3 Big Wins with Restaurant Kitchen Monitors
This issue, we look at three key gains you could realize by installing kitchen monitors in your prep and expeditor areas. SpeedLine integrates with ConnectSmart Kitchen (CSK) displays from industry-leading manufacturer QSR Automations. Watch a video demo of CSK.
Increased Back of House Efficiency
A kitchen display system reduces training time because it displays items automatically at the proper time and prep station. Displays also use eye-catching text formats and colors to ensure important ticket changes and special requests don't get missed, reducing re-makes and food waste. Install touchscreen monitors, and staff can select orders and manage them directly on the display, with no need for bump bars.
CSK “Spy tabs” on the expeditor monitor let you see the status of items at each prep station without roaming the kitchen, and if needed, an expeditor can "fast track" items or orders, so they're color-highlighted and bumped to the top of the list for immediate preparation.
Kitchen work loads can vary a lot, and CSK is designed to handle that too. If your prep station configuration changes during rush times, you can set up several different "activity levels" and switch between them on the fly, so the system adjusts routing of items automatically.
A sophisticated kitchen display system like CSK does more than just display orders—it also shows speed of service information, on-screen in real time and in historical reporting, to identify areas for productivity improvement.
Better Service at the Front of the House
With integrated kitchen displays, orders are transmitted directly to the kitchen from the POS, and appear in front of your prep staff instantly. Eliminate the diner distractions and miscommunication caused by shouting orders back to the kitchen, and prevent the customer frustration caused by lost or ignored printed tickets.
Because they make fewer trips to the kitchen, staff can devote more time to customers, so phones get answered faster, and dine-in guests get more attention.
Kitchen displays also support delay routing, which means that all items in a delivery order can be timed to be ready for packaging and dispatch at the same time, and the main course for dine-in orders arrives hot to the table only after guests are finished their appetizer.
Return on Investment
Because they have no moving parts and are built to withstand the harshest areas of the restaurant, ongoing maintenance costs can also be less than those associated with printers. And there are no messy papers to deal with at the end of the night—or paper and ink to replace during the rush.
Kitchen monitors may require a larger initial investment than printers, but they don't require consumables (ink and paper), so many operators find they can pay for themselves over time in consumable use alone.
The result? Improved accuracy, speed and efficiency. Reduced average ticket times and increased table turns. All of this equals improved customer satisfaction, the best payoff.
Contact SpeedLine for more information.
