Article guide
When the cost of the kitchen is high, first find the original recorded losses, and then decide to change the purchase, placement, scheduling or equipment. Receipt discrepancies, storage losses, furnace waiting and closing rework are four types of events suitable for tracking along the site. The amount, number of occurrences and occupied time should be recorded in separate columns. Do not convert all unsmooth actions into an imaginary profit loss.
When Alto-Shaam discusses reducing kitchen operating costs, it also involves staffing, menus, inventory and equipment maintenance. [1] These aspects do influence each other, but listing directions for improvement is not enough to know what a store should do first. A more practical starting point is to ask where a specific loss began, at what point it was discovered, and which expenditures have been confirmed to be irrecoverable.
Check the settlement results first for receipt discrepancies
The supply order states ten kilograms, but the actual receipt is only 9.6 kilograms. The difference can be clearly recorded as 0.4 kilograms, but it cannot be immediately determined that the store has lost the corresponding amount. The weighing caliber, whether the packaging is weighed, the status of the measuring tool and the contract agreement should be checked; if the supplier makes up for it or deducts it in the settlement, the nature of the loss will be different from paying according to the order. Whether the food itself passes the inspection must be judged separately according to the applicable requirements and cannot be relaxed just because it is cheap.
Assuming that the unit price of raw materials is 20 yuan per kilogram, there is a shortage of 0.4 kilograms, and the final settlement is still based on ten kilograms and it is confirmed that it cannot be recovered, then the direct amount difference in this incident is 0.4 times 20 yuan, which is equal to eight yuan. If it is replenished later, the replenishment status and related expenses should be updated in the same event, instead of retaining the eight yuan loss and then treating the replenishment as new inventory income. The examples only demonstrate the algorithm and do not represent real supply disputes.
Specification changes may not immediately result in short weight, but affect material preparation. For example, the size of raw materials of the same weight does not match the store-approved specifications, resulting in the need for additional processing. Document the actual difference, whether processing was allowed, what the additions were and where they went, rather than blaming the chef first on portion control. Supply problems, missed inspections and kitchen processing losses may occur at the same time, but the same raw material cannot be counted as scrapped in three places.
Storage loss should be distinguished between insufficient space and unavailable materials.
The total volume of the refrigerated cabinet does not equal the space available during the shift. Container shape, required classification, label orientation and pick and place order will change the actual available space. During the inspection, you can select a frequently used raw material, find the corresponding batch from the storage location, and then see if it can be taken out without moving other foods that should not be moved. Observe the action first, and don’t rush to explain slow material retrieval as the equipment is too small.
If the same batch of materials is placed in several locations that are not clearly marked, employees may think they are out of stock and re-prepare materials; if old batches are blocked at the back, they may miss the prescribed usage time. The records need to indicate how many materials were found, whether their identities and deadlines are clear, how they were handled according to the system, and where there are placement or recording breakpoints. Relabeling does not mean that it has been proven that the original unknown food can continue to be used.
Assume that a confirmed scrap involves 1.5 kilograms of raw materials. According to a unified cost caliber of 18 yuan per kilogram, the loss of raw materials this time is 27 yuan. The scrap cost is calculated here, and it is not also counted as consumption for the same day. It took six minutes to search for this batch of materials and record it in a separate time column. If there is no new salary expenditure, six minutes of salary cannot be automatically added as a cash loss.
An improvement action may only be to fix storage locations, adjust containers, or unify labels, but whether it is effective still depends on new actual records. If the cabinet is replaced and the menu and picking methods are changed at the same time, the decline in scrapping should not be entirely attributed to the cabinet. Safety conditions related to food storage are always independently checked, and a decrease in loss cannot be used to prove that temperature control has been adequate.
Waiting in front of the stove to check the ingredients in the pot section by section
If the furnace position is empty but the order has not been moved, it does not necessarily mean that the furnace capacity is insufficient. Maybe the ingredients haven't arrived, the pot isn't ready, the operator is completing another task, or the order has just been modified. When observing, you should record "what to wait for", not just "the employee is slow". Likewise, just because there is space for both burners does not mean that one person can complete the actions that must be taken care of continuously in both pots at the same time.
A simple event line can be used to describe a hypothetical wait: the order arrives at 11:58, the raw materials are available at 12:00, the available pots are in place at 12:02, and then processing begins. The total waiting time is four minutes, of which two minutes are related to material preparation and two minutes are related to the pot; the four minutes cannot be recorded separately for two reasons and then summarized into eight minutes. If two obstacles overlap, the overlapping relationship should be retained rather than forcibly added.
If people are doing other necessary tasks during the waiting period, the actual occupancy should be recorded and the entire period should not be called idle. If waiting ultimately results in overtime, extra delivery or refunds, the corresponding voucher can be used to register the amount; if there are only potential opportunities to receive fewer orders, the impact to be determined is recorded separately. ACCA's explanation of relevant costs distinguishes between cash changes and constant expense allocations, which helps avoid treating changes in working hours directly as changes in expenditure. [2]
When it is necessary to test stoves, confirmed pots and processes should be used, and qualified products and failures should be kept intact. The rated power can only provide equipment information and cannot directly calculate the number of qualified meals per hour. After reducing the firepower, the book energy consumption decreases. If the waiting time is also extended or the number of unqualified batches is increased, the cost improvement cannot be announced based on electricity consumption alone.
Final rework cannot only be counted as the operation of the disinfection cabinet
Returning tableware and utensils from recycling to usable condition usually involves removing debris, washing, sanitizing if necessary, drying or draining, cleaning, storage and handover. Each stage undertakes different tasks. Section 10 of the "Code of Food Safety Practice for Catering Services" stipulates cleaning, disinfection and cleaning requirements respectively. [3] Therefore, disinfection equipment capacity represents neither cleaning capacity nor the available quantity per hour of the entire turnover route.
When documenting rework, first determine at which stage the failure occurred. The reasons for re-contamination of sterilized utensils due to improper storage are not the same as re-washing due to failure to remove dirt. If you only record the number of times the disinfection cabinet is started, you will not be able to see these differences. Model parameters are not necessary answers to such questions; actual operations, procedures and release status are the key.
Assuming that a certain rewash consumes five yuan of new cleaning materials, and an additional twelve yuan of overtime payment does occur, then a direct expenditure of seventeen yuan can be recognized for this event. At the same time, it is recorded that the 18-minute re-washing involves 20 pieces of utensils, but the 18-minute re-wash will not be added again at a discount of wages. Among the four types of hypothetical events, eight yuan for goods receipt, twenty-seven yuan for scrapping, and seventeen yuan for rewashing, the total confirmed amount is fifty-two yuan; the four-minute waiting time before the furnace is not included in the total amount.
If the handover problem the night before is discovered only the next day, the record should also retain the possible time of occurrence, the actual time of discovery and the time of follow-up. For example, it states: "The incident at the end of the shift the night before was discovered at 7:00 the next day. It was added at 7:10, and the reason has yet to be verified." You cannot change what you added today to the original record that was completed yesterday. When the time of occurrence cannot be determined, write the unknown truthfully and do not replace the facts with a beautiful timeline.
Use an event to select the next change
After the four types of events are summarized, first check for duplication: whether the same scrap has entered the procurement variance, and whether the same rework appears in the labor and consumables general package at the same time. Then compare the frequency, confirmation amount, scope of influence and degree of controllability. High-frequency, small-amount issues may be worthy of handling, but occasional but security-related issues should not be ranked lower because of their small amounts; the ranking should not only include a cost number.
When selecting a change, write down the original conditions, specific changes and basis for judgment. For example, only adjust the pot return position, without changing the menu and shift schedule at the same time, and then compare the waiting events under similar order conditions. The scope of observation should include new issues: whether it is easy to take after returning to the place, whether it blocks the passage, whether it affects cleaning, and whether it increases the burden of other positions. A problem does not disappear if it is moved to the next shift.
Shortening necessary inspections, postponing maintenance, or doing less required cleaning and disinfection may temporarily reduce the time spent on recording, but it cannot be used as a qualified solution to reduce costs. It is also inappropriate to directly multiply one week's data by adult earnings. Only by keeping the connection between each incident and its disposal and gradually identifying which losses are truly reduced can the chaos in the kitchen be transformed into actionable cost judgments.
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