin I. Reiman, 2004. "Dimensioning Large Call Centers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 52(1), pages 17-34, February.
    7. Achal Bassamboo & J. Michael Harrison & Assaf Zeevi, 2006. "Design and Control of a Large Call Center: Asymptotic Analysis of an LP-Based Method," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 54(3), pages 419-435, June.
    8. A. Puhalskii, 1994. "On the Invariance Principle for the First Passage Time," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 19(4), pages 946-954, November.
    9. Noah Gans & Ger Koole & Avishai Mandelbaum, 2003. "Telephone Call Centers: Tutorial, Review, and Research Prospects," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 5(2), pages 79-141, September.
    10. Constantinos Maglaras & Assaf Zeevi, 2003. "Pricing and Capacity Sizing for Systems with Shared Resources: Approximate Solutions and Scaling Relations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(8), pages 1018-1038, August.
    11. Francis de Véricourt & Yong-Pin Zhou, 2005. "Managing Response Time in a Call-Routing Problem with Service Failure," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 53(6), pages 968-981, December.
    12. J. Michael Harrison & Assaf Zeevi, 2005. "A Method for Staffing Large Call Centers Based on Stochastic Fluid Models," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 7(1), pages 20-36, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Amy R. Ward & Mor Armony, 2013. "Blind Fair Routing in Large-Scale Service Systems with Heterogeneous Customers and Servers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 61(1), pages 228-243, February.
    2. Avishai Mandelbaum & Sergey Zeltyn, 2009. "Staffing Many-Server Queues with Impatient Customers: Constraint Satisfaction in Call Centers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(5), pages 1189-1205, October.
    3. Fiona Sloothaak & James Cruise & Seva Shneer & Maria Vlasiou & Bert Zwart, 2021. "Complete resource pooling of a load-balancing policy for a network of battery swapping stations," Queueing Systems: Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 99(1), pages 65-120, October.
    4. Ingolfsson, Armann & Almehdawe, Eman & Pedram, Ali & Tran, Monica, 2020. "Comparison of fluid approximations for service systems with state-dependent service rates and return probabilities," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 283(2), pages 562-575.
    5. Carri W. Chan & Galit Yom-Tov & Gabriel Escobar, 2014. "When to Use Speedup: An Examination of Service Systems with Returns," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 62(2), pages 462-482, April.
    6. Ramandeep S. Randhawa & Sunil Kumar, 2009. "Multiserver Loss Systems with Subscribers," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(1), pages 142-179, February.
    7. Petar Momčilović & Amir Motaei, 2018. "QED limits for many-server systems under a priority policy," Queueing Systems: Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 90(1), pages 125-159, October.
    8. Francis de Véricourt & Otis B. Jennings, 2011. "Nurse Staffing in Medical Units: A Queueing Perspective," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 59(6), pages 1320-1331, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Opher Baron & Joseph Milner, 2009. "Staffing to Maximize Profit for Call Centers with Alternate Service-Level Agreements," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(3), pages 685-700, June.
    2. Avishai Mandelbaum & Petar Momčilović, 2008. "Queues with Many Servers: The Virtual Waiting-Time Process in the QED Regime," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(3), pages 561-586, August.
    3. Noa Zychlinski, 2023. "Applications of fluid models in service operations management," Queueing Systems: Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 103(1), pages 161-185, February.
    4. Achal Bassamboo & Assaf Zeevi, 2009. "On a Data-Driven Method for Staffing Large Call Centers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(3), pages 714-726, June.
    5. Eugene Furman & Adam Diamant & Murat Kristal, 2021. "Customer Acquisition and Retention: A Fluid Approach for Staffing," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(11), pages 4236-4257, November.
    6. Avishai Mandelbaum & Sergey Zeltyn, 2009. "Staffing Many-Server Queues with Impatient Customers: Constraint Satisfaction in Call Centers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(5), pages 1189-1205, October.
    7. Mor Armony & Avishai Mandelbaum, 2011. "Routing and Staffing in Large-Scale Service Systems: The Case of Homogeneous Impatient Customers and Heterogeneous Servers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 59(1), pages 50-65, February.
    8. Achal Bassamboo & Ramandeep S. Randhawa, 2010. "On the Accuracy of Fluid Models for Capacity Sizing in Queueing Systems with Impatient Customers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 58(5), pages 1398-1413, October.
    9. Achal Bassamboo & J. Michael Harrison & Assaf Zeevi, 2006. "Design and Control of a Large Call Center: Asymptotic Analysis of an LP-Based Method," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 54(3), pages 419-435, June.
    10. Defraeye, Mieke & Van Nieuwenhuyse, Inneke, 2016. "Staffing and scheduling under nonstationary demand for service: A literature review," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 4-25.
    11. Constantinos Maglaras & Assaf Zeevi, 2004. "Diffusion Approximations for a Multiclass Markovian Service System with “Guaranteed” and “Best-Effort” Service Levels," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(4), pages 786-813, November.
    12. Tolga Tezcan & J. G. Dai, 2010. "Dynamic Control of N -Systems with Many Servers: Asymptotic Optimality of a Static Priority Policy in Heavy Traffic," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 58(1), pages 94-110, February.
    13. Dongyuan Zhan & Amy R. Ward, 2014. "Threshold Routing to Trade Off Waiting and Call Resolution in Call Centers," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 16(2), pages 220-237, May.
    14. Constantinos Maglaras & Assaf Zeevi, 2005. "Pricing and Design of Differentiated Services: Approximate Analysis and Structural Insights," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 53(2), pages 242-262, April.
    15. Guodong Pang & Ward Whitt, 2009. "Service Interruptions in Large-Scale Service Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(9), pages 1499-1512, September.
    16. Rodney B. Wallace & Ward Whitt, 2005. "A Staffing Algorithm for Call Centers with Skill-Based Routing," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 7(4), pages 276-294, August.
    17. Achal Bassamboo & Ramandeep S. Randhawa & Assaf Zeevi, 2010. "Capacity Sizing Under Parameter Uncertainty: Safety Staffing Principles Revisited," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(10), pages 1668-1686, October.
    18. Jinsheng Chen & Jing Dong & Pengyi Shi, 2020. "A survey on skill-based routing with applications to service operations management," Queueing Systems: Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 96(1), pages 53-82, October.
    19. Itay Gurvich & Mor Armony & Avishai Mandelbaum, 2008. "Service-Level Differentiation in Call Centers with Fully Flexible Servers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(2), pages 279-294, February.
    20. Ward Whitt, 2006. "Sensitivity of Performance in the Erlang-A Queueing Model to Changes in the Model Parameters," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 54(2), pages 247-260, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:56:y:2008:i:1:p:173-187. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.