English; Latin Studies

During the Benihana Simulation, in the first trial, the goal was to get a feel for the game and how decision making changes to the operations can change the customer experience and fiscal goals. In the first trial, I experienced how batching has a higher bar revenue and customers waiting will consume a certain number of drinks per hour. Overall, I learned that batching assists with keeping customers in the door, lost customers were low when compared with no batching.

In the second trial, the simulation focused on designing the bar. In order to figure out the best method to go with, or the one that was customer friendly and fiscally responsible, I tried a few different options. The best was having a larger bar size and smaller restaurant. After watching each simulation play out, I came to realize that staffing for the bar was easier than in the restaurant and overall drinks have a higher payoff then food.

In the third trial, the goal was to find the optimal dining time that was customer-focused and also revenue generating. Upon walking back through my results, I learned that you want to turn over demand during peak times, but want to keep diners longer when there are less customers (at non-peak times like after 8 p.m.). Diners after 8 p.m. getting more time to order drinks will help the bottom line. Profit is not always the same as maximizing throughput.

In the fourth trial, our goal was to boost demand through advertising and special programs. In this trial, I learned that if the demand is already high, then discounts and other promotions are not as effective. With Benihana, the best scenario was including a happy hour during off peak hours. Awareness did not raise profit and discounts were not effective. Drink sales were the key factor in advertising impacting the overall bottom line.

In the fifth trial, the goal is to use different times of batching at different times to see which work best for both the customer and the fiscal bottom line. During this trial, I learned that it’s important to keep batching to a minimum at the end of the night. This is a slower period for the restaurant. If demand is high, you'd keep batches of eight for the entire evening. It’s important during this trial to consider how busy the restaurant is and what works best for batching customers together.