Essay BNM802J – Simulation of a Petrol Station – Management Assignment Help

Assignment Task

Coursework Title:

SIMULATION OF A PETROL STATION

Task Details/Description:

The management of a petrol filling station has noticed a steady increase in the flow of customers into the petrol station over recent months. This has led to an increase in queuing times at the (self-service) petrol pumps and at the payment till. Customers arrive at the petrol station and look to see if a petrol pump is available. If no pumps are available they drive away, otherwise they refill their vehicle with petrol. They then proceed to the payment till and proceed with the payment process. On entering the petrol station, customers queue at the first available pump. Currently there are three petrol pumps and one payment till. The customer arrival rate is an exponential distribution with a mean of three minutes, the pump service time is a triangular distribution with a minimum of four minutes, mean of six minutes, maximum of ten minutes. The payment service time is a triangular distribution with a minimum of one minute, mean of four minutes, maximum of six minutes.

Build a model of the petrol station using the Arena simulation software. Run the simulation for 50 replications. Each replication has a run time of 1 day’s operation which is 510 minutes, with no new arrivals for the final 30 minutes of each day.

Determine the change in performance due to an investment in either an additional petrol pump or an additional payment till. Use the performance measures of the number of ‘drive aways’ and the average queue time at the payment till to make your comparisons and report the 95% confidence intervals for your measures.

Module Learning Outcomes Assessed:

1. To build a model using the ARENA simulation software system

2. To be able to undertake appropriate statistical analysis of model results

3. To work to deliver a management report to a deadline.