Operations Management Simulation: Benihana

The Benihana Operations Management Simulation is an interactive educational tool used in business schools worldwide. It is modeled after the famous teppanyaki restaurant chain Benihana, which was founded in 1964 in New York. The simulation challenges players to manage restaurant capacity, demand, and profitability over a simulated period.

The simulation focuses heavily on operations management principles, specifically capacity utilization, cycle time, and batching. Players must figure out the optimal number of seats per table to maximize throughput and how to manage bar capacity to keep waiting customers happy. It demonstrates the real-world trade-offs between customer experience and operational efficiency.

Users are given control over the restaurant's operational parameters, such as advertising spend, the number of dining tables, the duration of dining experiences, and the procurement of ingredients. They run the simulation over a series of simulated nights, receiving immediate feedback on utilization rates and net profit. The goal is to adjust variables to find the most profitable balance.

The simulation is published by Harvard Business Publishing and is widely utilized in MBA programs and undergraduate business school courses. It was originally developed to be paired with the famous Harvard Business School case study titled "Benihana of Tokyo." It provides a risk-free environment for students to experiment with complex operational bottlenecks.