a microcomputer network to enhance restaurant productivity

4
A M I ~ ~ ~ TO I~q/qCE Rt~l~t~s/q1" ~ William Swart, P.E. University of Central Florida Orlando, FL 32816-0993 INTRODUCTION Industrial engineering has not had a major presence in the restaurant industry. Although very ccrapetitive, industry top management has traditionally viewed itself as being in the service business and has tried to achieve ccmpetitive success through the traditional means of excelling in quality, service, and cleanliness (QSC). One exception to this premise has been Burger King Corporation. It began viewing itself as a manufacturing as well as a service business in 1979. Since that time, it has extensively used industrial engineering, operations research, and, to a lesser extent, ccmputer technology to became a lower-cost producer while still maintaining high Q6C standards. Today, the operational doctrine at Burger King has expanded frcm QSC to QSCV, the V indicating value. This expanded operational doctrine had its origin in the recognition that competitive superiority required the cQmpany achieving it to be the low-cost producer and to be able to effectively use information as a cGmpetitive weapon. During the 1979-1983 period, the industrial engineering/operations research efforts at Burger King consisted of applying substantial analytical methodology to improving the facility layout, the workplace, and the methods and procedures used to operate virtually all aspects of the restaurant. The early results of these efforts were reported by Swart and Donno and Filley. The objectives of this paper will be to (i) describe how the application of analytical technology to improve productivity in the restaurant created the need for computer support to the restaurant manager, and (2) to indicate the approach taken to meet this need in a cost-effective manner. THE NEED FOR IN-STORE COMPUTER SUPPORT Labor costs in the fast food business account for a substantial portion of the operating costs. In addition, due to the projected changes in demographics, it is expected that it will be increas- ingly difficult to meet the need for low-cost, part-time employees which has been traditionally filled by teenagers. Recognizing this, one of the early efforts of industrial engineering was to develop a labor pro- gram which would allow for the effective utilization of this costly and scarce labor resource. Developed through extensive use of ccmputer simulation and work measurement methodology, the program specified for any of the major restaurant types and for any projected half-hourly sales volume the following "direct" labor information: - Nlmaber of crew members required to meet custcmer service objectives - Each crew member's primary responsibilities (broiler, drinks, etc.) - Each crew mes~ber's secondary or team responsibilities (help out at fry station, etc. ) The program also specified, for any projected daily sales volume, how many labor hours should be allowed for the following "indirect" activities: - Store opening - Store closing -Portering - Attendant - Food aeliveries Armed with this information, the store manager would prepare a weekly schedule indicating what days, what times, and for how long each crew member should came to work. The preparation of the schedule involved the following: - Forecast each day's sales by half-hour increments - Record "direct" labor requirements by half hour increslents fran labor program - Record "indirect" labor requirements by half-hour increments frcm labor progran - Prepare schedule by making a Gantt chart, taking into account ccmmitted shifts (pro- mised hours), minim~ shift length (typically three hours), maxim~n shift length 430

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A M I ~ ~ ~ TO I ~ q / q C E Rt~l~t~s/q1" ~

William Swart, P.E.

University of Central Florida Orlando, FL 32816-0993

INTRODUCTION

Industrial engineering has not had a major presence in the restaurant industry. Although very ccrapetitive, industry top management has traditionally viewed itself as being in the service business and has tried to achieve ccmpetitive success through the traditional means of excelling in quality, service, and cleanliness (QSC).

One exception to this premise has been Burger King Corporation. It began viewing itself as a manufacturing as well as a service business in 1979. Since that time, it has extensively used industrial engineering, operations research, and, to a lesser extent, ccmputer technology to became a lower-cost producer while still maintaining high Q6C standards. Today, the operational doctrine at Burger King has expanded frcm QSC to QSCV, the V indicating value. This expanded operational doctrine had its origin in the recognition that competitive superiority required the cQmpany achieving it to be the low-cost producer and to be able to effectively use information as a cGmpetitive weapon.

During the 1979-1983 period, the industrial engineering/operations research efforts at Burger King consisted of applying substantial analytical methodology to improving the facility layout, the workplace, and the methods and procedures used to operate virtually all aspects of the restaurant. The early results of these efforts were reported by Swart and Donno and Filley.

The objectives of this paper will be to (i) describe how the application of analytical technology to improve productivity in the restaurant created the need for computer support to the restaurant manager, and (2) to indicate the approach taken to meet this need in a cost-effective manner.

THE NEED FOR IN-STORE COMPUTER SUPPORT

Labor costs in the fast food business account for a substantial portion of the operating costs. In addition, due to the projected changes in demographics, it is expected that it will be increas- ingly difficult to meet the need for low-cost, part-time employees which has been traditionally filled by teenagers.

Recognizing this, one of the early efforts of industrial engineering was to develop a labor pro- gram which would allow for the effective utilization of this costly and scarce labor resource. Developed through extensive use of ccmputer simulation and work measurement methodology, the program specified for any of the major restaurant types and for any projected half-hourly sales volume the following "direct" labor information:

- Nlmaber of crew members required to meet custcmer service objectives - Each crew member's primary responsibilities (broiler, drinks, etc.) - Each crew mes~ber's secondary or team responsibilities (help out at fry station, etc. )

The program also specified, for any projected daily sales volume, how many labor hours should be allowed for the following "indirect" activities:

- Store opening - Store closing -Portering - Attendant - Food aeliveries

Armed with this information, the store manager would prepare a weekly schedule indicating what days, what times, and for how long each crew member should came to work. The preparation of the schedule involved the following:

- Forecast each day's sales by half-hour increments - Record "direct" labor requirements by half hour increslents fran labor program - Record "indirect" labor requirements by half-hour increments frcm labor progran - Prepare schedule by making a Gantt chart, taking into account ccmmitted shifts (pro-

mised hours), minim~ shift length (typically three hours), maxim~n shift length

430

SWART: A Microcomputer Network to Enhance Restaurant Productivity 431

(typically eight hours), break policy, and crew member availability - Prepare positioning chart showing specifically which crew member works which position

when

Initial projections based upon limited restaurant testing indicated that, if followed according to specifications, the program could improve speed of service during peak hours, reduce unnecessary labor during low volume hours, and reduce overall hourly labor cost by 1.5% of sales ($15,000 per year for an average restaurant).

The implementation of the program throughout the Burger King systsm did improve custfm~r speed of service and yielded hourly labor savings of approximately 0.8% of sales. While investigating the discrepancy between projected and actual savings, it was revealed that restaurant managers, tra- ditionally overworked and underpaid, viewed paperwork in general and scheduling in particular as a burden upon their time, which they felt could be better spent dealing with customer satisfaction and crew motivation. In short, they viewed their responsibility to be a manager more than an administrator.

Based upon these findings and the knowledge that both hardware and software technology had pro- gressed to the point of possibly being cost-effective in a restaurant environment, the industrial engineering/operations research function assumed responsibility for developing operations systems to provide administrative and decision support to restaurant managers.

In order to develop an initial impression as to whether it might make sense to introduce some form of ccmputer support in the restaurant, the industrial engineering group performed a thorough paper flow analysis and appropriate work measurement to quantify potential manager time savings. The results indicated that 23 hours of management time would be saved if computer support were avail- able in the restaurant.

Based upon the significant benefits that would be achieved not only by reducing manager paperwork, but by the use of algorithms for crew scheduling, the better flow of information within the res- taurant and between the restaurant and corporate offices, a major effort was launched to define, develop, and procure an in-store processing system that could meet today's and tomorrow's needs.

IN-STORE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Based upon feedback from top management, it became apparent that the acceptance of a new process- ing system into the restaurant would only be achieved if its cost was similar to the cost of the currently used point-of-sale (POS) systems. Based on very preliminary notions of what a new system might consist of, the estimate was that it could be developed for about $25,000. This figure corresponded to the cost of current POS systems and hence work proceeded to define func- tional requirements.

Where

(bunter:

What

Minimize store down time

Simplify cashier training

Improve store financial controls

Simplify and expand the handling of menu items and pricing

How

Independent counter units

Full self-prompting cashier functions

Ability to store data at individual counter units as well as in manager's computer

Download information and changes to counter units (i.e. provide intel- ligence at counter)

Kitchen: Transmission of orders

Production levels and stocking rules

Training aids

CRT

Intelligence and programmability of CRT

CRT connected to processor

Management: Data collection Report automation Applications processing ~ccessible information Facility and energy monitoring Automation support

In-store (x~mputer with communications and multi-processing capability

Maintenance: Simple, reliable, economical Vendor responsible for maintenance of all store processing equipment

Table I. In-store processor: Generalized functional requirements.

432 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 8TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON COMPUTERS AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

In defining the functional requirements, the needs of the restaurant today as well as anticipated future needs were taken into account. These needs included computer support at the front counter, in the kitchen, and in the management office. Furthermore, the restaurant system was viewed as part of Burger King's corporate computer network encompassing restaurants, regional offices, division offices, and corporate mainfraaes.

The results of this effort yielded the generalized functional requirements exhibited in Table i. These results were provided to a n~aber of computer vendors who were then asked to custcxa-design a system capable of meeting these requirements using whatever technology they felt appropriate. Of the vendors responding to the request, the solution offered by IBM was judged to be the most cost-effective and hence was accepted.

THE IN-STORE SYSTEM

The in-store system proposed consisted of a restaurant controller and multiple work stations con- nected to it via a restaurant cc~munications network. The restaurant controller's function is to serve the manager's needs for reporting, communications, etc., and will serve the other work stations (deployed at the counter, in the kitchen, and at the drive-through) by providing access to storage for data files and progra~ns.

The restaurant controller was specified to be the IBM PC-AT with 512 kS RAM expandable to 3 MB with 64kS ROM, a 20 MB fixed drive, one 1.2 MB diskette drive and the 80286 processor together with expansion slots, serial/parallel adapters and other typical features. The operating system for the controller was the multiple-programming operating system (MPOS) which will support mul- tiple concurrently executing tasks, and will provide for inter-task ccmmunication, task initiation by another task, and specification of task priorities.

The workstations at the front counter were specified to be specially-packaged units using the IBM PCjr personal ccmputer, connected to the restaurant controller and other work stations by the restaurant ccmmunications network. The special packaging includes provisions for the control of up to two external cash drawers, one external 27-coltm~n printer, and one coin changer. Further- more, the special packaging included the following:

- A customer display consisting of a 9" diagonal CRT displaying 16 colors and up to 25 lines of 40 or 80 alphan~eric characters per line. The customer display will be controlled by the standard display adapter circuitry of the PCjr.

- A sealed membrane keyboard (instead of a regular PCjr keyboard) allowing for greater efficiency in order taking.

- A 40 alphan~eric character LCD display for the order taker. - An anplifier and speaker.

Drive-Thru Cashier Window Print Station

Order Taking Station (PCjr)

Kitchen Display

(PCjr Monitors)

Local Area Network

Expediter Station (PCjr)

Front Counter Order Taking Stations

(PCjrs)

Kitchen Display

(PCjr Monitor)

Manager's Terminal and System Controller

(PC-AT)

< >

Fig. I. In-store processor.

SWART: A Microcomputer Network to Enhance Restaurant Productivity 433

The kitchen work stations were specified to consist of a video display, a bump bar, and a control- ler using the PCjr. The purpose of these work stations is to display pro(luct requirments at the various kitchen positions as well as to provide real-time control of product inventories.

The cc~raunications network linking the workstations and the controller was specified to consist of the cluster adaptors available on the PC-ATS and PCjrs and coaxial cabling with a topology corre- sponding to a bus with a main line and side connectors. In this manner, messages can be passed frcm a workstation to another workstation, or from the restaurant's controller to a workstation or vice versa. Messages can then also be broadcast simultaneously frcm any unit to multiple other units connected to the network.

Finally, in order to accc~ate restaurant reporting and ccramunication needs to external enti- ties, the PC-AT was equipped with an internal modem allowing for asynchronous c(~anunications on the switche~ telephone network at 300 or 1200 baud. Figure 1 surmuarizes graphically the ccmplete in-store processor.

CONCLUSION

The system described in this paper was judged to have the capability to meet all of Burger King's present and forseeable future needs at a price ccmpetitive to existing POS systems. By October 1984, a prototype model was demonstrated to the Burger King Franchise and corporate cc~munity.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Filley, Richard D., "Productivity Projects in the Service Support Industries," Industrial Engi- neering, Vol 15, No i, January 1985.

Swart, Wiliiaa and Donno, Lucia, "Simulation Modeling Improves Operations, Planning and Produc- tivity in Fast Food Nestaurants," Interfaces, Vol ii, No 6, December 1981.