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December 2017 | ISE Magazine 39 characteristics for each, the deployment responsibility for each employee and other variables. Once the design was finished, the restaurant chain gave it a real-world test by implementing the model in a location that was due for renovation. Simulation allows concepts to change continuously In the food service industry, once operators find a model that works, they have a tendency to continue with the same con- cepts over and over again. But building and operating the same way makes it difficult for restaurant chains to test new ideas, layouts, equipment and schedules. Managers fear what changes could do to their guests. This is a natural concern when testing new concepts involves build- ing an entire new unit and learning from those mistakes or creating a "real" model or mockup of the operation. Both op- tions are expensive, and they limit the amount of changes that restaurant owners are willing to test. However, simulation in food service provides a noninvasive way to test many different alternatives without affecting customers, providing the restau- rants with a way to evolve their concepts at minimum testing cost. Simulation in food service is ideal, because even though su- perficially restaurants seem like simple operations, the reality is that due to all the moving parts, especially the heavy reliance on manual labor, they are anything but simple. In reality, restaurant operations and design are "simply complex." For starters, customers arrive randomly without any schedule, and their rate of arrival varies throughout the day. These guests come with all kinds of "special orders" and typically with a short tolerance for lengthy waiting times. Cus- tomers dealing with the hustle and bustle of life expect fast food and fast casual restaurants to live up to the word "fast." On top of that, menus continuously change and include highly customizable options, because that is what guests de- mand these days. All these order dynamics need to be pre- pared in seconds with materials (food) that have short shelf lives and come from different workstations. The food items then need to be combined into an order to be delivered to guests in whatever service mode they chose (eat in, takeout, delivery, drive through, online, etc.). The time expectation of the guests keeps getting shorter each day, while the menu requirements keep growing and getting more complex. Op- erators who don't innovate their menu can die as a brand, but if they make the wrong menu decisions, they can kill them- selves. So "efficient menu innovation" is a must. The applica- tion of computer simulation can help with this quandary. As shown in Figure 6, starting with the employee in the center of the design, the application of computer simulation can help industrial engineers design food service concepts that optimize the customer hospitality delivered, resulting in sales gains that drive profits that support healthier brand growth. Dynamic computer simulation is without a doubt an in- novative way to test and validate food service designs. This technique has been around for some time, but it has taken a while to garner mainstream application. The benefits include: • The ability to test more options rapidly • The ability to test riskier options • Less destructive and simpler testing • The ability to continuously test on a permanent basis • The flexibility to make changes • The ability to add a dynamic extension to a deterministic process The bottom line is that dynamic computer simulation pro- vides an easy way to design and test the complexity inherent in restaurants and the different options that should be considered to grow the brand. With the use of this technique, you can develop and expeditiously test "the design of the future" today at lower risk and lower cost compared to other testing options, all while considering innumerable variables. Jua arti ez is pri cipal a d fou der of Profitality, a dustrial e gi eeri g co sulti g compa y that helps foodservice bra ds optimize their i vestme t. The 33-year food service i dustry vetera 's experi- e ce spa s more tha 00 differe t co cepts across all me u a d service system offeri gs. Marti ez is a lice sed professio al e gi eer with a B.S. i dustrial a d systems e gi eeri g from Georgia Tech a d a M.S. a d Ph.D. i gi eeri g ma ageme t a d ergo omics from the U iversity of Miami. The IISE a d Foodservice Co sulta ts Society I ter atio al member freque tly speaks at i dustry gatheri gs. He has writte ore tha 00 articles i ood service jour als, i cludi g a regular colum Foodservice Equipment & Supplies as well as the Fast Casual magazi e website. He rece tly was i ducted as a fel- low of The Culi ary I stitute of America. FIGURE 6 The center of it all Putting the employee at the center of an ergonomic design is the key for how simulation can improve customer service and drive profit and sales.