Little’s Law | Glossary

Definition

Little’s Law states that in possession of a stable system, the average number of customers within it, is equal to the average rate of consumer arrivals multiplied by the average time a consumer usually spends in the overall system.

Little’s Law is expressed as L= λW.With ‘L’ as the average number of customers, ‘λ’ being the average arrival rate, and ‘W’ being the average time in the system. This law got it’s name on John Littel, who proposed it in the mid-1990s.

Further Reading

  • “Building Intuition: Insights From Basic Operations Management Models and Principles” (book), by John D.C Little.