A Late Night at the Virginian Restaurant

Abstract

In this exercise, the manager of The Virginian, a small restaurant and bar in Charlottesville, has asked for help in reducing the average queue size at its bar. The Virginian prides itself on its fast and consistent service. (View the video at http://thevirginiancville.com/.) Students are offered four scenarios to guide their analyses. Students conduct analyses by preparing a simulated model on their own or using a simulation created with AnyLogic software.This exercise is supported by "A Late Night at The Virginian Restaurant: Model Documentation and Guide" (UVA-OM-1553). After learning the steps to run the model, students are asked to run it for four hours of simulated time under the four scenario conditions. Excerpt UVA-OM-1551 Dec. 2, 2016 A Late Night at The Virginian Restaurant The manager of The Virginian, a small restaurant and bar in Charlottesville, has approached you and asked for help in reducing the average queue size at its bar. The Virginian prides itself on its fast and consistent service. (View the video at .) The uniquely small size and location of the bar make The Virginian's service problem particularly challenging. The bar is especially narrow, which means there is only an opportunity for one long queue to form for customers ordering beer, wine, and other beverages. Right now the bar manager believes that there are, on average, around 10 customers in line at one time between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. This makes the bar area very crowded and hurts business. The bartenders estimate that customers arrive at The Virginian randomly at an average of three per minute. The manager would like to get the average queue size below two, using the fewest number of bartenders possible. The system estimates that three new customers desire a drink every minute. Right now there are two bartenders. How many bartenders would the manager need to get the average queue size below two customers? Run the model for four hours of simulated time. 1. Scenario 1: Service time is triangular; it takes a bartender between 15 seconds and 75 seconds to fill a drink order, the most common time being 30 seconds. . . .