Material flow and production systems are composed of many subsystems and processes that influence each other and are usually subject to stochastic influences in reality. Therefore, it is reasonable to investigate, evaluate and compare different system alternatives during the planning phase of material flow and production systems. Using methods from discrete-time queueing theory, key performance indicators for systems and their parameters (e.g. stochastic processing times) can be calculated. Low computing times allow to quickly calculate these key performance indicators for different system alternatives and based on that to compare them.
The Discrete Time Queueing Analyzer (DTQA) is a free software tool, where algorithms from discrete-time queueing theory are implemented. It provides a graphical user interface, where queueing networks can be created and the necessary parameters and distributions can be specified. The tool shows the current status of the created network with regard to missing or invalid data. If the created network and all specified parameters and distributions are valid and complete, key performance indicators can be calculated. Both single key performance indicators (e.g. the utilization) and whole distributions of key performance indicators (e.g. of the waiting time) are calculated. The calculated key performance indicators can be displayed directly in the DTQA or can be exported to an Excel file. Subsequently, they can be used to further plan, dimension and analyze material flow and production systems.