The new Academic Case Study Program is a re-imagining of the student competition but with a specific goal of helping participants with their understanding and application of modeling with a purpose. The final student competition was Spring 2023.
The Academic Case Study Program is a semi-annual release of instructional material formulated around an assignment, with teaching materials provided to support students in their investigation, as well as solutions for the assignment.
The program will be offered in the Fall and Spring of each academic year, and registrants will have online access to the materials for each term that they are registered.
You have been hired as a consultant by Simio Fresh Mex, a made-to-order Mexican food restaurant, where your task is to help the general manager improve the restaurant’s operations. The general manager is experienced in the food industry but has no technical or modeling background and wishes to improve Simio Fresh Mex customer service as they have been struggling to figure out operational and staffing rules.
Simio Fresh Mex handles both in-person and online orders and makes all the menu items that comprise orders on a five-station prep line. The assignment is to develop one or more Simio models of the restaurant operation and use the models to help determine the staffing, task allocation, and other operational parameters to optimize the system based on resource requirements and customer service. We provide some historical data for you to use during model development and experimentation.
This case study was updated 1/23/2024, please use this latest version.
Click here to download the Spring 2024 problem statement and data.
This case study involves the development of model(s) for analyzing a warehouse that supports an e-commerce site for computer video cards used for advanced video processes and for AI and crypto currency applications. The facility handles three types of cards (A, B, and C) and Simio Warehouse orders the unpackaged cards in bulk-pack containers from three different suppliers. The warehouse has a packaging line that is used to test and package the video cards prior to fulfilling orders. The figure below shows an example video card along with its packaging and an example bulk-pack container.
The case study assignment is to develop a Simio model of the warehouse operations and to use the model to help determine some of the parameters for the operating strategy along with the number of people required for the pick and pack operation.
Click here to download the Fall 2023 problem statement and data.
To request instructor resources, email academic (at) simio (dot) com. To receive these resources, you must be a verified course instructor. Please supply your Grant Identifier (e.g., AG-00000000-00000), if already a grant holder, with your request. Otherwise, please provide proof of your status and affiliation with the institution.
If you would like to apply for an academic grant, more information can be found here. Grants awards are reserved for verifiable instructors, faculty, and non-student researchers.