Operations Management Simulation

Benihana Simulation Overview

This operations management simulation models a typical night at a Benihana restaurant. It is organized as a series of challenges, each with a different set of options for managing operations and demand. In each of the simulation’s challenges, the goal is to manage the bar and dining area to maximize utilization, throughput, and — most importantly — profit for the evening.

The Story

In this single player asynchronous simulation, customers begin their evening with drinks at the bar. Then they move into the dining room, where chefs create meals right at each table. In each of the four Benihana simulation challenges, learners focus on a particular aspect of restaurant operation management:

• Batch Dining Room Customers: How does batching strategy affect throughput?
• Design the Bar: What’s the optimum size of the bar for maximum profitability?
• Change Dining Time: What is the optimal dining time across an evening?
• Boost Demand with Advertising and Special Programs: How will marketing efforts affect operations and profitability?

Learning Focus

• Experiment with improving throughput using different batching strategies
• Test different strategies for influencing demand variability
• Investigate capacity, demand rates, cycle time, and throughput in a service operation

Topics Covered

• Operations Management
• Service Industry
• Capacity Planning
• Restaurant Management

See How the Simulation is Played

Each simulation comes with a Teaching Guidebook for the facilitator along with 1:1 facilitator training and free trials.

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This simulation is by W. Earl Sasser Jr, Ricardo Ernst, Harvard Business School Publishing, and Forio