Session ID:
VS4-07
Audience Rating: nu Intermediate and/or Advanced
Company:

Continental Airlines

Speaker: Dale Easdon, Senior Director Food Services Operations
Title:

Meeting the Demands of Disaster Relief Housing through New Supply Chain Efficiencies
Presentation
Abstract : 		Continental Chelsea set on a Lean journey due to a necessity after September 11th,
as a team we considered many options including going outside the company to utilize
consultants. We decided to take on the journey on our own by picking six super stars
from our current team and encouraging full involvement from the top to the bottom of
the organization. Our costs have been reduced by $33 million and we also have a
99.8% on time record that is amongst the highest in the industry.
About the
Company:

Continental Airlines is one of the only carriers to hold onto their catering division. Chelsea has 3000 employees who all belong to the Continental family. There are six kitchens EWR, IAH, CLE, LAX, DEN & HNL.

The kitchens produce 333 million meals per year and they operate as a cost center for the airline; it is also worth noting that we cater other airlines to reduce the cost to Continental.

Speaker
Biography:

Dale Easdon, Senior Director Food Services Operations

Dale is the Senior Director, Operations for Food Services where he as the responsibility for the six Chelsea kitchens and compliance for 130 additional world - wide vendor catering locations. The Chelsea locations produced 33 million meals during 04 and the division’s food budget is $300 million dollars.

Dale has worked in the industry for 19 years where he has held many roles from General Management to Project Director.

He has worked with both the IMPACT consultancy group and the Proud foot Group. He is currently responsible for the implementation of the Chelsea division's "Supply Chain Optimization" initiative within Operations. This initiative has shown incredible financial and quality improvements since inception in mid - 2002.

Dale attended James Watt College for Culinary Art and Manchester University where he studied Business Management. He also completed NEBSM at Manchester Business School; he is also qualified to teach for the Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene.

Dale has four children, which he considers to be his biggest achievement.