WASHINGTON —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
Such an experience might explain why vendors are reporting that independent and small, multiunit operators increasingly are trying the kitchen display system, or KDS, technology that often is associated with larger chains. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
“While I cannot directly quantify the impact that the kitchen management system has had on our operation, we have experienced $1 million in [annual] sales growth [and] are serving a better product,” said David Moran, managing director for Clyde’s, which installed display screens and order-management software at three of its 13 restaurants. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
Visually oriented order-management systems deliver to display monitors in restaurant kitchens orders entered into point-of-sale terminals by front-of-the-house staff. Such systems permit operators to better coordinate the preparation of individual order components by routing items to the appropriate cook station based on cook times, so that all items within that order are ready simultaneously. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
Depending on a specific system’s functionality, such a technology package also can facilitate communication between servers and kitchen staff, provide feedback about the status of orders placed by diners at each table, and capture service times for management reporting. Some applications, like ConnectSmart Kitchen from Louisville, Ky.-based QSR Automations, support the display of cooking and plating instructions, along with corresponding images. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
Some vendors pegged the cost of display and order-management systems at around $1,000 for every display screen and controller purchased together, including bundled software. Maintenance expenditures vary based on such factors as whether an operator chooses depot-type service only—the least expensive option—or access to on-call technical support around the clock. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
“Traditionally, the smaller players in the full-service sector haven’t pushed to automate kitchen management functions because they weren’t sure there was a cost justification,” said Ed Rothenberg, vice president of research and development for restaurant solutions at Micros Systems Inc. in Columbia, Md. However, he added, those operators are coming to understand the technology’s potential to “sharpen their competitive edge.” —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
Rothenberg said Micros installs about 600 individual units of its KDS kitchen management system each month. Of these, roughly 300 go into full-service establishments, he said. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
Micros is not alone in targeting smaller full-service organizations: QSR Automations, which presently has an installed base of more than 15,000 kitchen display systems, says it now actively courts that group, as does Modesto, Calif.-based Aldelo Systems, according to that vendor’s representatives. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
Clyde’s Restaurant Group implemented Micros’ kitchen display system in conjunction with that vendor’s 3700 point-of-sale package in the Old Ebbitt Grill as part of a 2004 kitchen renovation project. Company officials said the objective was to achieve more consistency of order component quality, as well as to efficiently serve the restaurant’s 3,000 to 4,000 daily guests. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
Initially, Clyde’s installed three kitchen display screens for use by chefs to expedite the line, along with one screen for use by front-end managers to monitor prep times for the entire dining room. Chefs immediately embraced the system, noting that it resulted in better food quality. Within days, additional display terminals were installed at each prep station. Clyde’s subsequently deployed the technology in two of its other restaurants: Clyde’s of Gallery Place and Clyde’s Willow Creek Farm. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
A function of the Micros kitchen system used by Clyde’s, dubbed the “speed-of-service” display, enables front-of-the-house managers to monitor the progress of the food being prepared for diners at individual tables. Each table is represented by an icon. A blue icon indicates that preparation time is within predefined standards, while a red icon means the kitchen has exceeded the acceptable preparation time frame for one or more menu items ordered. Once an icon has been red for several minutes, exclamation points appear to signal a critical situation. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
“The ‘speed-of-service’ screen is an invaluable tool,” said Moran of Clyde’s. “If a manager comes into the kitchen, checks the display and sees that one or more tables have a longer-than-expected prep time, that manager can proactively visit the table to ensure customer satisfaction.” —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
Clyde’s has also customized the system to suit its own needs. For example, alert functions permit servers to input and share with kitchen staff such information as the presence of a VIP, the need to rush an order to accommodate a patron’s request or the fact that a diner has a food allergy. The information appears at the top of the appropriate screen in the kitchen, so chefs can prioritize tasks accordingly. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
“At Ebbitt’s busiest meal periods, it isn’t uncommon to have 50 to 60 orders backed up and not on the screen,” Moran said. “But with the alert functions, chefs see what they need to see, ASAP.” —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
Similarly, an “all day” tool helps cooks at individual stations better juggle preparation tasks by providing an on-screen breakdown of how many of each particular item has been ordered. Before the tool was added, this was difficult because order volume made it impossible to see more than a fraction of the orders in the system queue, Moran said. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
“Having the food come out more quickly means even more efficiency, which is critical when you have a restaurant that turns its tables three times for lunch and as many as five times for dinner,” Moran said. “The chefs are much more focused on the quality of every plate rather than shuffling paper dupes up and down the line. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
“The system has also brought a sense of calmness to a previously very loud work environment, because the chefs no longer need to call to fire for each dish to each station.” —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
Belying that newfound calmness is a relatively fast 15-minutes-or-less average order turnaround time at the Clyde’s restaurants using KDS technology, Moran said. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
While Moran deemed the installation of the kitchen system fairly painless, he said that cooks initially had some trouble adjusting to the concept of firing their orders immediately rather than waiting for a chef to instruct them to do so. There was also a surprise: Food began to emerge from the kitchen faster than servers had anticipated—so fast that customers did not have time to order a second round of drinks. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
“After a few shifts, however, the cooks gained confidence in the system and started firing orders right away,” Moran said. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
Similarly, servers learned, by trial and error, when to fire orders immediately and when to hold them to allow guests to enjoy their appetizers or an initial round of drinks, he reported. —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
“Our chefs and managers were very confident in our staff ’s ability to jump right in with the technology,” Moran said. “While we did not do any physical training, we talked to [employees] about the upcoming changes and how [they] would benefit each of them and, ultimately, our guests.” —The Clyde’s Restaurant Group of full-service operations in and around Washington, D.C., associates rising sales and improved food quality with the transition from printed tickets in the kitchen to display terminals with controllers and order-management software.
