The Finnish Red Cross is part of the international Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. One area of operation is taking part in international relief operations related to disasters or crises. Both domestic and international relief shipments are sent out from the Finnish Red Cross Logistics Center in the City of Tampere.
Logistic Center Recipes Are Managed In JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System
Outi Amanor works as Project Planner in the Finnish Red Cross logistics center. Together with people in charge of different units she is responsible for procurement. When the logistics center sends out a field hospital to a disaster area, they can also include kitchen equipment and supplies if needed. In this type of situation Outi has to plan the quantity of food supplies needed. Ingredients will be purchased locally as soon as it is safe. When the shipment is sent out from Finland it needs to include enough non-perishable food items for providing food services for the unit’s employees at least during the first days or weeks.
The Finnish Red Cross logistics center has been using JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System since 2016. Co-operation started after a trainee that used JAMIX System in her studies told Outi about the system. Now Outi has created all logistics center recipes in JAMIX. Based on the recipes Outi can let the system calculate quantities for ingredients for different amounts of personnel, and for time periods with different lengths.
Ordinary recipes are not suitable for the logistics center, so Outi has modified basic recipes by replacing fresh ingredients with dry ones, for example. ”As I was modifying the recipes I realized how much we use dairy and fresh semi-finished food items.”, Outi says. ”Replacing these ingredients in camp conditions with non-perishable food items is challenging. We aim at buying ingredients locally as soon as it is possible from safety aspect. But in the beginning we need recipes that you can prepare without fresh ingredients”, Outi says.
Recipes Will Be Scaled According To Consumption And Need
The Finnish Red Cross logistics center is not the most typical JAMIX customer but Outi sees huge potential for utilizing a kitchen system in this type of operation, as well. ”Functionality for changing portion amounts and portion sizes is really important”, Outi says. ”It is easy to calculate the ingredient need for porridge manually but when there are dozens or hundreds of items the job gets much trickier.”
Food consumption in the camp is bigger during the first couple of weeks, as the work is really physical when putting up the camp. Little by little the work gets lighter, food consumption goes down accordingly, and you can reduce portion sizes. ”After a hard day at work freshly baked bread tastes wonderful. Familiar foods also help to stand mental pressure.”, Outi says. The contribution of a chef is really important even in a relief camp! The chefs – as other relief workers – for relief operations are selected from the Finnish Red Cross relief worker reserve. You can apply to the relief worker reserve through IMPACT training that is arranged 1-2 times a year.
Functioning Equipment And Infrastructure Ensure Operations In The Disaster Area
The chefs usually have all usual commercial cooking equipment at their disposal, only in camp conditions. Electricity naturally comes from a generator. There is even a water heater and a dish washer in the kitchen. ”No one has to do the dishes by hand even in camp conditions”, Outi laughs. Using a dish washer is appropriate also because of high hygiene requirements in disaster areas. Getting water is usually not a problem, as a water cleaning unit ensures clean water as long as there is any water available. We aim at getting an internet connection up in the disaster area as quickly as possible. It is important already for safety reasons.
Cloud-based JAMIX System that you can use for example with a tablet would seem to suit well for use in disaster areas. It hasn’t been used in real life yet, but well planned is half done, and calculations based on recipes help to avoid unpleasant surprises related to food services in the destination.
JAMIX Kitchen Intelligence System has provided solutions for challenges in food services already for 30 years. As Mikko Jaatinen, CEO and founder of Jamix has said: ”Significant results can be achieved quickly and the opportunities to improve these processes are endless with the help of IT.” When a kitchen system efficiently and reliably takes care of the calculations needed for preparing food, people can focus on work you cannot manage digitally. For example baking fresh bread.
