Continuing Problem 50, we might expect that the system will be only as good as the station with the smallest value of s i µ i (called the bottleneck station). This problem asks you to experiment with...

Continuing Problem 50, we might expect that the system will be only as good as the station with the smallest value of s_iµ_i
(called the bottleneck station). This problem asks you to experiment with the simulation to gain some insights into bottlenecks. For each of the following parts, assume a Poisson arrival rate of  = 1 per minute, and assume that processing times are exponentially distributed. Each station has s_i= 1 and there are five stations. Each station, except for the bottleneck station, has a processing time mean of 1/µ_i=  0.6 minute. The bottleneck station has mean 0.9 minute. Each part should be answered independently. For each, you should discuss the most important outputs from your simulation.


a. Suppose there are 100 (essentially unlimited) buffers in front of all stations after station 1. Run the simulation when station 1 is the bottleneck. Repeat when it is station 2; station 3; station 4; station 5.


b. Repeat part a when there are only two buffers in front of each station after station 1.


c. Suppose station 3 is the bottleneck station and you have 4 buffers to allocate to the whole system. Experiment to see where they should be placed.