Dietary operations

War-game a trayline backup rule before soft holds govern every meal lane

War-game a trayline backup rule by proving each backup lane has a named owner, a measured age-out, and a reverse path before draft holds start governing every meal lane.

Trayline backup rules fail when "ready for service" means a status without a decision artifact, when teams dual-count a draft hold as both aspirational and live, and when allergy-sensitive meal families still pin to one thin production desk because the lane inventory is incomplete. The review needs one written inventory of backup lanes, one owner who can deny a risky shortcut, and a documented consequence when a failed hold ages past the deadline.

Inventory the backup lanes

State which meal classes the rule covers, the effective date, which hold lanes change, how versions are stored, and what happens to trays already in flight. Name the units that feel it first and the safety promises that depend on coherent trayline handling. If the memo mixes a trayline backup rule with a menu allergy rewrite and an NPO status mismatch, split them.

Write the decision you will make if the war game finds nothing new. Also write the reverse criteria: the missed lane, allergy gap, or meal deadline that would force a trayline backup rule rollback within a stated window.

Backup failure modes

  • An allergy-sensitive meal class stays soft while the aggregate trayline dashboard stays green.
  • Two teams claim the same lane ownership and neither can force a freeze at week end.
  • A restore has already left a meal without a trusted hold state.
  • The primary trayline export lags beyond the planned observation window.
  • An operator skips a hold gate because a meal cutoff is near.

For each failure mode, require detection time, unit impact, containment, and the authority to force a trayline backup rule rollback. Commands and export links belong in the runbook.

Backup classOwnerAge-outAbort path
General meal laneNamed dietary chargeMeasured minutesDocumented hold
Allergy dual pathDietary opsMeasured minutesDocumented restore
NPO bridgeNursing leadMeasured minutesDocumented re-route

Fill every cell from stored exports. Empty cells block approval.

Seat the backup package

Feed Pingpong the rule memo, the lane exhibits, and seating briefs for dietary, nursing, facilities, and quality. First pass steelmans the rule. Later passes attack from those seats. Final pass turns surviving objections into phased lane rules, mitigations, or a changed recommendation. Agreement across passes is not proof. Keep the objections that still have evidence gaps.

Pair with the dietary ops lead seat, a menu allergy rewrite, an NPO status mismatch stress test, and the facilities ops lead seat. More operating decisions live in the war-game decisions hub.

Ship the rule only when approved and blocked hold labels can be reproduced from stored trayline exports without a verbal override.