Food Service
Food Service
The Food Service department is different from other departments in that it requires that hundreds of repetitive tasks be scheduled at the right time and in the right sequence to meet three important deadlines every day.
The best approach to use is to first identify all of the tasks required, measure how long they take currently, improve methods and the way work flows, then rebuild the assignment of tasks beginning with the right time of day to open the kitchen and ending with determining the best method and position to do the final clean up at the end of the day.
Case Study #12
Jim had just taken over the Food Service department of a 110 unit upscale retirement residence. While the residents seemed generally satisfied with the menu and meal service, there were often complaints that the meal service was slow. The challenge was to improve service and resident satisfaction, but use fewer labor hours.
Dining Room Service: Working with the program tools, Jim calculated that residents were waiting up to 40 minutes for meal service. The servers had tried to make the situation better by starting their service at different parts of the dining room so the same residents did not have the longest wait every night. There had to be a better way.
Kitchen Servery: The first area improved was the servery area in the kitchen. By putting 2 persons on the line, preparing a 'model' plate each night and balancing the work between the 2 positions, Jim found the service could be completed in 25 minutes rather than 40. The plate presentation was better, the service was faster, the product fresher and the cooks were pleased to perform a more professional method of service.
Dining Room Servery: The second area improved was the dining room side of the servery. It used to be that five servers would stand in line and wait to place their orders from the cooks. The servery was rearranged. Soup and garnishes were moved to the server side. A chit system was introduced so the servers could place their orders and return to the dining room. Jim found this saved the servers over 28% of their time during meal service.
Today, four servers provide excellent service to 110 residents. Residents receive more attention from the servers and they receive their meals quicker. Today, instead of the dining room being filled with residents looking for their servers to appear from the kitchen, servers spend almost 30% more time in the dining room offering soup, coffee, bussing used dishware and making conversation.
The residents are thrilled with the new service. Jim's boss is happy that resident satisfaction is up, census is higher than ever and her food service labor cost has been reduced by 17%.
If you would like to speak to the Executive Director of this community call us, or send us your request.