2012
WAMS 2012 Proceeding
Increasing efficiency of large university dining hall usage
Authors: Xiangwan Ma, Alex Beeker, Mike McCloskey, David Modawer, Edward Williams
Abstract
Simulation historically was applied first to productivity and queuing problems in the manufacturing sector of the economy. More recently, simulation has been aggressively applied to such problems in other sectors of the economy, such as health care, warehousing, transportation, harbor operations, and service industries. We here describe the application of simulation to a heavily trafficked cafeteria. Bursley Dining Hall is one of many large and busy cafeterias provided by the University of Michigan Housing Department. During peak hours (typically driven by class schedules), long queues develop at some buffet stations. For this project, the analysts simulated the current cafeteria operations and analyzed various improvement plans. The result was recommendations which significantly reduced queuing times and increased fiscal soundness of cafeteria operations.
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