Aimee Takamura

Systems Analysis Research Project

Due: November 3, 2014
Problem
The buffet line at The Madeira School moves too slowly during the lunch
period, leaving some students with inadequate time to finish their meals.
Background research
Recent 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.
Hypothesis
The 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 Collection
To 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.

Aimee Takamura

Date

9/9/14

Entre

Macaroni and

Wait

Observations &

time

Distractions/Hold-ups

(min)
20

Girls taking a long

Cut the mac and

time to serve

cheese in the pan

themselves; many

for easier serving

took more than one

and portion control

Cheese

Recommendations

scoop, causing
holdups (and a lot of
9/10/1

Fried Fish

Sandwiches

13

spills).
Minimal hold-ups.

Serve sandwiches

Sandwiches are easy

more frequently

to take and therefore

the line moved
through relatively
9/11/1

Beef Chili/Bean

Chili

15

17

quickly.
No one was picky

The line could not

when serving

have been sped up

themselves, but the

any faster; the

line moved slower due

nature of the food

to girls being more

made it more

careful when serving

difficult than

themselves the rice,

others to serve.

which was very grainy.

This is a very popular

Since it is a buffet

9/12/1

Chicken

Nuggets and

lunch item. The girls

style lunch, there

Fries

take many helpings of

is nothing stopping

fries and chicken

the girls from

nuggets. This results

taking as much

in longer wait times,

food as they want.

Aimee Takamura

9/16/1

Baked Potato

Bar

9/17/1

Chicken Pot Pie

12

18

as there are only so

Aside from the

many nuggets and

potentially

fries that can be

distractive

picked up with tongs

chatting, there is

at once. Girls were

no way (with the

extra chatty today

current set-up) to

perhaps because it

speed up the line.

was Friday.
This lunch was faster

Individually

because most of the

portioned out

toppings were in the

items have worked

salad bar area where

best (sandwiches,

girls could help

potatoes) in terms

themselves form

of speeding up the

either side of the cart.

This dish was made in

lunch lines.
While the nature of

a large pan with the

this dish is a little

chicken and

more complex, it is

vegetables on the

a fun item that the

bottom and topped

girls seemed to

with biscuits. What

enjoy. Pre-

made this line slow

portioning out

was the fact that the

servings might

girls had to scoop the

speed up the line,

biscuit first then go

but this would

back and take the

require extra time

chicken filling

and effort by the

underneath it. This

staff

created many spills as

9/18/1

Turkey and

Cheese

12

well.
Like the fish

It is definitely a

sandwiches, the

good idea to have

Aimee Takamura
Sandwiches/Veg

turkey and veggie

sandwiches

gie Sandwiches

sandwiches were

offered throughout

quick to take and thus

the week so

resulted in a shorter

students have the

wait time.

option of grabbing
something quick if
they are short on

9/19/1

Greek Lemon

Chicken

17

Girls were picking out

time.
This is a very

certain pieces of

popular dish. A few

chicken and thus

girls (and faculty)

holding up the line.

said it was their

Also, many wanted

favorite lunch. For

the sauce that the

some, it might be

chicken was cooked

worth the wait.

in, which increased

Having another

the time it took the

sandwich station,

girls to serve

for example, would

themselves.

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

Aimee Takamura
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

Aimee Takamura
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.

Aimee Takamura
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 space
Recommendation
The 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 Action
The Madeira School is still waiting for approval from the financial department
to purchase and install the drop-in unit. In the meantime, more sandwiches

Aimee Takamura
have been added to the menu. However, favorites like the Greek lemon
chicken and chicken nuggets still remain.

Alto-Hartley Quote

Aimee Takamura