1. Although different from a manufacturing company, some of the principles that apply in the Little Chef case are similar to those used in a JIT manufacturer – what are they? The Little Chef roadside restaurant chain has over 350 sites located on busy roads around the United Kingdom. All restaurants trade from 7.00 am to 10.00 pm, 365 days a year and offer an all-day menu supplemented by part-day menus and various seasonal promotions. Customers receive a table service of cooked-to-order meals. Target times are 30 minutes for a starter plus main course, with an extra 10 minutes for a dessert. To achieve a high standard of customer service, it is necessary to forecast demand as accurately as possible and then to provide for sufficient resources (staff, food, etc.) to meet that demand. In practice, an all-year-round core of regular staff is maintained, supplemented by seasonal staff at peak periods. Staff planning is undertaken at three levels:

1. The quarterly manpower plan – the main input to this plan is the forecast number of customers for each of the 12 weeks of the forecast period.

2. The weekly forecast – the sales forecast from the quarterly plan is updated and broken down into daily sales.

3. The daily plans – allocate duties between staff.