Proceedings of the 11 th Symposium on Applied Science, Business & Industrial Research – 2019 ISSN 2279-1558, ISBN 978-955-7442-27-3 189 Modelling and Simulation of a State University Cafeteria: A Case Study Naotunna TU, Bhagya IWAT, Herath HMCN, Samarawickrama IDW Department of Industrial Management, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka thakshila.naotunna@yahoo.com ABSTRACT With the current shift toward a service prominent economy, there exists a necessity in continuous improvements of service provision. Hospitality services have emerged as a foremost service under these circumstances. A university cafeteria is among the most time intensive services within a university premise. The tight schedules of the students and the staff influence the rushed atmosphere at the cafeterias that leads to customer dissatisfaction and brand switching. The study identified the congession at a hostel cafeteria of a state university. The objective of the study was to improve performance by reducing in the waiting times. The cafeteria was studied and primary data were collected during the rushed hours of weekdays for two weeks. The obtained data were simulated with Rockwell ARENA 14.5 version. Existing system allowed a waiting time of 3.30 minutes in the queue. The total time in the system was 4.81 minutes. Two model developments of increasing the service provision and the addition of another counter were simulated on the software. The waiting times resulted in the simulations depicted the efficiency in the increment of the service provision by two-fold at the counter. The simulations for the data available depicted the addition of resources to the counter as the most efficient alternative. It obtained a reduction in waiting time by 74.84 percent and the service provision was increased by 67.54 percent in the system. The developments can be acheived by the standardization of the food serving and the payment handling at the counters. KEYWORDS: ARENA Simulation, Performance Improvements, Queue,Waiting Times 1 INTRODUCTION In an economy based on the services, the continous improvement in performance is essential. Hospitality services are essential in excelling at customer satisfaction. Thus, the service provision needs continual improvement. Psychology of waiting and the queues are among the factors that lead to customer dissatisfaction. Therefore queues are moderated by the service providers in enhancing customer satisfaction. Thus, a service provider seeks methods of reducing the waiting times of customers in queues. State Universities are foremost service providers in the Sri Lankan educational industry. The State university cafeterias are among the most time intensive service providers with the large crowds being served. There are at least two cafetarias established within a university premise to serve the crowd. Yet, the tight schedule of the students and having common interval increases the congestion at the cafeterias. The businesses of the customers have become less willing to stay in large waiting lines leading to high customer dissatisfaction. The study was based on a state university where two cafeterias were present. The chosen premise was the hostel based cafeteria of the university, which serve both the resident student and the daily travelling customers of the university. It served its customers only on week days and Sundays. The three main meals were served at the premise along with other confectionary inquries. The cafeteria was allowing the dine in and the take away of the food for its customers. The cafeteria used the First-in-First-Out (FIFO) discipline. The serving at the counter includes the providing of food and the payment handling for the customer. The service was provided for a variety of customers within the university premises. Although the students are prioritized. Thus,