Consider the following due-date scheduling problem in a multiclass, acyclic, single-station service system: any class k job arriving at time t must be served by its due date t D_{k}. Equivalently, its delay ¦Ó_{k} must not exceed a given delay or lead-time D_{k}. In a stochastic system the...

We study how multi-product queueing systems should be controlled so that sojourn times (or end-to-end delays) do not exceed specified leadtimes. The network dynamically decides when to admit new arrivals and how to sequence the jobs in the system. To analyze this difficult problem, we propose an...

We consider a general single-server multiclass queueing system that incurs a delay cost Ck(Tk) for each class k job that resides Tk units of time in the system. This paper derives a scheduling policy that minimizes the total cumulative delay cost when the system operates during a finite time...

We present an integrated approach to pricing and scheduling for services that are differentiated in terms of throughput, delay and loss specifications. The key building block to the model are quality value curves that specify a user's value of higher quality levels. From the analysis emerges a...

This article studies the optimal prices and service quality grades that a queuing system --- the "firm” --- provides to heterogeneous, utility-maximizing customers who measure quality by their experienced delay distributions. Results are threefold: First, delay cost curves are introduced that...

About 43 million US domestic flights operated on routes that were serviced consistently by the same airlines from 1997 to 2017. The scheduled duration of these flights, as posted on computerized reservation systems, increased on average by 8.1% over the 21-year span. Where did the time go?...