This is a general planning tool with the scope of a single day, rather than a detailed real-time planning tool. It is designed both to illustrate and to help manage the complexities of scheduling food-service preparation work. The tool is limited to 10 people and 10 resources or pieces of equipment, and it uses time increments of 15 minutes. We illustrate the capabilities of the tool via sample files for the preparation of a BBQ-theme dinner party. The tool uses a variety of inputs—including people, equipment, and the recipes that need to be prepared in a given day—and a scheduling optimizer to develop a schedule that’s displayed from many different perspectives. I’ll explain the components of the tool, then demonstrate how one can use it to explore solutions to food preparation problems.