Food-Service-Manual-for-Health-Care-Institutions

Production Schedules
Daily schedules for food production can be valuable management tools for controlling the use
of labor while ensuring food quality. A daily production schedule assigns specific tasks to each
employee. The workload is balanced according to the assigned duties and the specific skills of
individual employees, and management establishes a time sequence for all production activities.
In a cook-and-serve food production system, efficient production timing is perhaps the
greatest benefit of following a daily production schedule. It can ensure that foods will not be
cooked too far in advance of service and yet can allow adequate time for preparation.
For each item to be prepared, daily food production schedules should state the name of the
item; the name of the employee assigned to prepare the item; preparation start and completion
times; and specific details regarding ingredients, portion control, assembly, and so forth. In
smaller operations, one production schedule for the entire kitchen staff may be sufficient.
Larger operations with several employees in each specialized unit may require separate schedules
for each work group. When work assignments are not highly specialized, production
schedules can eliminate confusion about which tasks are to be performed by each employee.
Daily food production schedules should be developed concurrently with menu planning.
This prevents a workload imbalance from day to day and allows adequate time for preparation
of foods for later service. During scheduling, the equipment to be used for preparing each
food item should be considered so that all necessary equipment will be available when needed.
Production Meetings
Production meetings are an excellent method of communicating with the staff. One meeting
should be held before service of the meal and another at the end of the meal. Monthly production
meetings should also be conducted to discuss productivity, menus, recipes, safety, sanitation,
and other concerns. The manager of production should conduct this meeting.
The daily production service meeting should be held in the main preparation area and
include a tray setup depicting how the food should be placed on the plate and the appropriate
garnish. A taste tray should also be available. If a special menu has been prepared, it should be
carefully evaluated for quality.
After the meal has been served, a short meeting should be conducted to discuss any problems
with the forecast, the quality of the prepared food, overdemands or underdemands for
food and equipment used, and whether the production schedule was balanced among the
employees. The disposition of leftovers should be decided because they should be used within
24 to 48 hours (Exhibit 19.1). It may be necessary to dispose of some leftovers immediately.
Leftovers increase the food cost and the possibility of bacterial contamination if proper sanitation
and safety principles are not followed. At this same meeting, the incorporation of the
leftovers for the next meal or next day should be decided and any foreseeable problems with
the next meal should be discussed. The objective of all the production forecasting and scheduling
is to reduce the amount of overproduction or underproduction.
Production Monitoring
Production monitoring is a part of the manager’s job. It involves monitoring production during
and after it has occurred to determine if the production plan was met. If the plan was not
met, then the plan should be evaluated to determine if it was unreasonable or needs to be
changed to a more reasonably achievable plan. Communication and input from the staff are
needed to develop a new plan. When the staff is involved, a new plan will be more readily
accepted. If the plan needs only small adjustments, these should be made immediately so that
the production goals can be more readily achieved.
Food Production
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