Food Costs Matter
If your food supplier said they were going to increase your price by 5-10%, what would you do? I'm assuming you'd push back and make sure it was justified.
What about if your staff was spilling every 10th fountain drink or cream and sugar filled cup? You'd probably put a stop to it, get some retraining, and get control of the leakage (pun intended).
What about equipment calibrations? They could be costing you $1000s every year.
Let's take a look at an easy calculation to see how much mis-calibration might be costing you:
Calibration Calculation
Annual Cost of Goods
X % Quantity Out of Calibration
X % Time Out Of Calibration
Example
Suppose a cream dispenser was dispensing just 2 ml too much cream (~10%) and it's off 50% of the time:
$100,000 (Cost of Cream)
X 10% (22 ml vs 20 ml)
X 50% (every other week)
= $5,000 Cost
That's $5,000 from the bottom line!
What Should a Calibration Process Look Like?
There are a few factors to consider when implementing a calibration process:
Frequency
How often you perform the calibration. We would recommend at least once a week but that can vary based on use, type of equipment, and how quickly it gets out of calibration.
Process
What equipment you use (brix cup, electronic scale, other), how many samples, how to ensure a proper reading, what’s a reasonable discrepancy. All these things should be defined.
Training
Make sure the people doing the job are trained (and have the right tools) to do the job correctly.
