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Merchants constitute only about 20% of the bank's customers (about 10 out of the 50 per hour), so it would be premature to provide a special teller just for merchants. (Management hopes to attract enough merchant business to justify doing this.) Furthermore, the total level of business does not seem large enough yet to add a third teller. Therefore, the proposal has been made to stick with the two tellers for now, but to set up a priority system that gives merchants priority over other customers for beginning service.
Under this proposal, there would be two classes of customers.
Priority Class 1: Merchants.
Priority Class 2: Others.
Each class would have its own waiting line with an explanatory sign at the entrance to the line. Whenever a teller is ready to begin serving another customer, the teller would take anyone waiting in the merchant line (on a first-come-first-serve basis). If nobody is in the merchant line, then the teller would take anyone in the other line (on a first-come-first-served basis). Once a teller begins serving a Class 2 customer, that service would be completed without interruption even if a merchant arrives during the service. (This is referred to as merchants having a nonpreemptive priority over other customers.)
Simulation is to be used to evaluate this proposal.