MANAGING CAPACITY AND

DEMAND

Managers have two major options for

matching capacity with demand: Change

Demand or Change Capacity

Capacity Management

>> Meeting the current and

future business requirements in a

cost-effective manner.

Involve the Customer in the Service Delivery

System• Getting the customer involved in service operations expands the number of people that one employee can serve, thus increasing the capacity of the operation.

• Self-service technologies(SSTs) allow the customer to serve as the company’s employee.

Cross-train Employees

• Cross-training your employees means you have a group of employees that can be called on if demand for the restaurant on any particular night exceeds the capacity of the actual employee assigned to that specific area.

Use Part-time Employees

• They can be use during unusually busy day or meal period or during the busy months of the year for seasonal business or can be used on an on-call basis.

• They give the organization the flexibility to adjust the number of employees to the level required to meet demand.

Rent or Share Extra Facilities and Equipment• Business do not have to be

constrained by space limitations or equipment limitations.

• Renting, Sharing or Moving groups to outside facilities can increase capacity to accommodate short-term demand.

Schedule the Downtime during Periods of Low

Demand• Business in seasonal resorts have

periods of high and low demand.• One way to decrease capacity to

match the lower demand is to schedule repairs and maintenance during the low season.

Change the Service Delivery System

• During peak hours, the managers should create or think of a way that will enable them to accommodate all customers/ clients that will come.

To take full advantage of this opportunity, restaurant managers must accomplish two things:

1. They must adjust their operating system to enable the business to operate at maximum capacity.

2. They must remember that their goal is to create satisfied customers.