Imagine if you could automate up to 80% of daily routines in your bar or restaurant. Imagine what difference this would make to your bottom line. Unlike cybernetic sous chefs or bionic bartenders, this isn’t a fanciful glimpse into a far-off future. The technology exists now. Before we explore how this is achievable, let’s consider what restaurant automation really means for operators.
Restaurant automation describes the use of technology and smart platforms to handle tasks that were once performed manually - basically the type of systems that integrate, streamline and automate most, if not all critical operational areas. This includes order processing, food prep, inventory management and staff management.
Automation has become critical for restaurants because it helps to address three major challenges that define the industry: its fast-moving nature, a heavy reliance on labour and consistently tight profit margins.
Unsurprisingly, systems that offer genuine automation are being adopted at a grand scale across the food service sector. This is being hastened by external problems such as inflation, rising operational costs and reduced customer spend.
Restaurants that deploy an automated restaurant epos system typically notice considerable improvements in terms of:
Time-Saving - When implemented properly, automation eliminates repetitive tasks that would otherwise burden staff, freeing them up to focus on improving service and satisfying guests.
Error Reduction - Systems that synchronise and automate, reduce the risk of mistakes that tend to arise from manual processes, most typically data entry and record-keeping.
Improved Consistency - An advanced self-driving system standardises tasks across shifts as well as locations, which can ensure consistency - especially important for multi-site operators
Cost Reduction - Automated data analysis provides operators with a better picture of where money is being spent and wasted across purchasing, labour and inventory. The impact on cost control can be significant.
Better Decision-Making - End-to-end automation helps operators make informed decisions fast. With accurate, real-time data flow and alerts, decisions become proactive and grounded in insight rather than guesswork.
So what does this look like in practice? Let’s look at 10 operational areas that benefit most from automation.
1. Forecasting
Traditionally a difficult, imprecise process, sales forecasting has been revolutionised by tech. Today, advanced algorithms are commonly used in restaurant management systems. Analysing historical sales data weeks in advance while factoring in external influences such as local events and the weather, these systems deliver remarkably accurate forecasts. For many of them, it’s become a core feature that impacts numerous other operational areas, which leads us neatly to example 2.
2. Staff Scheduling
Staff scheduling is an area that at one time relied heavily on guesswork, not just with staffing numbers, but also with regards to labour costs. Modern restaurant staff scheduling systems now simplify this process. Sales analysis lays the groundwork for forecasting which in turn predicts demand by day and hour. With the use of dynamic scheduling tools, managers can plot staffing schedules based on live data and projected labour costs. The effect on expenses and service quality has been profound.
Without tech, prep planning is a manual error-prone task that tends to be undermined by demand variability and a lack of foresight. But modern systems, especially all-in-one variants, have changed this. Driven by forecasting and real-time stock monitoring, prep plans are generated automatically.
In effect, this replaces the guesswork and unreliable pre-service estimates with accurate prep guidance. Staff know exactly how much to prep and when, which dramatically reduces waste and helps to avoid shortages.
For restaurants, manual reporting is a process based on hindsight. Although valuable, the data is effectively out-of-date the moment it’s recorded. In a scenario that still plays out in many restaurants, managers pore over spreadsheets or end-of-day summaries and discover issues when it’s too late.
Real-time restaurant reporting and analytics have changed that. The system monitors sales, inventory changes and staffing, then automatically compiles reports. As a result, managers have at their disposal a vast range of KPIs which enable them to make timely, impactful decisions.
Guesswork is a recurring theme in terms of restaurant operations. Perhaps in no other area is it more damaging than in inventory control. A reliance on gut instinct and educated guesses often leads to inventory imbalance and distorted cost control.
But today, integrated, connected systems featuring restaurant inventory management software bring structure, order and accuracy to what was previously an inexact, ad hoc process. Live stock monitoring, automated alerts and intelligent forecasting ensure that purchasing decisions are now based on live data rather than assumption.
A labour-intensive task made worse by tedium and time pressure, stock taking is one of the more reviled duties among restaurant staff. But it too has been revolutionised by digital innovation. Guided mobile inventory apps allow operators to conduct counts up to 90% faster. Features such as built-in barcode scanners and product photo recognition simplify the process, with pre-filled item lists and automatic calculations reducing errors and improving reporting.
Ordering was, and for many restaurants remains, a haphazard, hunch-based exercise in inefficiency, directly contributing to overstocking, shortages and unnecessary admin. Again, though, it’s a task that’s now informed by technology.
Purchase orders can be generated and sent to suppliers automatically based on inventory monitoring and delivery schedules. For restaurants that fully implement inventory control when deploying tech (not always a given), the risks of ordering too much or running out of stock are significantly reduced.
In an industry known for long shifts and uncompetitive pay, a lack of motivation isn’t really surprising. Yet it remains one of the biggest barriers to consistency and retention. Technology does at least alleviate the problem.
Comprehensive, fully-integrated systems will often include features designed to encourage inclusivity and motivation, such as personalised system dashboards that display shift schedules and company news feeds. Motivational, goal setting tools such as sales leaderboards are also a common feature.
The explosion of online and mobile ordering has put tremendous strain on legacy systems. Cashiers have to manage both in-house and external orders simultaneously, sometimes using third-party ordering tablets that are disconnected from the main POS – invariably this leads to delays, duplication and errors.
Orders from multiple channels often arrive out of sequence in the kitchen leading to bottlenecks and frustration. Tech gets around these problems with the use of order injection, automatically feeding orders into the POS and KDS systems. In essence, every order follows the same workflow resulting in faster ticket times and far fewer mistakes.
Even the most advanced restaurant management systems need a degree of human oversight. Equally, restaurant managers need to stay informed when they’re off-premises. This is why alerts and notifications play such an important role in the latest tech stacks, effectively bridging the gap between automation and human awareness.
From inventory level alerts, sales targets and write-offs, through to purchase orders and till shifts, modern systems can send mobile alerts and push notifications that furnish decision-makers with real-time data and prompts, encouraging proactive management instead of reactive firefighting.
Hopefully, the 10 examples mentioned here illustrate the transformative potential of restaurant automation. With the food service industry facing unprecedented challenges, operators need smarter, automated tech solutions that can lighten the operational load and reduce costs.
But given the current anxiety about AI encroachment, it’s also important to point out that the move toward self-driving technology isn’t about removing people from the process (yet). Instead, it’s about providing staff with the tools to work smarter and make better decisions. In such a hostile commercial climate, this has become a necessity.