Team 9

Abhishek Pal: B14003

Harsh Aggarwal: B14145
Manjot Singh Saini: B14152
Prashant Jha: B14160

Benihana Operations Management Simulation

Challenge 1
How does batching strategy affect throughput?
You may choose 'Use Batching' which will send customers from the bar to the dining
room in groups of eight, replicating Benihana's standard operating policy. If you
choose 'No Batching', customers are seated in the dining area based on the size of
their party. This means (for example), if a group arrives as a party of five, they will
be seated as a party of five and completely occupy an eight-place table.
How many additional customers can Benihana service with batching? What is the
impact of batching during peak and non-peak periods?
Answer 1
With Batching
Total Revenue: 3155.34
Average Number of customer at bar/hr: 9
Number of customers at bar during Peak Hours: 51
Average Number of Customers at Restaurant/hr: 64
Number of customers at Restaurant during peak hours: 112
TOTAL
Average customers (Bar+ Restaurant): 73
Total during peak hours: 163
Without batching
Total Revenue: 2909.82
Average Number of customer at bar/hr: 19.29
Number of customers at bar during Peak Hours: 55
Average Number of Customers at Restaurant/hr: 49.9

Number of customers at Restaurant during peak hours: 72

TOTAL
Average customers (Bar+ Restaurant): 70
Total during peak hours: 127
Conclusion: Number of customers (average as well as during peak hrs) with
batching is more than without batching)

Challenge 2
What is the optimum size of the bar for maximum profitability?
In addition to serving as a source of revenue, the bar in Benihana serves as a
'buffer' which allows customers to wait to be seated. A party may also be split into 2
or 3 groups to completely fill the dining room table. The bar provides a place for the
remaining party members to wait until the next table becomes available.
A larger bar will generally provide more profit than a small bar, but how much? If
the bar is too large, there is less table capacity. Every eight seats that are added to
the bar will remove space for one table. Too many bar seats limits capacity to serve
dinner.
Answer 2
Simulations were run using different combinations. For maximum profitability, with
batching, the optimum size must be of 79 bar seas and 11 tables at restaurant with
a profit of 242.38/night
Challenge 3
What is the optimal dining time across an evening?
The dining room utilization and throughput is heavily dependent on how long diners
take to complete dinner.
In the Benihana simulation, diners normally take approximately 60 minutes. You
have the option of instituting a special incentive program for your chefs to
encourage them to finish the dinner experience up to 15 minutes faster. You may
target separate changes to the dining experience for early diners (6:00pm to
7:00pm), peak period diners (7:00pm to 8:00pm), and late diners (8:00pm to
10:30pm). For this challenge, all diners are batched in groups of 8 according to
Benihana's standard operating policy.

Answer 3
For maximum utilization
Maximum Utilization: 63.83%
Profitability for this scenario: 2.26%
Dining time till 7:00 pm: 50 minutes
Dining time from 7 pm to 8 pm: 75 minutes
Dining time from 8 pm till 10:30 pm: 75 minutes
For maximum profitability
Utilization: 44.37%
Profitability for this scenario: 6.77%
Dining time till 7:00 pm: 45 minutes
Dining time from 7 pm to 8 pm: 45 minutes
Dining time from 8 pm till 10:30 pm: 45 minutes
Challenge 4
How do marketing efforts affect operations and profitability?
A key challenge faced by any service business is managing demand. One way to
affect demand is through advertising campaigns intended to boost demand or draw
attention to special marketing programs.
You may advertise in local media by setting an advertising budget. You may create
advertisements intended to raise general awareness and demand for dining at
Benihana. You may also run a 'Happy Hour' special, which will offer drink and meal
specials to encourage more diners to eat before the peak period (7:00 pm to 8:00
pm). For this challenge, all diners are batched in groups of 8 according to
Benihana's standard operating policy.
Answer 4
For maximum profitability, which comes out to be: 13.23%( Profit: 491.26 with
revenue of 3712.12), the marketing efforts are as follows
Advertising budget: 1.2 X
Advertising Campaign: Happy Hour
Restaurant Opening Time: 5:00 pm
Challenge 5

What is the impact of more complex forms of batching?

Batching customers is not necessarily an "on" or "off" activity. You may use different
strategies for early diners (6:00 pm to 7:00 pm), peak period diners (7pm to 8pm),
and late diners (8pm to 10:30pm).
You may batch parties in tables of eight.
You may fill up a table with a party that has a size of 4 to 8 (leaving the remaining
seats empty).
You may also batch parties in size of 4, effectively splitting each table into
independent dining units.
Which of these different strategies is appropriate at which times? How do they
affect utilization and profitability?
Answer 5
For maximum profitability, which is 3.86% ( with a profit of 121.8 and revenue
3155.34), the strategies for different time periods are
Till 7:00 pm: Tables of 8
7 pm to 8 pm: Tables of 8
8 pm till 10:30 pm: Tables of 8
The utilization of this strategy comes out to be 57.11%
Challenge 6
Select each decision tab and enter your desired settings, then simulate. Find the
combination of decisions that make up the optimal strategy. Export your best results
from the summary tab and share with your instructor and/or fellow players.
Questions to consider include: What decisions will produce the highest throughput?
What decisions will produce the highest profit? How does one set of decisions
influence the others?
Answer 6
For Maximum Utilization: 74.37% the following decisions
Bar size: 79
Dining Time
Till 7 pm: 49 minutes

7 pm to 8 pm: 45 minutes
8 pm to 10:30 pm: 55 minutes

Advertising Budget: 2.2 X

Advertising Campaign: Happy hour
Restaurant Opening time: 5 pm
Batching Type
Till 7 pm: Tables of 8
7 pm to 8 pm: Tables of 8
8 pm to 10:30 pm: Tables of 8
For Maximum profit, 652.33 the following decisions
Bar size: 79
Dining Time
Till 7 pm: 48 minutes
7 pm to 8 pm: 45 minutes
8 pm to 10:30 pm: 47 minutes
Advertising Budget: 2 X
Advertising Campaign: Happy hour
Restaurant Opening time: 5 pm
Batching Type
Till 7 pm: Tables of 8
7 pm to 8 pm: Tables of 8
8 pm to 10:30 pm: Tables of 8