Operations Management Report: Inventory, Operations, and Lean Approach

This report provides an in-depth analysis of The Ledbury restaurant's operations and information management. It begins by critically appraising the restaurant's inventory and asset management within its production system, highlighting key elements like stock monitoring, raw material management, recipe management, and central kitchen operations. The report then illustrates the key operational flow, including table reservations, guest service, food preparation, billing, and cleaning processes. It identifies potential failures in the delivery system, particularly within service and cleaning operations, and discusses how a lean approach can be utilized to improve efficiency. The analysis covers topics such as waste reduction, process optimization, and the importance of staff training and hygiene. Finally, the report concludes by summarizing the key findings of the lean approach and its potential benefits for the restaurant's production system, emphasizing the importance of a customer-centric approach and operational excellence.

Operations and Information
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
1. Critically appraise how well the inventories and/or assets within the production system are
currently managed.......................................................................................................................3
2. Provide a detailed illustration of the key operations involved within your chosen production
system presenting a logical operational flow..............................................................................5
3. Identify two points where the organisation’s delivery system may fail to align its
operational performance measures. ............................................................................................7
4. Discuss how a lean approach could be utilised in the production system. ............................8
5. Identify three key findings to which the lean approach chosen may assist the production
system. ......................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Operation Management, is considered that area of management which is concerned with
controlling & designing the production process and also redesigning of operations of the
business in creation of goods and services. It manages different strategical issues which also
include evaluating the size of manufacturing project management methods. It has been
determined that it will be difficult for an organisation to survive for long term if it does not
supply its customers effectively.
This project will analyse production system in The Ledbury UK restaurant. The
restaurant is situated in London. In restaurants, food production system included those processes
which are involved in feeding people such as; growing, gathering, packaging, transporting,
marketing, intake and disposal of food. The aim of this report is to critically measure the
inventories within the production system. Further, it will show detail illustration of the key
operations, and how lean approach could be utilised in that system.

TASK
1. Critically appraise how well the inventories and/or assets within the production system are
currently managed.
It has been determined that a key element in kitchen for effective management is
inventory control (Baek and et.al., 2015). It refers to good and materials that a restaurant holds
for resale. After getting aware of quantity of supplies are on hand at the time, which allows
manager in restaurant to plan food orders, compute costs and the past inventory accordingly.
Inventories in The Ledbury involves raw material, work in progress, finished goods, transit
inventory, etc. Within production system, inventories in restaurant refers to all that work done
before selling final food. It has been determined that, management of inventory in restaurants is
very necessary for controlling cost & waste through effective utilisation of on hand products.
Following are appraised on how well the inventories within production system in The Ledbury
are currently managed :- Monitor the stock :- The restaurant always remember to organise their existing stock
before they bring fresh stock. It has been discovered that, POSist's inventory management
software gives them count of available stock both at the starting and at the end of the day.
 Raw material management :- the restaurant know very well that managing their
inventory is important to avoid wastage (Choi, Chan and Yue, 2017). The restaurant uses
these following points to make sure that their stock is efficiently use:
 Specifically in case of perishables, they adopt minimum stocking approach for their
inventory.
 They make use of seasonal products, in which way they draw customers with something
new, and also avoid wastage. The Ledbury, ensure that items must be used on First in First out basis i.e. it uses that
stock first which is older in order to prevent waste. Recipe Management and Costing :- standardization and recipe management are crucial
for appropriate stock control as it helps in checking food costs. In The Ledbury, standard
recipe, the quantity of each component is specifically used, therefore their inventory
system can quickly identify that how many days their remaining stock will last. Central kitchen management :- the restaurant has a centralised kitchen where the food is
prepared for more outstanding establishment like; fast services and long chain, and

further he food is sent it to other outlets. It has been determined that, POSist's allows
them to control the overall spreading of the food based on the requirements (Galliers and
Leidner, 2014). Shelf Life management :- it is considered as the part of stock management for
restaurants. Each item that is available in the inventory has a specific shelf life such as;
rice can last for longer period, on the other hand vegetables can spoil faster. The Ledbury
specify items in stock for how long they can be preserved and utilised before getting bad.
 Reporting and analytics :- this is another feature of restaurant's inventory management
that is considered very important as it helps in The Ledbury operations. The report of raw
material used assist to forecast & develop plans. They analyse the inventory trends in
order to make effective decisions such as deciding menu.
Moreover, by being aware of what items to be used in daily services as well as how well to use
them and cost of each product, these all come together to create proper inventory management in
restaurant. Moreover, knowing what they need to have on hand so that they can maintain the
integrity of their service, are all essential points that The Ledbury keeps in mind while
maintaining stock within production system (Hazen and et.al., 2018).

2. Provide a detailed illustration of the key operations involved within your chosen production
system presenting a logical operational flow.
The restaurant, to be successful has designed operations that intent at pleasing customers,
generating a profit, and avoiding possible crises such as poisoning of food. Moreover, they also
consider cleaning as an important part of operations which positively impact customers and also
keeps them risk-free from food illness. In above provided operational flow chart, the key
operations in restaurant involve are; reservations, taking guests to table, waiter take order, and
Illustration 1: Flow Chart of The Ledbury
(Source: Flowchart for Restaurant Operations, 2018)

serves, cashier prepares bill, thanks guest for visiting and clean the table (Kache and Seuring,
2017). All of them are discussed in detail below:
Service operations
 Table reservation :- the restaurant reserves a table in advance to made it available for
customers who reserved it. The manager answers the phone call from customer, then the
manager enquires everything from customer regarding space required, their arrival time,
then he checks for tables and oversees whether that specified requirement could be met or
not. After checking everything, he informs the customer for confirmation. Lastly, then he
reminds customer again for final bookings and thanks to customer for making
reservation.
 Guest arrival and take them to table :- afterwards, the guest arrives to the restaurant and
the manager takes them to table that was booked prior on phone call. He makes them feel
comfortable. Waiter takes an order :- once the guests have been seated, waiter gives them menu and
provide them detailed information regarding ingredients, how the food is cooked, and
also make them aware of special days offers. Afterwards, waiter will their order and ask
them to wait till food gets ready. Then water or welcome drink will be served to make
them feel pleased (Laudon and Laudon, 2016).
Preparation operation Food preparation and serve :- as soon as order is taken, chefs start preparing it based on
customer's taste. Till then waiter start serving wine, and starters and regularly make a
check on them to see whether they want something. Then the main course will be served,
and end it by serving well presentable deserts. Manager will check in with customers to
make sure that they are enjoying their meal.
Billing operation Cashier to prepare the bill :- after they finish their meal, the waiter goes to cashier and
ask him to prepare bill. Then it is presented to the guests with a feedback book to know
their reviews on restaurant services. Cash is then given to the cashier and manager will
drop them till door of the restaurant, thanks them for visiting & request them to visit
again.
Cleaning operation

 Waiter cleans the table :- at the end after the guests have left, the cleaner or waiter will
clean the table to prepare it for next customer arrival (Lee and Tang, 2017).
Based on these key operations within production system in the restaurant, are much more than
food. Moreover, in managing the arrangements of guest arrival, bookings, serving, etc. are very
essential to have repeated customers. Lastly, the most vital part of every restaurant is cleaning
which create a positive impression on guests and moreover keeps them away from food illness.
3. Identify two points where the organisation’s delivery system may fail to align its operational
performance measures.
It has been discovered that, improving a restaurant's efficiency and raising profits rely on
various operations, various cost factors & revenue channels. The Ledbury restaurant may fail in
Service and Cleaning operations which can affect their performance measure. To start a
restaurant and serving the food is a good reason, people forget that it takes more than just
opening it. Below are given two key operations in which restaurant might fail : Service operations :- There are chances, that customers order bar snacks and the items
that will be served has been touched by many persons before it finally reaches on a plate.
As it has been noticed that, many bars did not serve fresh snacks to every guest.
Moreover, when customers leave uneaten items, these snacks may be put back into
kitchen so that they can use it again. The restaurant keeps off season food in cold jars
with various chemicals to keeps it ineffective for longer period, which is not considered
good for people's health. Moreover, restaurant may fail in services provided by waiters as
they are untrained and not much skilled to manage their work properly. Currently the
waiters working their, don't know how to talk to guests who arrive at their restaurant.
They are also unaware of maintaining personal hygiene, through this The Ledbury may
fail to align with operational performance measure. It has been determined that staff are
considered to be the most important factor for keeping restaurant hygienic and clean
(Love and et.al., 2014).
 Cleaning operations :- It has been observed that, the restaurant fails to do inspection of
kitchen area including dining as well as restrooms. Many guests have made complaint on
this issue as the hygiene rules are not followed by this restaurant (Littlefield and et.al.,
2017). Apart from this, they do not have proper ventilation system in place for well being
of staff & guests. In order to align with their operational performance measures,

maintaining appropriate ventilation system is necessary for the safe storage of food,
health, employee's confidence and the comfort of customers. They often also ignore
sanitization of kitchen equipments, which is another consideration for cleaning operation.
They avoid cleaning kitchen tools which is very unhygienic for customers and that may
impact restaurant's reputation. It is essential for them to understand that, all those things
that have a direct contact with food products must be sanitised to maintain standards of
hygiene. In addition, people working their does not have habit of washing hands regularly
after every work they perform. As this is considered the most crucial part of hygienic
environment, and they should keep this in mind so that this cannot have a negative impact
over guests. Lastly, the restaurant also neglects pest control & waste management which
are also another factor of cleaning operations. They avoid having pest control programs
in their premises which is another reason for them that they may fail to meet their
performance measures. Further, they don't have proper arrangements for disposing off
food waste to prevent contamination.
However, the fact is regular cleaning in restaurant isn't a choice but it is just as crucial as serving
well cooked food. The Ledbury, must take their kitchen and surroundings hygiene seriously and
must produce better food to have happy customers. Moreover, their waiters need to maintain
their personal hygiene and attend training programs on how to treat customers (McArthur,
2015).
4. Discuss how a lean approach could be utilised in the production system.
The Lean Process Improvement, refers to the activity of identifying opportunities for
betterment, applying changes and then measuring the influence of those changes. It is difficult to
keep the force moving, without properly organised, consistent approach to process enhancement.
This continuous improvement is also known as Kaizen i.e. a Lean process improvement method
through which disciplined approach team is provided that is needed to keep betterment as their
priority. The Ledbury can adapt Lean approach for improving its Service and Cleaning
operations in which they might fail. This is because the aim of this approach is to allow teams to
find systematic ways in order to present more value to their guests. This is done by giving
organized and scientific approach to perform constantly so that improvement can be made daily
(Mitkar and Kumarasamy, CommVault Systems Inc, 2016).

The below given diagrams shows the summarization of this approach i.e. of the
continuous improvement cycle that can be adapt by The Ledbury restaurant to prevent
themselves from failure (3 Key Concepts Of Lean Process Improvement, 2018).
 Identify :- first of all the restaurant need to identify opportunities in the process work
flow. Finding where the problem actually exists and the focus on converting problem into
opportunities.
 Plan :- it is done to know how can the current process can be improved. After identifying
the root cause of problem, plan of action is required to improve the services of waiters.
Planning will include how to build hygienic environment, and how to train waiters.
 Execute :- here plan is executed to implement changes to have improvements in the
process.
 Review :- lastly, reviewing the executed plan is done to how changes are working both
for staff as well as customers. Regular check over restaurant operations need to be done
to ensure better outcomes (Papadopoulos and et.al., 2017).
It has been determined that in this restaurant industry, the role of workers is very important in
delivering effective services to customers. There are several benefits to the Lean approach such
as; reduces time in delivering services, raises productivity, enhance service quality, etc.
Illustration 2: Continuous improvement cycle
(Source : 3 Key Concepts Of Lean Process Improvement, 2018)

therefore, this approach can be considered as a useful tool for making changes within production
system to improve Service operations in which restaurant may fail.
The Lean management is basically a concept that encourages continuous improvement,
that can be implemented by the restaurant to have incremental changes in Cleaning operations
so that they can have improved quality of services. It has been determined that, in order to
increase demand of the customers for The Ledbury restaurant, having lean approach as a
strategical tool to continuously improve their Cleaning operations is necessary. This is because
lean helps in finding and removing the waste & failures in the key operations. Apart from this,
performance gets visible through this to quickly response and bring appropriate actions as
required (Yu and Besik, 2017).
5. Identify three key findings to which the lean approach chosen may assist the production
system.
The continuous improvement cycle of lean approach provides the process for
improvement through which three key findings identified that may help the production system in
The Ledbury restaurant with aligning its operational performance measures are : Kanban :- for restaurant to improve their Service operations, it is tough for them to
entirely understand this approach. Kanban is refers to a visual process technique that
allows individuals, restaurant staff or teams to manage and control their work with the
help of shared understanding of process. This tool can help them to identify chances to
enhance their process. Restaurant staff can make use of Kanban board to organise their
work, by this they can generate information which can be further used to measure the
impact of their continuous efforts for betterment (Prevot, Johnson and et.al., 2017). WIP Limits :- this is another lean process improvement technique which implements
work in progress limits for workers. It has been discovered that, WIP limits are
considered as fixed limitations in order to enhance through the process minimise
mistakes. Hence, this can help waiters to provide guests with high quality with faster
work. Further more, Kanban boards can allow them to tract their WIP limits, by simple
way of counting how many cards are there in the 'in-process' lanes in their workflow.
Applying it can assist them to concentrate on betterment and how they get together
during work. This will motivate them to improve their personal hygiene and provide them
opportunities so that they can learn new things.

 Lean strategies for sanitation
Under Lean approach, there are some strategies for improving The Ledbury restaurant's
cleaning operation in order to align with their operational performance measure. Sanitation is
considered very important for them to improve their Cleaning operations in building for
hygienic environment. It covers everything from ingredients to side dishes, from utensils to
cleaning clothes, from ice to glass, from spices to vegetables, etc. all must be properly managed
in the correct amount without extra to waste, in order to satisfy customers and raise profits
(Schönsleben, 2016). The 5S & Lean sanitation approach can assist The Ledbury restaurant to
rapidly & systematically meet their goals. It is considered as the best guide remove waste, and
develop high level standards at restaurant. 5S stands for :
 Sort :- evaluate items which are useful and eliminate the rest from the inventory.
 Set in order :- organise required items for smooth process.
 Sanitize :- undertake daily cleaning measures & complete examination to evaluate if any
corrective action needs to be taken.
 Standardize :- common methods are developed for stability & establish set rules.
 Sustain :- this is the final step in which it requires keeping their gains while constantly
improving their progress. Basically its is all about undertaking actions to makes changes
sustainable over time.
It is recommended that 5S should be applied whether it is kitchen, bar, hostess's desk, cleaning
area, waitress's floors or storage areas. Therefore, after the completion of last S of 5S, it is crucial
to teach workers in restaurant regarding how that one selected area will be carried and then
explaining their roles to do so (Skurka and ed.al, 2017).
CONCLUSION
From this report it has been concluded that, operation management is all about
transforming raw materials or labour into final goods and service. Apart from this it covered
current management of inventories in The Ledbury restaurant. Further, it discussed key
operations in restaurants based on the logical operational flowchart, such as; table reservation
guest arrival and take them to table, cashier to prepare the bill, etc. In part third it covered those
operations in which this restaurant may fail i.e. service and cleaning operations to meet
operational performance measure. Lastly, it demonstrated lean approach and its techniques such

as Kanban, WIP Limits, and Lean strategies for sanitation that can be implemented by restaurant
to assist them in improving production system process.

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Online

Flowchart for Restaurant Operations. 2018. [Online]. Available on:
<https://www.edrawsoft.com/restaurant-operations-flowchart.php>
3 Key Concepts Of Lean Process Improvement. 2018. [Online]. Available on:
<https://leankit.com/learn/lean/3-key-concepts-of-lean-process-improvement/>