Assessing the performance of a restaurant through discrete simulation in Simio

For the purpose of evaluating the level of service of a Portuguese self-service restaurant, a simulation model was developed in Simio. The purpose of such model was to quantify specific performance indicators. In this sense, data was gathered by conducting observations of the field, which allowed the authors to find relevant problems in the system. The simulation model was validated and, afterwards, simulation experiments were conducted, which suggested some changes that could be implemented, without reducing the performance of the restaurant and reduce the utilization of workers, who become available for other tasks with more added-value, such as supplying critical items (e.g., main dishes and soap). Moreover, the potential impact of the introduction of an information device used to warn workers responsible to supply items was assessed through simulation, indicating that it would lead to benefits both for customers and workers.This work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and FCT –Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013 and by the Doctoral scholarship PDE/BDE/114566/2016 funded by FCT, the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, through national funds, and co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) through the Operacional Programme for Human Capital (POCH)