Divanshu Kakkar

Priyasha Dutta
Shirsho Ghosh
Shweta Ved
Sneha Kundu

1. How do you think batching strategy affect throughput? What are the potential
disadvantages of batching?
After running the scenario two times, once with batching and once without, it was obvious that
with batching is much more profitable. The first scenario with batching yielded a profit of 324
whereas the scenario without batching yielded a loss of 164. Both the scenarios were run 20
times each to get the desired result for further analysis.
Scenari
o
Scenario
1
Scenario
2

Run
s

Batchi
ng

Profit

20

Yes

324

20

No

-164

On a more literal explanation, throughput can be

defined as the number of customers served by the staff. Batching helped in that it allowed the
staff members to serve more number of customers. The people who would be waiting would be
engaged in the bar and consequently increase throughput.Another reason that can be attributed to
the increase in the throughput is the method used. During batching, a group of 5 and a group of 3
can be clubbed to share a table inside. This would lead to higher utilization and in turn result in
higher profits.
Disadvantages of batching:

There are a bunch of people who would want to pay a premium to get a personal table.
This would lead to higher profits which are not taken care of in this case.
This strategy works only when the demand is more than the supply
To smoothen the demand, reservations could be used but this is against the policy of
benihana

2. Should you implement the same batching process throughout the night?
The batching policy should be kept only to cater to the peak hours of demand i.e. when the
demand has a higher probability of exceeding the supply. During the other hours either the batch
size should be reduced or the people should be allowed to enter and occupy tables. This is
because there is no point of making people cramped in one table while the other tables stay
empty. Also, there is a customer dissatisfaction factor that comes in during such times of
discrepancy. The batch size should be flexible and under the discretion of the manager of the
store.

3. Is having the bar a good idea? What is optimal size of the bar for maximum
capacity?

Having a bar is a perfectly good idea due to following two primary reasons:
1. To keep customers engaged and reduce their perceived waiting time
2. To generate revenues from the drinks that are offered at the bar and is a better strategy
than having a customer loss
Keeping these points in mind we run the simulation and the results are shown below:

Scenario

Runs

Batchin
g

Bar
seats

Tables

Profit

Scenario 1

20

Yes

27

17

201

Scenario 2

20

Yes

67

12

412

Scenario 3

20

Yes

83

10

406

Scenario 4

20

No

27

17

-268

Scenario 5

20

No

67

12

-150

From the above results it is clear that the optimal size of a bar comes to around 65-85 seats and
the table should be from 10-12. The reason for this is given below:

The bar doesnt have any waiting area and hence a bar being full would invariably lead to
the loss of a customer.
The bar area should be large enough to ensure a maximum number of people who visit
the restaurant get seat so as to increase the revenues.

The optimal bar capacity would essentially lead to higher throughput and net profits.

Q: What is the impact of changing dining time?

A: In the simulation in which we tried to maximize the profit by changing the dining times, we
realized that if all the other parameters were not changed, the throughput would increase with
the reduction in the dining time. But during the off peak hours when the time for dining was
reduced, it decreased the number of people coming to the restaurant. We observed that the
customers who would come in late were more interested in sitting for a longer time and that
it would be better if we increased the time available to them in the restaurant. The bottleneck
or the deciding factor for the dining time in the restaurant is the chef. Faster the delivery,
higher is the throughput.
Q: How can you reduce demand variability?
A: Demand variability can be addressed by:
1. Promoting demand in the off peak hours (using Happy Hours). When we werent doing any

advertising for the restaurant,

2. Another way is to alter policies for seating during the off peak hours like in the

simulation, we have an option of letting them sit on a table when there are more than 4
people in a group- this leads to flexibility and reduces the waiting time for the customers.
3. Reservation Systems and Overbooking- so that we know when how many people are

expected. This is very difficult to implement, because there are many cancellations and we
can over book by using the newspaper boy problem.
4. Continuously evaluate response buffer strategies to ensure they are aligned with customer
segmentation and associated demand variability. For example, in configurable product
industries, forecasts can be significantly improved through postponement strategies in
which end item forecasting is replaced with pooled component forecasting.

Q: What do you think is the best strategy for maximizing profitability Vs

maximizing throughput? Are there any correlations between these variables?
A: The best strategy for maximizing profitability Vs maximizing throughput is to:

NightlyPr
ofit

TotalReve
nue

Revenue
Bar

RevenueDi
nner

$637.86

$4,548.63

$420.63

$4,128.00

AdvertisingBu
dget
2.1

AdvertisingCamp
aign
Happy Hour

Bar
Size
71
table
s

Restaurant
Opening Time
5:00 PM

Dining
Time(O
pen to
7pm)
47
minutes

Batching
Type(Op
en to
7pm)
Tables of
8

Dining
Time(7
pm to
8pm)
45
minute
s

Batchin
g
Type(7p
m to
8pm)
Tables
of 8

Dining
Time(8
pm to
10:30p
m)
67
minute
s

Batching
Type(8p
m to
10:30pm
)
Tables of
8