Here's a little story. There's this equipment service engineer who gets called out to a restaurant where a new dishwasher has been installed. It's got a drop-down door and the complaint is that the door won't shut properly.
The engineer is surprised because the machine is built like a brick toilet and a door has never been a problem so soon after installation. But he fits a new one and goes away.
Two weeks later he's back - the door's failed and needs to be replaced again, and the kitchen manager is angry. Now the engineer is confused. Is there a design fault?
When the engineer happens to pass by the same restaurant a week later, he pops in to see if the new door's still OK. He looks in the kitchen and sees a diminutive member of the restaurant staff. The drop-down door of the dishwasher is open, and the person has stepped on to the door to reach up to the shelf above the dishwasher. Dishwasher doors just aren't designed to carry the weight of kitchen staff, even small ones.
The anecdote emphasises the abuse that dishwashers are subjected to and the fact that those who build and supply the machines usually get the blame for something which may not be their fault. Of all the equipment in the kitchen, the dishwasher is the one that has the worst deal. It's often operated by someone whose mind is on other things. It has to deal with water, limescale, chemicals and detergents - then there's coffee grounds, bacon rinds, sticky rice, paper serviettes and all the other gunge that goes in with the crocks.
Manufacturers can design dishwashers to cope with the uncleared food scraps left on plates - even though the machine is called a dishwasher and not a waste disposal unit. But designing machines to deal with negligence, malpractice or dumb stupidity is much more difficult.
The one area bound to cause more service call-outs to dishwashers than anything else, is human error or negligence. Like a call-out because the machine isn't cleaning properly because no one thought to check and refill the detergent dispenser. Or the call-out because the machine won't drain since no one's emptied the filter. These calls waste time, cost money and cause bad feeling between the kitchen and the service engineer.
It's all so avoidable through proper training of staff on how to use a dishwasher and remembering the principle of RTFM (Read The ******* Manual). A restaurant buys a new combi-oven and the chef makes sure the staff are trained in how to use it before being let loose. The same goes for other complex items of equipment such as a blast chiller or a microwave oven.
The benefits to be reaped from a little more care, thought and staff training are dishwashers and glasswashers that will last longer and do a better job. Fewer distress call-outs, less downtime, money saved on chemical usage, less stress in the kitchen and the person who pays the service and repair bills will no longer blame the manufacturers for sudden faults.
But I won't hold my breath...
David Smithson is managing director of Winterhalter UK