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UNSW student Drashti Shah thrives off collaboration.

So when she had one more free elective to do for her degree, UNSW Employability’s CDEV3300 Global Practice of Work course stood out.

The course is designed to give students a global understanding of the world of work and the skills needed to tackle real-world problems through interdisciplinary group work. In an international environment, students collaborate with overseas partner organisations to solve a real business challenge.

“I was looking for an opportunity to work in an international context and push myself out of my comfort zone. This was the time to try something new, while I’m in a safe to fail environment at UNSW,” says Drashti.

Drashti’s mindset reflects UNSW’s values. We encourage students to make the most of their university experience and take strides toward the career they want. And we give them the opportunity to discover the difference they can make before they even step into the workforce.��

A call for fresh ideas

As part of her Global Practice of Work elective, Drashti joined 32 other students in Japan for two weeks in Term 2C 2024. Some students worked with the while others, including Drashti, tackled a project with international airline catering company .��

“Going to Japan with people I didn’t know and working with coordinators and businesses I’d never worked with before pushed me to challenge myself and think outside the box,” says Drashti.��

gategourmet is a global company with the most comprehensive catering network in the aviation industry.��

“We cater about 40 flights each day and serve around 17,000 meals,” says Helen Chan, General Manager at gategourmet and international UNSW alumna. “It’s a complicated and diverse process with an additional layer of food safety and service levels – timing is everything.” 

With operations doubling 2019 numbers since Covid lockdowns ended, gategourmet has found it challenging to scale up while also improving the quality of operations. And with 800 of the 1,100 employees in Japan involved in the company’s operations, automating shift assignments has become crucial.��

“Our business is niche. We’re very focused and skilled in airline catering, and it’s hard to know what others are doing. We were excited to work with students who bring new ideas – and for the chance to give back as an organisation.”

Working with gategourmet, Drashti and her teammates explored the possibility of using AI to assign shifts based on operational criteria and staff resource capability.��

Algorithms, automation and AI

Focusing on gategourmet’s bakery department, Drashti’s team explored possible solutions to reduce the hours managers spend on creating employee shift schedules. Currently, the process is manual and done by specific individuals, causing inefficiencies, human error and key person risk.

“As we grow, it’s not feasible to continue these manual processes. We need to do it smarter and automate so we can focus on more value-add aspects of the business,” Helen explains.

Drashti and her team gathered as much information as possible and unpacked the problem. From understanding the company’s expectations and desired outcomes to exploring tools other Japanese and airline catering companies were using.

“We landed on a three-step, staggered solution for the short, medium and long-term,” Drashti shares.

For the short-term, they recommended an automated algorithm solution built in Microsoft Excel by Drashti’s teammate, Leo. It allows staff to input variables like availability and skills, then generate a schedule with the click of a button.��

To address medium-term needs, the team suggested an off-the-shelf AI enhanced solution that automatically assigns employees to tasks based on up-front inputs.

“The tool learns from previous schedules and doesn’t require any technical expertise. It also considers compliance requirements like number of consecutive workdays.”

Over the longer term, Drashti’s team suggested gategourmet could consider a highly customisable AI solution used by other companies in the aviation industry. It’s a solution that demands more time, effort and financial resources to build but can be implemented across all departments.��

Each solution reduces time spent on tasks from up to two hours to mere minutes.

A solution for scale

Impressed by the students’ solutions, Helen and her team are now looking into potentially adopting one of the recommended options within the next year.

“I can see how all the options could work – it gives us more confidence to tackle business problems as we grow,” says Helen.

The gategourmet team gained more than practical solutions from the project.��

“It was encouraging to see the students’ dedication and passion – my team were energised and refreshed by the experience.”

Drashti also left the experience with positive sentiments after developing new skills to take into the workforce.

“Working in an international context deepened my communication and research skills across language barriers. The time pressure – two weeks isn’t long – also sharpened my ability to think critically and quickly.”

Drashti also proved to herself that she could work in challenging environments and thrive.

About gategourmet

gategourmet was founded in Switzerland in 1992 to cater Swissair. Today, it’s a global company with the most comprehensive catering network in the aviation industry. Through top-quality culinary concepts from menu design to execution, gategourmet delivers consistent and standardized catering provisioning services, while ensuring on-time-performance to airline customers and a memorable onboard experience for their passengers. Present in 33 countries with over 135 units, gategourmet has fully equipped kitchens as well as logistic centers across the globe to provide holistic catering service operations. For further information, .��

UNSW is at the forefront of progressive education and developing students’ employability on a local and global scale. Find out more about UNSW Employability’s upcoming courses.

This article was brought to you by UNSW Employability.��