Tool

Waste Audit Form & Reduction Experiment Tracker

An interactive waste-audit entry and experiment tracker that helps teams record waste events, estimate cost impact, design controlled experiments, assign owners, and capture results so savings can be measured and scaled.

Interactive Tool

Waste Audit & Experiment Tracker

Purpose: Capture waste observations and run small, measurable experiments to recover margin. Use this form to record single waste events (audits) or to plan and track reduction experiments. Aim to collect baseline measurements, run the intervention, then record results so you can decide whether to scale the change.

Sample size guidance: For one-off observations, capture multiple similar events across shifts/days (5–10 events is a useful start). For experiments, collect at least one full-week baseline when possible or record enough daily samples to represent normal variation.

Helpful tips: record the station and shift, estimate cost per unit honestly, link related audit entries by SubmissionGuid (paste them into the experiment form), and assign an owner who will run and report the experiment.

Choose whether this submission records a single waste observation (Audit) or documents an Experiment (plan and results).
Date of the observation or experiment start. Use YYYY-MM-DD for consistency.
Restaurant name, location, or kitchen area.
Where the waste occurred.
Choose the primary category for this event.
Name the ingredient, menu item, or batch that was wasted.
Number of portions, weight units, or items. Record as a consistent unit and note the unit field.
Unit for the quantity.
Direct ingredient cost per unit. Use the same currency and rounding convention across submissions.
Recommended: quantity × cost per unit (enter manually). This is an estimated impact on margin.
Select one or more likely causes.
Shift, time of day, how the sample was collected, and any special circumstances (e.g., rush, event).
Optional link to a photo or internal ticket (paste a URL or shared drive path).
If anything was done right away to prevent more waste, describe it.
If this experiment references specific audit entries, paste their SubmissionGuid values separated by commas so a librarian/admin can link them.
Give the experiment a short descriptive name. Required when Entry type = Experiment.
Who is accountable for running the experiment and reporting results.
Example: "Reducing prep batch size by 20% will reduce prep waste by 30% because we currently overproduce during low-demand hours."
E.g. 'Week of 2026-08-01 to 2026-08-07' or 'last 10 lunches'.
Baseline quantity, weight, or cost to compare against. Specify units in the next field.
Unit for baseline and results.
Describe the measurement method and sample size for the baseline.
Describe the testable change you will implement. Be specific about procedures, training, portioning tools, recipes, or timing changes.
When the change was first applied.
Optional — when the test ended or will end.
How you will measure results.
Numeric target for the period (e.g., 10 portions or $50).
Time period for the target.
Enter the measured result using the same units as baseline for easy comparison.
Context for the results, any deviations from the plan, and data quality concerns.
If you can translate the result into estimated dollar savings, enter it here.
Select yes if the intervention continued to produce results beyond the test period.
Select yes if you recommend rolling this intervention out to other shifts or locations.
Capture what worked, what didn't, and recommended next actions (e.g., update standard work, pilot at another station).
Person responsible for next steps if scaling or further testing is required.
When the follow-up action should be completed.
For librarians or managers: links to dashboards, aggregation notes, or cross-reference info.
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