Security system throughput modeling

One of the keys to integrating 100% checked bag screening into airports is identifying realistic throughput rates of various explosive detection system (EDS) machines available to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) planners. This study discusses some of the issues associated with the implementation of EDS equipment and performs an analysis on the throughput of the equipment using modeling and discrete event simulation tools. The study determined that there is a significant difference between the scan rate and the effective throughput rate for the InVision CTX5500. This is extremely important for the TSA planners, who are determining the number of EDS machines to buy and deploy at all 429 US commercial airports. The deployments are based on passenger demand at peak hours of the day. Matching this relatively high volume operation against the slow processing rate of stand-alone EDS will generate large passenger queues unless multiple machines are installed to provide and acceptable level of customer (passenger) service. As a result, the effective throughput rate number should be used in determining the number of EDSs to install at a particular airport, not the machine scan rate.