Management of a catering facility

Outlines how an airline is introducing robot technology to its tray setting area and a general management and scheduling software suite to control its catering operations. Describes how the supply of meals to flights is operated on a just‐in‐time basis. Using a computer database created from aircraft schedules of all flights requiring a catering service,information on the meals to be provided is sent to the automated tray assembly line, with passenger requirements being continually updated until the food trolleys are delivered to the tarmac. Concludes that using JIT techniques for ordering food from the kitchens ensures freshness of supply,quality of service and efficiency of operation.