Queueing theory might sound like a very dry subject. But whether you run a call centre, retail operation, bank, or exchange house, grasping queuing theory principles, can give your business a sizable competitive edge. Equally important is understanding how queueing theory can reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve the service delivered to your customers.
Several years back, my business partner and I were asked to undertake a project with a Southeast Asian bank. They asked us to review their retail banking operation – the CEO wanted their branches to operate with retail principles, as opposed to a standard bank of the day.
Some of the fixes were straightforward; but instead of implementing a standard customer service package, we spent time in their branches observing, talking to customers, reviewing processes, observing staff, determining both customer pain and satisfaction points.

Time spent queuing or standing in line – to use the US phrase – was by far the biggest customer pain point identified. We all hate waiting in a queue – and even worse – a slow queue, whether it is physical, virtual, or hanging on a phone line.
Enabling the bank’s branches to handle greater capacity, while reducing total average queuing time for customers – became a key focus.
The number of people in a queue, and total time a customer waits in a queue, are mathematical functions of several factors built into the queuing model we have developed. Key inputs include a) number of arrivals, b) open service points, and c) average transaction times.
Small improvements in efficiency can lead to a geometric reduction in queues. A 6% reduction in transaction time can lead to a 33% reduction in queues. Seems implausible but be assured it’s not. Ensuring staff are rostered to match business peaks and troughs delivers equally impressive results – which to this day is still not SOP.
We embarked on a process engineering exercise to understand in detail their processes, procedures, regulatory requirements, physical designs, IT, and rostering.
The results of this joint exercise with the bank were impressive and delivered:
· Total average customer queuing queues time reduced by over 40%
· Process engineering delivered a 9% reduction in average transaction times
· New branch design delivered greater capacity – combined with the points above enabled the bank to build smaller branches with lower rents, lower construction costs, and increased transaction capacity
· Circa 5% reduction in staffing costs, while total transactions increased by 5.5%.
This is a small example of how greater efficiency and improved customer service can be delivered in multiple sectors by taking a slightly more scientific approach. If this is of interest to you, please contact us at: info@wwmcco.com