Line checks as a tool for controlling write-offs, stop-lists and payroll.
This article is addressed to TOP managers and those who want to develop in management. The manager’s job is to organize and manage processes and always look for ways to optimize and improve them.
One of these processes is the management of the rate of return. But in order to build an effective process we need tools which will help to improve work with this parameter, and will enable the manager to place control points in several directions at once. One of these tools is the line check, or production task. This is where we will look at the logic of the manager’s work with the organization and management of the process.
A popular mistake made by the chef is that he does not get into the logic of the amount of prepared semi-finished products. Often chefs give chefs the job of calculating the required number of semi-finished products with the message that they have been working for a long time, they know better. Thus, this process immediately becomes unmanageable by the chef and requires constant supervision and involvement of the manager. To minimize risk and systematize the work, we introduce line checks.
Let’s gather the sequence of actions in the implementation of lin-checks step by step. That is, the first step is to organize the process:
Determine the list of dishes, and therefore the billets, for which you are launching the work in the management part.
Analyze the sales of these dishes for the period.
Determine the optimum consumption of these dishes. How much passes on a weekday, how much on a weekend. Is there any difference from week to week. Compare to last season if these dishes have been on the menu for a long time.
Determine the form of the line-check document, as well as the rules for calculating the number of half-finished meals.
Here we recommend that you immediately think about streamlining the process and combine the line check with the cancelling procedure. The purpose of the bracketing is to determine the quality and compliance with the shelf life of semi-finished products at the station. The purpose of the line check is to ensure there is enough semi-finished product for the shift or hours. In terms of the physical process, the cook checks the semi-finished products and it is logical to check both quality and quantity at once. Below is an example where the two are combined.
Determine the logic for calculating pf (semi-finished products). For this purpose it is necessary to take the quantity of semi-finished products according to ТТК (technical-technological card) taking into account losses and multiply by the predicted number of dishes of the day:
The consumption of pf. = Per dish Nf consumption х Forecasted number of dishes for that day
The next thing we recommend that you remember and implement in your work are the rules. The tool will work with failures if you don’t define the rules of work. When developing rules for working with line checks, you need to consider:
who works with the document;
How often you need to update the document. Here is a common mistake – the manager talks about chaotic demand and lack of logic in the number of dishes. Let’s say right away that if it’s not a new institution or a new dish, the manager just doesn’t analyze his menu in terms of sales. And here we need to focus on training the manager to analyze the menu;
Someone will lead the approval of the updated document;
Who will print out the updated line check and make line employees aware of the changes;
Who will monitor the relevance of the linechecks in the field and the plan-factual consistency of the number of half-finished products at the station.
If you have multiple shops, we recommend implementing line checks in stages. This will help you, as a manager, keep better control and take feedback into account to adjust the implementation for the next shop. For example, you start implementing in the cold shop, and the cooks say that the text is unreadable. Then this error will already be taken into account in the development of the line check for the next shops.
The first stage is taken care of.
The second step is managing processes and setting control points. This includes:
Determining the frequency of updates.
Implementing daily monitoring on the shift of the amount of semi-finished products actually produced. This process can later be delegated to sous chefs or shift supervisors, but at the start this is always done by the manager and connects the shift supervisors to joint control. The tool of rounds, “The Eight,” will just help to shuttle several times per shift and check on the availability of pts during different periods of the shift.
Include write-off control in your daily tasks. That way you will see the effectiveness of the line check, execution in the field and can adjust the norms immediately to avoid.
And the third step is process optimization. Here, as an example, can be your thoughts on automating the calculation process, transferring from hard copy to electronic form, increasing the shelf life by changing the cooking technology. And then by observing the process, fixing failures or time losses, you will be in search of solutions, and therefore optimization and improvement.
