OPS.10:4.5 - State exactly what the result supports

Name each result as a hard bound, a feasible schedule under stated inputs, a stress scenario, an estimated mean, a percentile/probability forecast or an unresolved question. Attach the relevant uncertainty, data window and model limitations. Historical coverage of a target is not automatically its future probability.

For a consistently defined population with stable compatible averages, Little’s relation L = λW connects mean in-system count, effective flow rate and mean time. Returns, rework, abandonment and finite-window boundary terms need correct population accounting. The arrival/exit rate of service visits is not necessarily the rate of accepted final results. The relation is useful for consistency; it neither supplies a delay distribution nor makes a protective buffer sufficient.

If the available basis supports only a load bound, return that bound and the exact missing service information. A missing distribution does not prevent a known infeasibility result or a useful conditional stress comparison.