The OU Experience: Day 6/7 - Couch Con't + US Foods

Day 5 of the internship didn't provide much more new and interesting things. It's a little disorganized but I'm hoping things will go smoother tomorrow on our last day at Couch. We're still supposed to go over kitchen production, inventory, and a few other things. We were back early in the morning to work with Sam Ford, the manager/director of that location. He gave us a project to work on with Frannie in order to manually input total sales against labor costs and determine what the labor percentage was. So we got to observe how they utilize the numbers and come up with this data which can be used to determine the amount of revenue that is going towards paying their employees. This allows them to come up with a system of staffing for certain amounts of customers they are expecting. Typically they want to keep labor percentage around a consistent number (usually ~30% or less) so if the numbers within a given week aren't matching up then they have to adjust the formulas they're using to staff both the kitchen/production area and the front of the house. We also got to meet a bunch of the front of house supervisors during the lunch rush again, who we also observed staff the lines for that day and keep everything in check.

Later in the afternoon we sat in on two meetings. The first was to work through issues they were having through catering services for RA's during the academic year. So basically what happens is RA's from floors will order snacks and beverages to be picked up for floor meetings, and they come to couch to pick up these orders. They were running into problems where the system would incorrectly place the orders (items would be forgotten) as well as a lack of organization to inform employees where the orders are placed when they're ready. Essentially the RA's would come in and ask for their order and either the order would be missing a particular item or the employee that the RA sought out didn't know where the order was placed (sometimes both). So during the meeting they came up with ideas in which to improve the efficiency like creating a position for one of the staff to be in charge of dealing with all orders for that particular day to decrease the wait time, and also a check list process where all the items ordered are re-checked prior to the RA's coming in to pick up their orders to ensure they are complete. The second meeting was informing Claire (she's in charge of scheduling during the summer who we met Monday) on the spread sheet and numbers we had come up with in the morning. We then discussed how she needed to decrease her staffing numbers to lower the labor costs because of the high percentages and inconsistent pattern.

We finished up in the afternoon, went back to the office for a little bit, then headed home. Kelsey and I went to our first and last yoga class at the gym. I have no sweet clue how American's categorize yoga here, but it is no where NEAR the same as in Canada haha. Although Kelsey did say that at most on campus gyms they're typically held in the same fashion (but are better at studios). This includes trying to balance enough on your hands to hold yourself up into a handstand (aka. break your neck), balancing on your hands then placing thighs on knees similar to a teddy bear hand stand but without your head to support you (aka. almost somersaulting across the floor into other participants), and various other activities which did not include any regular yoga posses. I'm still sore today and got a workout, but I can say confidently we are looking for another place to take lessons. Not my cup of tea (even if it's free) ... no offense lol.

Once we got back, we headed over to the staff development thing they were holding in the clubhouse right beside the pool (I'll try and take some pictures this weekend of the inside). This was essentially just 10 people watching the Thunder/Heat game. I got to talk with the main RA who works there and she was such a sweetheart. We talked for probably an hour just comparing university lifestyle, sports, political systems, and everything in between. Her and her brother are actually big hockey fans (the first I've met!) and he might be moving to Vancouver (Canucks are his fav team unfortunately), but not just for the hockey (haha). The other people were occupied watching the game so we left at half time.

So onto Day 6 which I have to say has been my favorite day so far! We got to tour both the OU Health Science campus right in OKC, as well as US Foods which is on the outskirts of the city. We were at the campus first and met Dave who is in charge of the three locations at this site. We got to look at Beaker's Cafe first which is located in their union building. There isn't a lot of on campus housing here, especially since it's mostly an older group of students (they have literally a million buildings and every program you can think of including nursing, pharmacology, dermatology, pre-med, dentistry, allied health, pediatrics, plus more and a ton of hospitals on site) so that's why there are limited locations to eat at. Beaker's does just as much as some locations here at the Norman campus though while also competing with hospital cafeteria locations. It consists of a small starbucks, Chick-fil-A, as well as casa del sol and couch express items. They try to make it as familiar as possible so students recognize the name when they come from Norman to OKC. They also get to come up with new recipes every summer when it slows down to try and bring something new to the table. We then got to look at Dave's Place which is an even smaller cafe located in the physicians building (this is completed supplied by Beaker's, they just transfer food from one location to another with only a 2-3 minute drive), then we went to the cancer center which is only a year old and $22 million dollars worth of beautiful. Healthy Hearth is located here and is more of a restaurant style location rather then a cafe. They have gone above and beyond to make sure that this hospital resembles anything but what it is. There is so much decor including art pieces specifically designed for the building, a baby grand piano that plays itself (!!!!), statues everywhere, and so much more. It is drop dead gorgeous and seems like the obvious next step for any health facility to move towards. The care in the design is so apparent and they have done absolutely everything to make the patients feel as comfortable as possible. There are pics at the bottom to check out too.

After we were finished on the campus, Dot and Shirleta took us out to eat at a restaurant called Pearl's. It's not a chain, but daaamn is it good! I ordered Chicken Diablo which is a pasta dish with blackened cajun chicken and sausage in a spicy marinara sauce. I split it with Kels who ordered the Canadian Club (lol) and I had half of that as well which has nothing on Canada (obviously). I also got my first taste of fried okra which was delicious! I'm definitely getting some more the next time we're out to eat. I'm also supposed to try fried green beans (apparently good?) and a few other items. We drove around a smaller part of the city to the memorial site where there was a bombing at a federal building back in 1995. I only got to see a small part since we were driving but Kels and I are planning a trip in to do some more exploring. It's beautiful though, so stunning. Everything really in Oklahoma makes me catch my breathe. The architecture is so incredible and amazing I can't even begin to describe it. I'm trying to snap as many pics as I can but I just want to capture everything and it's impossible! There's nothing to compare it to. You can always look up some pics but of course it's not the same. I'm just going to suggest everyone coming down and exploring your selves because it is WELL worth the trip. Plus the weather's great :)

So onto US Foods, our final stop! This is the main supplier for OU. They actually have to go through a bidding process for contracts of 5 years with other companies (such as Sysco and several other regional locations). There is actually a very high level of security (including barbed wire fences surrounding the entire area) which they explained later is implemented by the Department of National Defense and was increased quite rapidly post 9/11. We had to sign in and out, get a specially name tag that changes color within a few hours to show that it is void and can no longer be used, and I wasn't allowed to take any pics unfortunately (DND rules for safety reasons). So we first sat down with the president of the Oklahoma location as well as Amanda, the director of sales. They spoke to us giving us some general information. They are 26th for sales across the nation for all businesses, and second in the food services department (Sysco is the only one ahead). The Oklahoma location is also the 6th largest producer of sales for US Foods even though they are competing with locations in LA, Miami, Chicago, and others. So they do quite well for themselves and mostly supply over 4000 customers in the state alone. They never actually shut down the facility because it takes too much effort to get it back up and running since the office portion is open during the day (while receiving/stocking is ongoing as well) and at night they're preparing deliveries to go out in the early hours of the morning to their customers. The only days during the year where they don't deliver is Thanksgiving and Christmas. They said they go through about 55,000 cases a day (sometimes more) and 240,000 flats a week, so they are constantly moving products and there is so much that goes into it I don't even know where to begin!

We then toured the actual inside of the storage part. Mike, our tour guide, first showed us where they keep all the fork lifts and the COOLEST machine ever! It's called the 'Robo-wrapper' I think (it's what I call it at least) and it will self wrap flats for you! So neat. We didn't get to see it in action but I would have a blast operating it. We then moved into the dry storage area where they have a huuuuuge room with multiple rows stacked to the ceiling with products. In front of the rows flats are placed that need to be stored for that day. They have receiving stickers on them which state the section, product number, row, and bay area where the product goes. Each operator must scan the flat before they move it, then scan the row they're placing it on to ensure that it is going in the right spot (if it's in the wrong spot the monitor will display 'error'). This is also why some products get mixed up because it is not alphabetized and the product name isn't what is used as identification, it is simply by number. So if you ordered ketchup it has a code within the warehouse that may potentially get mixed up with the code for soy sauce (but they try to avoid this at all costs of course).

Then we travelled outside to look at the trailers they have to transfer the orders from one location to another. We got to check out freezer trucks and dry storage ones. They have their own gas station with diesel out back for their trucks and two different sections for dry and cold receiving/distributing. They own about 130 trailers at that particular location and have about as many drivers on staff. They typically will go as far as Kansas but their biggest spots are Tulsa and Wichita. We then toured the inside of the cold storage which is kept at 36 degrees F at all times so that when they're loading/unloading produce it stays at the same temp no matter where it is. There are also two separate rooms for storage: one which holds items such as potatoes, bananas, or onions which don't need to be frozen but have to be kept cool, then another section where frozen products are kept like ice cream. This is FREEZING cold (no pun intended). Felt like the dead of winter at home. I would not want to be working that, although it is a nice cool down after being outside in the heat for a while, but comfort doesn't last for long in outside or inside!

So that was our tour and they gave us a little treat basket and everything! It was super interesting to see the process behind how the food operations here at OU actually order and receive their products. It allows for you to understand why delays and mistakes occur and why certain processes have to maintained (which most customers will just complain over rather then attempt to understand why). By far my favorite part of the internship to date. We headed home after that and it was already 4:30 so Dot let us off early. We got back home and spent some time at the pool until about 6pm. No basketball tonight but we're eagerly waiting the game tomorrow! The downtown is decked out in OKC Thunder gear and there are so many detours due to the news reporters and so many people here for the games. What are the chances that I'd be stuck in the city where the NBA finals were going on? And obviously the team that will win... GO THUNDER!!