Kyushu Japanese restaurant

As at many busy restaurants, the 100-seat Kyushu fills up quickly at night, particularly on weekends when it's virtually impossible to get a table without a booking. A team of up to 15 staff, split between kitchen and restaurant floor, service customer demand so strong that Kyushu has had to enforce a 1.5 hour time limit on patrons dining on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Such strong demand is great for business, but Kyushu's order management procedures were failing to keep up with its popularity. Waitstaff recorded orders on carbon-backed docket books, sending one copy to the register and the other to the kitchen. Each new order required the waitstaff to walk back and forth from the table to the kitchen, meaning that a lot of time and effort was being expended with little return.

After a Kyushu manager saw a computerised order management system installed at a friend's restaurant, he decided such a system could potentially improve efficiency at Kyushu as well. Calling on the services of hospitality specialist company, Quattro Systems, Kyushu eventually commissioned an integrated point-of-sale management system based on ICG's hospitality software.

The system includes a main server, four printers distributed around the restaurant, and three HP iPAQ 3950s that are carried by waitstaff onto the restaurant floor. Orders are entered into the iPAQs as customers place them, then wirelessly transmitted via Bluetooth to the main ICG system. From there, orders are automatically broken up so that food orders go to the kitchen, drink orders go to the bar, and records of each order are stored in the central computer for archiving and printing bills.

"Our restaurant is a very busy one," said Ponkhee Hossain, floor manager, Kyushu Japanese Restaurant.

"Before the HP iPAQ solution, we used a docket book and I had to stand behind the cash register to make the bills for every table, which meant I couldn't move anywhere.

"The iPAQ solution allows me to be mobile, as everything goes into the main computer, and all I have to do is press the table number and the bill is printed.

"Since the menu is in the system, it just adds everything up and it's printed correctly."

This ease of use has significantly improved the efficiency of the restaurant's waitstaff. Since the iPAQ solution, information no longer has to be transposed from the order docket, to the various parts of the bar, and then onto the bill. Information is also more accurate, since it's entered once and digitally handled from that point on.

Orders are transmitted as soon as they're taken, shortening the time it takes for the chefs to begin cooking. Furthermore, waiters can take multiple orders on the restaurant floor without having to walk back and forth to the kitchen.

All these benefits have improved the speed with which Kyushu staff can handle the flow of customers through the restaurant's doors. Improvements from iPAQ solution have been so dramatic that the restaurant has been able to reduce the number of staff manning the restaurant floor from five waiters to just three.

Because handheld PCs are becoming common, Hossain said training the young staff to use the HP iPAQ has been quite simple. Equipped with the efficiency of the wirelessly connected iPAQ and ICG restaurant management system, those three workers can handle as many customer orders as it used to take five employees - and do it faster and more efficiently.

That translates into cost savings, and can also increase revenues by helping get customers fed faster, out the door sooner, and replaced with new guests. The iPAQ solution can also assist in purchasing planning by analysing sales trends to identify the most popular dishes, drinks, and most valuable customers.

Hossain said the restaurant has become popular because it offers inexpensive dinners that represent good value.

"We've easily transitioned to the HP iPAQ solution without any disruption to our customers, and as we get more proficient with the technology we'll become even more efficient. And that's good for business."

Industry: Hospitality

Solution: HP iPAQ wireless solution

Hardware: HP iPAQ 3950

Software: ICG, Microsoft PocketPC 2002

Challenge: Improve operating efficiency by implementing an automated point of sale and order taking system for a busy Neutral Bay Japanese restaurant

Benefits: The HP iPAQ 3950, feeding data into the back-end ICG hospitality system, has significantly improved order taking. Orders are transmitted from the restaurant floor directly into the system and sent to the kitchen and the bar. Because information is handled once, it's more accurate and more flexible. The system is so efficient that Kyushu has been able to streamline its waitstaff from five to three while delivering better, faster service than in the past.