The caterer that packs polished flatware, not polishing crews
A full-service caterer plating dinners for 200–600 guests was hand-wiping cases of cutlery piece by piece at the commissary the day before every event.
Off-site catering means the flatware has to be perfect before the truck leaves — there's no dish room at a vineyard wedding. The old prep day routine put two people on towels for hours, wiping forks one at a time.
The SilverShine CDM Star changed the sequence: flatware comes out of the dishwasher and into the machine by the basket — dried, polished, sanitized, and water-spot free — then straight into transport cases.
Prep labour shrinks to loading and unloading. The crew that used to wipe forks now packs trucks, and the place setting at the venue matches the standard the client is paying banquet prices for.
The math, line by line
Illustrative scenario: 6,000 flatware pieces per week across three events, $18/hour wage, 52 weeks. Hand rate 300 pieces/hour; machine rate 3,000 pieces/hour — confirm against your model's spec sheet.
Throughput figures in this scenario are illustrative; verify against the CDM Star specification for your configuration.