Proposed new restaurant feature

[Dale Harris]

How about if during a sale POS exported a file that could be picked up by a networked computer in the kitchen containing everything in the sale including what the kitchen needed to prepare. The kitchen could ignore the rest.

The kitchen would view the order on the screen and can print it out. When the order is filled the kitchen can then delete it from the kitchen computer.

Now I need details. Does the kitchen page through the orders, one per screen page, and the kitchen presses [PAGE UP] + [PAGE DOWN] to view different orders. Or is each order combined in one long list that the kitchen scrolls through. How does the kitchen know who (waitress? table?) gets the order? Can the kitchen delete individual items from each order as they are completed (or mark them as completed) or only the entire order?

What if new things are added to the order, display the entire order again or only the new stuff. I am assuming that the sale is parked and new items are added to the parked sale.

How can this function for a fast food restaurant and a sit down restaurant with food delivered to the table and a pizza delivery deal. I'm not doing this 3 times.

Here is the basic deal. After pressing [+] the register will ask you if you want to 1. Send order to kitchen, 2. Print sales check, 3. Complete sale. If you choose to "send order" a file will be sent to the GLOBAL folder according the the network PATH that you have entered into the POSCONFG.EXE file. The POS program then parks the sale. Only "pieces" and "descriptions" and the "parking code" are sent to the kitchen.

A NEW, totally separate program looks for orders to be dropped into the GLOBAL folder and then reads and erases them. It adds the order just read into the database of orders not yet completed and then goes back to looking for more orders.

The NEW program ("Kitchen Manager"?) displays, prints, deletes the orders.

Well all this is fine but what are the DETAILS? If we use the one screen page per order model how does the kitchen know how many pages there are without having to page through them. Should the new program be able to be set to do either the "page" model or the "scroll" model? What should the screens look like? Does the program keep track of the time the order was placed?

What have I forgotten or not thought of? Let's do something really weird. Let's put all the features in the first time so we do not have to keep adding to this.

[Andrew]

Dale, cool idea.

Perhaps a list of parked sales (park the sale with the same number as the table) should be displayed on-screen (colour coded as to how long they've been waiting?).

Individual items should probably be marked as complete/deleted so you can keep track of partially completed orders.

If in a fast food situation - you would probably just assign a number and print a ticket or something for the customer to hang onto.

[ChrisKraus]

This Would Work - Espcially With Your Touchscreen Idea.
- Chris

[Dale Harris]

Chris,

Thanks for your faith in me but what I need a are details and suggestions.

After giving this some more thought I think that the 3 types of restaurants need to do this differently.

Fast food would not park the sale after sending it to the kitchen so there would be no option for parking or sales checks it would send the order to the kitchen with the transaction number after the sale has been completed, i.e. paid. The transaction number would be the pickup number for the order meaning that the transaction number on the receipt would match the transaction number on the kitchen order.

Sit-down restaurant would park sales, or print sales checks, or transmit order + park as options after pressing [+] however the transaction number would not be sent because the sale has not been completed.

The pizza place is a problem. They could be both a sit down resaurant or a fast food operation and either option could also deliver. I need <u>detailed</u> suggestions on this one.

[RJ]

Hi Dale...

I work with Restaurant POS systems along with Retail. Here's one that might be similar to what you have in mind...

1. Computer would be stored under prep-table so no food would make contact, etc.
2. Monitor would be mounted on Prep-Table.
3. Software looked just like your REMOTE VIEWER program.
4. Orders would be displayed as I described above with other POS program.
5. Kitchen staff had options to select Active Order (Which would allow scrolling through orders if it filled that active order frame/scroll list)
- Also had option of printing the active order to kitchen printer hooked to kitchen computer
- Had option of completing/deleting order from Kitchen (Meaning it was completed)
- Option of Parking Order for later retrieval (Order would be marked as "ON HOLD")
- Option of recalling a "completed" order meaning it was completed already. (Just in case a mistake has been made and staff needed proof that waitstaff entered those items) .. This was an optional function defined by managers
- Number would appear on Kitchen receipts which told staff how many times that slip has been printed
- Voids would be displayed and printed upon request. (For security reasons)
6. After slip was printed, POS terminal automatically "parked" the sale. The sale was defined by the TABLE number entered. If in Fast-food, the kitchen slip would be automatically printed after tendering at the register.
7. If in Table-Service, if any sales were parked, and retrieved, and had more items added on, only THOSE items would be printed to kitchen printers.
8. Kitchen printer could have this format: (note: Price was always printed to ensure that the full price has been charged)

Code: Select all

HOT KITCHEN PRINTER
09/14/04  3:03PM   EMP: R.J.
TABLE/PARKED# 02    TRANS: 1938
--------------------------------------------
1   CAESAR SALAD W/ CHKN     $3.95
    NO TOMATOES
--------------------------------------------
01      ORDER PENDING
^--- Number of times slip printed on printer

Transactions would be monitored with Kitchen software.
It would ONLY be available for viewing/printing if the sale has been parked.
Transactions would then change, append to order on kitchen IF parked sale was changed, and marked on kitchen screen/printed as "MODIFIED ORDER 4:10PM"
If transaction was Paid for, but not cleared on kitchen, the sale would just transfer to kitchen computer marked as PAID.

My main issue with POS software is security. You wouldn't believe how many people I've caught abuse the systems I've worked with.
Here are a few for restaurants in case you do develop this add-on just to keep in mind:
1. Waitstaff could ring an item
2. Void it using manager ID
3. If voided slip was NOT printed to kitchen, kitchen staff and managers would not know it was voided.
4. Waiter/Waitress just got away with giving a free meal.
5. Reports should be available for voided transactions/items and any activity where a password is required.

Hope this helps...

PS. If you want, I could build a WINDOWS version software, but I would know how Parked sales are stored, OR If you could have parked sales written to a seperate file... Let's say for instance, you park a sale as #02.
It would be written in a kitchen receipt format to a text file format (KTCHN.002)...

[RJ_logged_out]

Dale,

I whipped something up real quick of what one fast-food restaurants pos system looked like. It was touch-screen capable. Touching the list made a square box control appear around the listbox to make it "function active". I made a dir on my site to store the screen shot...

http://www.rj-diamond.com/dhpos/dhkitchen.jpg

-RJ

[Alan]

Do remember folks, that running a standard PC in a resturant kitchen is not always recommended (especially if you have a fryer!) Some components like to corrode in the atmosphere if they are not shielded properly.

The most common form of sending an order to the kitchen is to a remote printer or by a wall mounted monitor. Some touchscreen hospitality tills can be used in that environment as well.

One point to note - NEVER put your kitchen printer under the hot lamps in the servery - i've seen the results FAR TOO OFTEN!!! The kitchen staff then like to poke the soft plastic with their knifes!

For those with a large budget, a wall mounted touchscreen TFT monitor would be good, but watch out for bored chefs playing darts with knifes!

Alan

[bdude]

How about a screen like this:

Code: Select all

RESTAURANT KITCHEN MANAGER

There are currently: XX unserved orders

TABLE                    DESCRIPTION               PEOPLE
=====================================
1                           Family Dinner                 4

Select table then [ENTER] to view order

Then once the table has been chosen:

Code: Select all

Table No:1

1x Chicken Samara
REQUIRES:
XXXXX
XXXXX
XXXXX

Press [S] once completed or [ESC] to return to menu

This would require inventory items to be programmed with sub-items
EDIT:I do not know what chicken samara is

[anabus_maximus]

Instead of sub-items, just use a zero price item such as "NO Tomatoes" or "ADD Mushrooms"

[Guest]

Do remember folks, that running a standard PC in a resturant kitchen is not always recommended (especially if you have a fryer!) Some components like to corrode in the atmosphere if they are not shielded properly.

The most common form of sending an order to the kitchen is to a remote printer or by a wall mounted monitor. Some touchscreen hospitality tills can be used in that environment as well.

One point to note - NEVER put your kitchen printer under the hot lamps in the servery - i've seen the results FAR TOO OFTEN!!! The kitchen staff then like to poke the soft plastic with their knifes!

For those with a large budget, a wall mounted touchscreen TFT monitor would be good, but watch out for bored chefs playing darts with knifes!

Alan

I have worked in restaurants for quite some time. This has never been a problem, and I work in a very small food court kitchen in a mall, and the computer has never burnt out. If this is a concern, I suggest building a simple cabinet with rubber seals to protect the tower, and either use cheap keyboards, or purpose built keyboards.

[Dan]

Solutions:

1. You can get keyboards with rubber-covered keyboard - so can just be wiped clean. For example, at car repair garages. This would work to protect the keyboard. Alternatively, just splash out £5 on a cheap keyboard from Ebay, and bin it if it gets destroyed.

2. The computer tower doesnt need to be in the kitchen does it? If you have a stock room or an office near to the kitchen (preferably the other side of the wall to the workstation) place it there, and have extension leads for monitor and keyboard and mouse.

3. Mouse - i would worry about the mouse. They are cheap, and are also extremely easy to clean. From experience you can usually lift out the electrical part and wash the rest in the sink! Just let it dry before replacing the electrics!!!

4. Monitor - what about putting it in a glass covered box, with a fan for ventilation - perhaps connect the ventilation to outside the kitchen if you're that desperate?

5. Printer - put it somewhere reasonably cool - perhaps near to the fire exit?

OK, so this is a bit OTT - but you get the idea? I'm sure that a little thought, and very little expenditure would solve the problem.