How to Apply Six Sigma Technologies in Foodservice : A Case Study for Controlling Food Loss

The purpose of this paper was to understand the basic concepts of Six Sigma and to apply its statistical tools for process improvement in the foodservice industry. Although Six Sigma was originally used for manufactured goods, this case study utilized this innovative tool to control food costs by reducing the quantity of food leftover. The case study was performed in an environment in which Six Sigma Operating System has been already launched for 3 year. Therefore the scope of this study was defined only to the improvement of the specific problem identified above, and any comments for Six Sigma operating system were not included. A five-step methodology (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) was used to reduce the food loss. Data were collected from 11 operating accounts, in a company which operates over 100 accounts, for a month and an average amount of the food leftover generated by each account was 55.1 kg per day. The major causes for the food leftover were found such as too much portion size in the standard recipe, no control for the customer forecasting, no inventory adjustment for ordering, cook all amounts of ordered food materials regardless customer counts, and cook over portion on purpose. All improved methods for those problems and finally control plans were proposed. The cost of total food leftover generated during the data collection period accounted for approximately 2.2% of total sales volume at the beginning of the study. After the implementation of Six Sigma, the company reduced the food leftover costs fromm 2.2% to 0.6% out of sales.