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34 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine Industrial and systems engineers have been applying simulation in general industry for a long time. Decades ago, spreadsheets, operations research models and com- puter simulation using GPSS (general purpose simulation system) were considered cutting-edge techniques. More advanced principles and simulation technologies have been developed since then, and comparing the two eras is like comparing an abacus to a calculator. In food service, Burger King started applying simulation through its industrial engineering department in the early 1980s. This group pioneered the application of industrial en- gineering and ergonomics in the restaurant industry. Consid- ering how costs, especially labor costs, keep creeping up in the industry at a fast pace, applying industrial engineering princi- ples in restaurants can drive significant impact to bottom-line profits and sales processing capacity in restaurants. These days, some universities start their simulation courses with the application of spreadsheets, but they quickly move into using a simulation software system. Simulation software definitely has come a long way. In the old days, the output was just numbers, perhaps, for us old-timers, with inputs done with punch cards. As time went on, graphical capability was added to the outputs, followed by visual capabilities, graphi- cal capabilities in the runs (in two dimensions) and now 3-D capabilities. As evolution has taken its place, not only has this made simulation software more friendly to the users and more pow- erful in using modeling for analysis, it also has facilitated un- derstanding and acceptance by nontechnical and management personnel. There are many options, including Simio, FlexSim, Arena, AnyLogic, Extend and AutoMod, and software is al- most an imperative in the practice. I Simulated dining offers tasty options Cheaper, vices By Juan Martinez