The question is no longer whether we need to change the way restaurants operate, but how we do it. The explosion in energy prices, labour shortages and rising costs of raw materials - all predispose us to the fact that we simply have to. Modern routines are now being facilitated by digitalisation. Sascha Barby, a trained chef and RATIONAL's Vice President of Customer Experience and Marketing, explains the path to better kitchen organisation.
The primary task of the organisation
Kitchen operations must be adapted to energy saving and adapted to changing circumstances. This involves a lot of things, from making technology work more efficiently to organising human resources to work more productively. A restaurant and the kitchen within it is like nature. It is constantly evolving, but to be more effective, it needs to be consciously shaped. The only solution is to organise, to organise the kitchen efficiently to achieve this goal. The activities of a person or a group must be examined and aligned so that the restaurant's services are perfect make the best use of the opportunities available.
A good team
Kitchen processes consist of many individual steps. Effective process design is always the responsibility of the chef, based on his or her experience. But to realise his ideas, he needs the right team of chefs. This is one of the most important, but also the most difficult task in today's environment. You must strive to build a stable staff who are dedicated, demanding and can be relied upon. If the „core team” does not work well, the kitchen will not function properly, even with the right technology and underlying knowledge.
Patience and rest time
Not only is the industry suffering from a lack of skilled labour, temporary and unskilled labour is becoming hard to find. New employees need to learn the processes first, so it is important to train them.
Rational's iCombi Pro equipment has received support, with the help of iProductionManager. The system continuously monitors what is happening during baking and cooking, shows what can be cooked at the same time, ensures that everything is optimally prepared, intelligently adjusts the cooking time. This makes it possible to monitor the process at all times. The predictability it offers makes life in the kitchen stress-free. With iCombi Pro, you can optimise time and energy. The food preparation process thus requires minimal supervision and even unskilled staff can work smoothly. All for greater flexibility and efficiency.
Sascha Barby: Modern technology can help reduce training requirements and support quality assurance and standardisation. With smart features such as iProductionManager staff get a break. Questions such as: What to prepare á la carte? How long does it take to prepare a meal? What is the right temperature? - is now a thing of the past. Everything is done separately and anyone can access it directly.
Value added through digitisation
Of course, we also need to look carefully at how digitisation and workflows can be linked. Where, for example, does it help to better position tasks and reduce skills shortages? It can free up the kitchen from routine tasks, such as documenting HACCP data, which also help with asset management and inventory. In addition, digital monitoring systems such as ConnectedCooking are a huge help.
S.B.: It is also important not to overburden the team with digitalisation. Many people are reluctant to touch the possibilities offered by modern technologies and this can lead to rejection. When a system is introduced, it should be done slowly, step by step. A healthy balance between old and new is important.
The standardisation process
First, you need to take the time to assess what needs to be optimised first. The standard cooking times, the easy-to-access recipes and cooking processes, can all be digitised. With the right equipment, such as Rational's iCombi Pro, this can be done. Thanks to this, every meal can be exactly the same, without error, always in the same amount of time, which in turn makes the system predictable. This also makes work easier for catering professionals.
It is important that digital solutions are adopted by the team. This requires them to recognise the benefits of machine-based solutions. It should be easy to understand and use, which makes everyday work easier and thus leads to higher performance. For these technologies, it is crucial that they are developed by professionals, i.e. chefs for chefs.
S.B.: For me, the key to many challenges lies in standardising processes. Maintaining a certain standard of food is easier to achieve.
Energy saving, sustainability
Many cooking systems have a long preheating time, so they are always on. In the current climate of rising energy prices, this is unsustainable in the long term. In addition, many cooking systems only support one type of preparation. With modern kitchen equipment, several appliances can be combined. Good insulation and short preheating times also offer savings potential, not to mention the fact that they take up less space. Standardisation is also important for sustainability.
S.B.: If I can cook consistently, I use less food, throw less away and prevent food waste.
Digitalisation supports employees
There are now many opportunities to change jobs. In many cases it is because of the higher salary or the more modern working environment. The younger generation of chefs particularly enjoy working with equipment that makes their time on shift easier. Modern technology can help to take a lot of unnecessary tasks off the shoulders of workers and undoubtedly has a positive impact on work morale.
S.B.: Standardised procedures save time during preparation, including pre-production. Food that is precooked to perfection, properly cooled and then stored can reduce production to two to three days a week. This means that you don't have to prepare food every day.
Digitalisation is a great opportunity to better organise everyday life in the kitchen. There are many savings to be made, especially on the administrative side. Many processes can be optimised, accelerated and automated with digital tools.
Source: https://www.ktchnrebel.com/hospitality-organization/
