SODEXHO MID-ATLANTIC DIETETIC INTERNSHIP

Aimee Takamura

Systems Analysis Research ProjectDue: November 3, 2014ProblemThe buffet line at The Madeira School moves too slowly during the lunch period, leaving some students with inadequate time to finish their meals.

Background researchRecent changes to the academic calendar have altered the schools lunch schedule, shortening this period from 45 minutes to 30 minutes. Now, lunch is served from 11:40am to 12:40pm, with the girls eating in two shiftsthe first at 11:40am and the second at 12:10pm. Regardless of the time cuts, all the students need to be fed within this allotted time period. The manager has asked for recommendations and/or ideas on how to speed up the lines and serve everyone in a timely fashion. He believes that the girls are taking too long to serve themselves due to being picky, as well as and distractions like their cell phones or talking with their friends. Since this is the first year with this new lunch schedule, no previous observations or documentation exists. HypothesisThe long lunch lines are caused by girls being distracted by their cell phones, friends, etc., and taking too long to serve themselves in the buffet line.

Data CollectionTo gain a better understanding of this problem, a thorough investigation of the service area was conducted. This included evaluating the dining service layout and current serving equipment, as well as monitoring the line flow during the lunch services. The following data were collected: daily entre, average time spent in line from the first person to the last, and any distractions like cell phone use or hold-ups due to serving. DateEntreWait time (min)Observations & Distractions/Hold-upsRecommendations

9/9/14Macaroni and Cheese 20Girls taking a long time to serve themselves; many took more than one scoop, causing holdups (and a lot of spills). Cut the mac and cheese in the pan for easier serving and portion control

9/10/14Fried Fish Sandwiches13Minimal hold-ups. Sandwiches are easy to take and therefore the line moved through relatively quickly.Serve sandwiches more frequently

9/11/14Beef Chili/Bean Chili 15No one was picky when serving themselves, but the line moved slower due to girls being more careful when serving themselves the rice, which was very grainy. The line could not have been sped up any faster; the nature of the food made it more difficult than others to serve.

9/12/14Chicken Nuggets and Fries17This is a very popular lunch item. The girls take many helpings of fries and chicken nuggets. This results in longer wait times, as there are only so many nuggets and fries that can be picked up with tongs at once. Girls were extra chatty todayperhaps because it was Friday.Since it is a buffet style lunch, there is nothing stopping the girls from taking as much food as they want. Aside from the potentially distractive chatting, there is no way (with the current set-up) to speed up the line.

9/16/14Baked Potato Bar12This lunch was faster because most of the toppings were in the salad bar area where girls could help themselves form either side of the cart. Individually portioned out items have worked best (sandwiches, potatoes) in terms of speeding up the lunch lines.

9/17/14Chicken Pot Pie18This dish was made in a large pan with the chicken and vegetables on the bottom and topped with biscuits. What made this line slow was the fact that the girls had to scoop the biscuit first then go back and take the chicken filling underneath it. This created many spills as well.While the nature of this dish is a little more complex, it is a fun item that the girls seemed to enjoy. Pre-portioning out servings might speed up the line, but this would require extra time and effort by the staff

9/18/14Turkey and Cheese Sandwiches/Veggie Sandwiches12Like the fish sandwiches, the turkey and veggie sandwiches were quick to take and thus resulted in a shorter wait time. It is definitely a good idea to have sandwiches offered throughout the week so students have the option of grabbing something quick if they are short on time.

9/19/14Greek Lemon Chicken17Girls were picking out certain pieces of chicken and thus holding up the line. Also, many wanted the sauce that the chicken was cooked in, which increased the time it took the girls to serve themselves. This is a very popular dish. A few girls (and faculty) said it was their favorite lunch. For some, it might be worth the wait. Having another sandwich station, for example, would give the girls another option if they do not want to wait in line for the chicken.

Additionally, information regarding the layout of the kitchen was gathered. Currently, there is one drop in hot/cold well that can accommodate 4 full sized hotel pans, and one drop in cold well that can accommodate 3 full sized hotel pans. Most entrees take up only two pans; the other ones are used for the side dishes or leftovers from previous meals. These two wells are located on either side of a long countertop. During meals, there is only line for the hot food since there is only one hot well. The other three pans remain empty or filled with fresh fruits most of the time. Data Analysis and Conclusion

The graph above depicts the average time (in minutes) spent waiting in line versus the daily entre. Based on data collection, it is evident that the line moves faster when there are finger foodslike sandwichesor when the service lines are spread over two locationslike the baked potato bar. The times spent in line varied throughout the weekthere was no apparent trend. Of course, it is unrealistic to serve sandwiches or similar foods five days a week just for the sake of speeding up the lines. Since Madeira is a boarding school, there needs to be variety with the daily entres. Also, based on observations, many students and faculty enjoy items like the Greek lemon chicken. Even though this day experienced a longer than average wait time, it would not fair be to remove this item from the menu. Indeed, removing these types of entrees from the menu would leave many diners dissatisfied as well as affect the quality and creativity inherent in the current menu. A longer-term solution is necessary. During lunchtime, no cell phones or other electronics were out. The only distraction was the girls talking to one another. However, this did not appear to slow them down in regards to serving themselves from the buffet or cause any other obvious holdups. What did cause the most holdups was the actual act of serving the food. As noted in the table above, the macaroni and cheese, chicken potpie, chicken nuggets and fries, and Greek lemon chicken took longer to serve due to the nature of the food or serving utensils used. For example, the chicken potpie was difficult to serve due to the way it was presented in the pan. Two scoops were often needed to get a biscuit and the chicken stew part. For the chicken nuggets, the tongs could only grab about 2-3 at a time; many girls took 6-8 nuggets. Service appeared to be the main issue with the long lunch lines, not distractions from other students or electronics. Certain entrees, therefore, worked better than others regarding this problem. Once this main cause was identified, the layout of the kitchen was further considered. It was discovered during data collection that there was only one hot well unit installed. The other well was unutilized most of the time. It was suggested that a second hot well unit be installed so two hot buffet lines could set up. This would allow for two lines to form, thus cutting the wait time in half. Having different serving stations worked well for the baked potato bar, so this setup would ideally work just as well, if not better. Additional data was collected regarding this task, such as the equipments manufacturer and make and model number. We contacted Alto Hartleythe distributor for Atlas Metal Company that serviced the greater D.C. areato get a quote for a new unit. It turned out that a hot unit could not be added to an already existing unit; a new hot/cold well would need to be installed. A quote was requested and sent to the financial department at The Madeira School for their evaluation. Quote from Alto Hartley is attached.PES statement: Insufficient time to eat lunch R/T long wait time in line AEB inadequate serving spaceRecommendationThe recommendation was to install the new heating/cooling drop-in well unit upon approval of the financial department. While menu revisions might have alleviated the problemlike offering sandwiches or finger foods dailyit would have affected customer satisfaction, hampered chef creativity and overall been more of a short-term solution. Reconfiguring the set-up of the service area is a more permanent solution that would have no impact on the types of foods served. Results of ActionThe Madeira School is still waiting for approval from the financial department to purchase and install the drop-in unit. In the meantime, more sandwiches have been added to the menu. However, favorites like the Greek lemon chicken and chicken nuggets still remain. Alto-Hartley Quote