Case Study on Improvement of Hospital Foodservice by Introduction of FMEA Techniques: Focus on Food Delivery Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction

In this study, we attempted to improve hospital food delivery service quality and customer satisfaction by using FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis), which is applied to the quality control of products in manufacturing plants. Subjective food delivery service quality improvement was judged based on a 5-point likert scale. Traditional FMEA uses an RPN (Risk priority number) to evaluate the risk level of a component or process. The RPN index was determined by calculating the product of severity, occurrence, and detection indexes. In our results, total RPN value (P<0.01) significantly decreased after FMEA introduction, whereas customer satisfaction (P<0.001) and food delivery service quality (P<0.001) significantly increased. Specifically, foodservice errors (P<0.01) and loss cost (P<0.01) were significantly improved by FMEA introduction. Taken together, we suggest that FMEA reduces critical activities and errors in foodservice delivery caused by simple priority selection.

A Study of Parents' Satisfaction and Needs for Foodservice Quality of the Childcare Centers in Chungnam Asan Area / 대한지역사회영양학회지

We tried to find out parents' satisfaction and needs for foodservice quality of the childcare centers with an intention of improving it. Self-completed questionnaires were randomly collected from the parents of children in 174 childcare centers around Asan and were analyzed. Most of respondents were mothers who were housewives with college degrees (69%) in their 30's (80%). They thought nutrition (50%) and food hygiene (43%) were the most important factors for decision. Eighty percent of parents recognized the strong relationship between foodservice quality and childrens' mental and physical development. Most centers (94%) were delivering menu notices home, so parents well recognized the center's foodservice situation and problems of their kids' eating habits. The parents' satisfaction scores were 3.26 out of 5-point scale. The biggest dissatisfaction was from no variation in menu, but remarkable appreciation was from the effect of foodservice on the correction for kids' unbalanced diet habit. They had demands for improvement of nutritious menu and professional nutrition teacher in charge of foodservice and nutrition education for children and also for parents.

Perception of Foodservice Quality Attributes of Older Adults: Compared by Lifestyle and Dining Frequency in Continuing Care Retirement Communities / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The purpose of this study was to identify the differences of older adults' perceptions of foodservice quality attributes of current offerings in Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) in terms of their lifestyles (length of residency, special diet, housing option, travel frequency, dine out frequency), dining frequency, and demographics in the dining room of CCRCs. The survey was administered to residents in three CCRCs. Data was analyzed for 140 surveys using t-test, ANOVA, and factor analysis. This study found female older adults perceived the following attributes were more important than male ones: presentation of food, color and garnish, texture of vegetables, taste and flavor of food, and respectful attitude of serving staff. Older adults who have a special diet perceived the seasoning and bite sized pieces were more important than those who have a general diet. Also, there were significant differences between frequent visitors and occasional visitors in the dining room of CCRCs. By knowing the differences by residents' demographics and residential characteristics, the foodservice manager can establish strategies to increase the dining frequency of residents in the dining rooms of CCRCs.

Dietitian's Job Satisfaction and Perception of Foodservice Quality in Elementary Schools

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between the levels of job satisfaction and self-evaluated foodservice quality of dietitians in elementary schools. Out of 130 questionnaires distributed to the elementary school dietitians in In-cheon, 127 were returned and analyzed (98% response rate). The questionnaire included two multipleitem scales for measuring job satisfaction and foodservice quality, respectively. All the items in the scales were coded 1 to 5 for certainly no, no, neutral, yes, and certainly yes and grouped by using factor analyses. Most of the responding dietitians were working for schools in urban areas and had independently-managed on-site kitchens. The 23 items measuring job satisfaction were grouped into 4 factors: Job Duty, Job Condition, Physical Work Environment, and Organizational Environment. The satisfaction score was the highest for Organizational Environment with a value of 3.38 and the least for Physical Work Environment with a value of 2.08. The 22 items measuring foodservice quality were grouped into 5 factors and the mean scores of the levels of Cleanliness, Internal Food quality, External Food quality, Intangible Service Environment and Tangible Service Environment were 4.20, 3.89, 3.54, 3.45 and 2.64, respectively. The levels of job satisfaction and foodservice quality were positively associated with a correlation coefficient of 0.288 (p < 0.01). In particular, the level of job satisfaction was positively associated with foodservice quality in the aspect of Cleanliness, Internal Food Quality, and Intangible Service Environment. The results show that improving dietitians' job satisfaction could contribute to increasing the levels of foodservice quality of elementary schools.

Comparison of Students' Satisfaction with Middle School Foodservice by Region in Gangwon Province

The purpose of this study was to evaluate students' satisfaction with foodservice of middle school by region in Gangwon province. Students' satisfaction concerning foodservice quality characteristics was surveyed by using importance performance analysis(IPA) technique in middle school foodsevice operations. Middle school students from four cities(Gangnung, Sokcho, Wonju, Chuncheon) were surveyed by self-developed questionnaire. Total of 1,025 questionnaires(female 521 and male 504 respectively) were analyzed using SAS program. The results of this study are summarized as follows: 1.The performance level of foodservice quality attributes was significantly different according to region. 2.The attribute of the highest performance level was taste of food. The attributes of the lower performance level were waiting time of meal service and treatment about complaints. The attributes of the higher importance level were hygiene of food and dining room and hygiene of spoon and cup and drinking water table. 3.Satisfied quality attributes identified were taste of food and variety of menu. Dissatisfied quality attribute identified was treatment about complaints. 4.The satisfaction of middle school lunch service was lower than their elementary school period. 5.The satisfied quality attributes of middle school foodservice were portion size, facility of dining room, hygiene of food, variety of menu compared with their elementary school period.

Comparison of Importance and performance to the school lunch service according of male and female middle school students in the Gangwon province

Customer satisfaction concerning foodservice quality characteristics were evaluated by using importance performance analysis(IPA) techniques in middle school foodsevice operations. One hundred students from each of 17 middle schools in Gangwon province were surveyed by self-developed questionnaire. Total of 1,675 questionnaires(female 943 and male 732 respectively) were collected and data were analyzed using SAS program. The results of this study are summarized as follows: 1.The male and female students scored the importance level as 3.99 and 4.03 out of 5 respectively, which means 'important' The performance level of female(2.71) was significantly lower than male(2.86) which means 'between bad and so-so'. it is suggested that the statistical analysis should be conducted respectively according to gender. And there is no performance level over 4(good). 2. Dissatisfied quality attributes identified were convenience of dinning room and the managerial attitude of dissatisfaction in the female and male students. 3. Satisfied quality attributes identified were hygiene of food and dinning room and spoon and cup and drinking water table and distribution process, taste of food, variety of food in the female and male students. 4. The performance scores of lower price(less than 1500 won) lunch group was higher than higher price(more than 1800 won) lunch group in the female and male students.