Operating a Publication in a Real World with Unrealistic Constraints

Abstract

In the real world, jobs arrive at a typical publication department at random intervals. The length and difficulty vary randomly from job to job, as does the fraction of effort required from each group within the department. Frequently, however, higher management decrees that all workers in the publication department must be usefully busy all the time, and that overtime must be virtually eliminated, requiring complicated approval for each individual case. This paper presents the mathematical method used in Operations Research to model such real-world conditions; shows how this method, called queueing theory, is applied to a publication department; and describes the important implications of this theory and its application for managing a publication department. The paper then describes some of the ways an understanding of this theory can be used to meet real-world conditions while staying within unrealistic constraints.