JP2002366626A - Order management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly cope with the occurrence of 'sold-out' in an order management system in which a customer directly inputs an order by using display terminal equipment with a touch panel. SOLUTION: In a menu master storing menu information, control information indicating that a substituting menu is to be used in the case that a main food material constituting the menu is sold out and the menu to be the substituting menu are registered beforehand. In the case that the food material is sold out, changeover to the substituting menu and a substituting food material is automatically performed and the image data of input terminal equipment are automatically changed to the substituting food material. Thus, an order management system not making a customer be conscious of the sold-out is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an order management system in a restaurant such as a restaurant, a pub or a hotel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an order management system in a restaurant, a waiter / waitress serving as a waiter carries a small input terminal and inputs customer order data using the input terminal. ing.

In such a system, when busy or when the number of waiters and waitresses is small, even though a customer order has been decided, the waiter cannot respond, and as a result, the order input is not possible. Have been pointed out. On the other hand, as a system that solves this problem, there is a system that prepares a display terminal device with a touch panel with a communication function at each customer seat as an input terminal, and the customer himself operates the display terminal device and inputs order data. It has been devised.

In the case of this system, information such as a dish name and a menu image of a dish, a price, etc., and, if necessary, main ingredients and a cooking method are displayed on a display terminal device to which a customer inputs an order. The customer can input an order by touching the name of the dish to be ordered or the menu image while viewing the information on the menu. This enables the customer to input the order as soon as the order is determined without waiting for the response of the waiter, and the input order data is sent to the data control device by wire or wireless, and the data control is performed. It is stored in the device, sent to the output device as cooking instruction data to the kitchen, and used as accounting data for accounting processing in a POS register or the like.

[0005]

However, originally,
In the case of an `` out of stock '' that should not occur for restaurants and the need to stop accepting the menu, in the case of the order management system using a portable device, A waiter / waitress can check the occurrence of "out of stock" with a portable device and communicate the "out of stock" of the menu while interacting with the customer, so the impact of "out of stock" can be relatively suppressed and the customer I was able to tell. Also, even if the ordered menu is out of stock, you can recommend another menu similar to customers,
It was possible to prompt for orders for alternative menus.

On the other hand, in the case of a system using a display terminal device to which a customer directly inputs, a "out of stock" is directly transmitted to the customer, and an alternative menu by conversation with a waiter is provided. Because it is not possible to make recommendations, the out-of-stock situation has reduced the image of the store and led to loss of order opportunities, as customers have given up on orders.

[0007] On the other hand, with respect to foodstuffs used as a garnish, even if "out of stock" of foodstuffs occurs, foodstuffs to be replaced can be prepared at the discretion of the cook. However, when such a response was made, it was sometimes complained that the menu was different from the ordered one.

According to the present invention, in an order management system in which a customer directly inputs an order using a display terminal device with a touch panel, while maintaining the features of the
It is an object of the present invention to smoothly respond to occurrence of "out of stock".

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of input terminal devices which are arranged on each table of a store and in which customers mainly input order data themselves, and receive the order data from the input terminal devices A data control device that stores the data in the storage device and transmits the cooking instruction / providing instruction, and an output terminal device that outputs the cooking instruction / providing instruction in accordance with the instruction of the data control device, wherein the input terminal device has a display unit. A touch panel is attached, image data is displayed together with the character data of each menu at the time of order input, and the order data is registered by touching the screen of the corresponding menu display part. , Image data consisting of a combination of main food information and sub food information, and other message information (food name, cooking method) In the menu master in which the menu information is stored, when the main ingredients constituting the menu are out of stock, the control information to use the alternative menu and the menu number as the alternative menu are registered in advance, When the main ingredients are out of stock, switching to the alternative menu is automatically performed, and the image data of the input terminal device is automatically changed to the alternative menu in accordance with this, so that the customer is aware of the shortage. Provide an order management system that does not let you.

[0010] In the invention of claim 2, a plurality of input terminal devices are arranged on each table of the store and mainly assume that the customer himself / herself inputs the order data, and the order data is transmitted from the input terminal device. A data control device that receives and stores in a storage device and transmits a cooking instruction / providing instruction, and an output terminal device that outputs a cooking instruction / providing instruction, wherein the input terminal device has a touch panel mounted on a display unit, At the time of order entry, image data is displayed together with the character data of each menu, and by touching the screen of the corresponding menu display part, the order data is registered.In the order data management system, the menu name, unit price, main food information and Menu information such as image data consisting of a combination of sub-foodstuff information and other message information (foodstuff name, cooking method) To the menu master that has been paid,
When the sub ingredients that make up the menu are out of stock, the control information to use the alternative ingredients and the ingredient number as the alternative ingredient are registered in advance, and when the ingredients are out of stock, the ingredients are replaced. For all the menus used, the image data is automatically changed to alternative ingredients, and all the corresponding menu image data of the input terminal device is automatically changed to menu image data using alternative ingredients. Provide an order management system that does not make customers aware of out-of-stock by changing the order.

Further, in the invention of claim 3, according to claim 1,
Further, in the case where the alternative menu is automatically changed due to the out-of-stock occurrence in claim 2, the output device is operated by the alternative menu every time an out-of-stock menu is received until the out-of-stock state of the menu is released. Provided is an order management system that outputs a message indicating that the product is in the middle and outputs the menu switching process due to the out-of-stock condition to the cooking staff in the kitchen smoothly.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of the entire system of the present invention.

In this order management system, there is an input terminal device 11 for a customer to directly input order data. The input terminal device transmits the order data input to the data control device 12 via a wireless or wired communication line. The input terminal device is arranged in each table in principle, and a unique code for identifying each table is assigned to each table in advance.

The data control device 12 checks the contents of the received order data, stores it in its storage section, is connected by a wireless or wired communication line, and has a display terminal 13 or an output device placed in a kitchen or the like as an output device. The data is transmitted to the restaurant printer 14. The output device displays the received cooking instruction data on a screen or prints it as a slip, thereby giving a cooking instruction to the cook and a cooking provision instruction to the waiter.

The display terminal 13 and the restaurant printer 14 as output devices not only output such cooking instructions and providing instructions, but also have a function as an out-of-stock menu operation terminal.

[0017] Apart from this, the order data stored in the data control device is also used as data for performing accounting processing in the POS terminal.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a device used as the input terminal device 11.

As shown in the figure, a liquid crystal color display as a display unit 21 and a touch panel are provided on the front surface of the housing, and a customer can order a menu by touching the screen.

The input terminal device has a drip-proof structure in consideration of a use environment of a restaurant or the like, and a replaceable film sheet is attached to the liquid crystal display to prevent dirt and scratches.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the input terminal device 11 and the data control device 12.

As shown in the figure, the input terminal device 11 includes a CPU 31 as a control unit main body, a ROM 32 and a RAM 33 as storage units for storing programs and data, a communication unit 34 for communicating with a data control unit, an image and a character. , A touch panel 36 serving as an input unit, and a speaker 37 for outputting a buzzer and voice.

The data control unit 12 includes a CPU 38 as a control unit main body, a communication unit 39 for communicating with the input terminal device 11 and the display terminal 13 or the restaurant printer 14 as an output device, programs and menu data, An external storage device 3A as a storage unit for storing order data, a ROM 3C, a RAM 3D, a liquid crystal display 3E as a display device, a keyboard 3B as an input device, and a speaker 3 for outputting a buzzer and voice.
F.

As shown in FIG. 4, the input terminal 11
In the RAM 33, a table as a menu master of a menu number, a menu name, a unit price, and other message information (foodstuff, cooking method) assigned in advance for each menu, and image data corresponding to the menu number are registered. A table as a menu image master is stored.

On the other hand, the external storage device 3A and the RAM 3D, which are storage units of the data control device 12, store a menu number, a menu name, a unit price, main food information, a plurality of sub food information, and other information assigned in advance for each menu. Message information (foodstuff, cooking method), control information on whether or not there is a replacement process when the main foodstuff is out of stock, and a menu number of a replacement menu are stored as a menu master file.

In addition to the menu master file,
Ingredient number, ingredient name, inventory quantity, which is given in advance for each ingredient by a code system different from the menu number,
When the food is sold out, a food master file is stored in which control information relating to whether or not replacement processing is performed with the alternative food and a food number of the alternative food are registered.

Further, the image data of each of these ingredients is
It is linked by the food material number and similarly stored as a food material image file.

Similarly, the image data of each menu is stored as a menu image master file. As shown in FIG. 5, the image data includes main food information registered in the menu master file and sub food information. The image data is generated by extracting the image data from the food image data file based on the information and superimposing the extracted image data. However, for a menu for which no sub-foodstuff is set, the main foodstuff data is registered as it is as image data of the menu data.

A save area is secured in the menu image master file so that the original image data can be saved when the image data is changed due to "out of stock". ing.

In the present system, fixtures such as plates and dishes can be processed as image data to be combined in the same manner as sub-foodstuffs. Therefore,
It is also possible to appropriately control the amount of various fixtures used as a part of the ingredients and to control the same as when the ingredients are out of stock.

These various master files are read from the external storage device 3A when the data control device 12 is started, and are also developed as internal tables in the RAM 3D.

The input terminal device 11 communicates with the data control device 12 at the time of startup, so that the latest menu information at that time is downloaded from the data control device 12 through a communication line and stored in the RAM 33. It is supposed to.

When the power of the input terminal device 11 is turned on, an initial routine stored in the ROM 32 is started, and communication with the data control device 12 is established. When communication with the data control device is established, a request for transmission of the main program and menu data is made to the data control device. In response to the menu data transmission request, the data control device transmits the main program of the input terminal device 11 stored in the storage unit and, from the menu file, a new number, menu name, unit price, Information such as image data, other message information (foodstuff, cooking method), and an identification code linked to the table number are transmitted to the input terminal device.

When the initial routine of the input terminal device 11 completes receiving all programs and master data, it starts the main program. Thus, the main program of the input terminal device is started, and the order data of the menu can be input.

When the main program of the input terminal device 11 starts, an initial screen as shown in FIG. 6 is first displayed on the screen.

As the initial screen, it is desirable that the name of the store and the advertisement are displayed as moving images. In addition, an order input start button 62 and an operation explanation button 6
1. A call button 63 for an attendant is provided.

When the customer touches the order input start button 52, the input terminal device 11 communicates with the data control device 12, confirms the order data registered in the storage section of the data control device 12, and Check if the customer on the table is a new or additional order entry. Here, if it is determined that a new order has been input, a guide screen for inputting identification information associated with the order information, such as input of the number of people or customer layer, is displayed before input of the order menu. On the other hand, in the case of an additional order, such an input guide screen of the identification information is not displayed, and the input screen of the order menu is displayed as it is.

As shown in FIG. 7, on the order menu input screen, a list of all orderable menu names and their image data stored in the RAM 33 of the input terminal device 11 is previously set in the menu master file. Are displayed on a plurality of screens according to the classification.

The input terminal device 11 is provided with a touch panel, and the customer touches a menu name or a screen portion on which image data to be ordered is displayed, so that the menu is displayed as order data and the order quantity and the order quantity. RAM 3 of the input terminal device which is displayed on the screen
3 is registered.

Here, in order to confirm the contents of each menu, the user touches a "description" button displayed on a separate screen,
Next, when a menu name or image data is touched, information such as food, cooking method, and calories of the corresponding menu as message information separately stored in the RAM 33 of the input terminal device 11 is displayed on the interrupt screen.

When the customer completes all order inputs and touches the "end" button displayed on the input screen of the order menu, the RAM 33 of the input terminal device 11 until then.
Is transmitted to the data control device 12 together with identification information such as table information and number of people information.

The data management device 12 checks the received order data and confirms whether there is no excess or shortage or inconsistency as the order data. If you see an error here,
A response is made to the input terminal device 11 to notify that there is an error in the order data and the content of the error.

Upon receiving the error notification, the input terminal device 11 displays an error content of the input order data and a message urging the user to correct the error. When the message is cleared, the input data can be corrected again. Change to state,
It is ready for modification and retransmission.

If there is no error in the received order data, the data management device 12 registers this order data,
Further, based on the order data, cooking instruction data and provision instruction data are generated and transmitted to the display device 13 or the restaurant printer 14 as output terminals. The display terminal device 13 and the restaurant printer 14 display the transmitted data cooking instruction data and the provided instruction data on a screen and print a slip according to the output type.

In the food material master stored in the data control device 12, a stock quantity is set for each food material. The inventory quantity is automatically reduced by the quantity used by the menu in accordance with the order of the menu.

As described above, when the number of ingredients is 0 or less than the amount of ingredients used in the menu using the ingredients, the data control device 12 detects the out of stock of the ingredients.

For foodstuffs for which no stock quantity has been set, the person in charge of cooking at the kitchen mainly monitors the stock quantity as appropriate and determines that the quantity has become less than the quantity required for cooking. By operating the display device 13 or the restaurant printer 14 which is an output terminal device installed in a kitchen or the like and inputting "out of stock" of the food, the food is transmitted to the data control device 12.

When the data control device 12 recognizes that the food is out of stock, the process of replacing the menu image in which the food is used is started according to the procedure shown in FIG. .

First, a menu master file is searched,
(S2) A menu in which the food is used as a main food is extracted. (S3) If a corresponding menu is found, the out-of-stock control information set in the menu master file of the menu is checked. (S4)
If the control information indicating that the substitute menu is to be used is set in the out-of-stock control information, further, the menu number of the menu registered as the substitute menu is obtained, and the substitute menu number is used as a key from the menu image master file. Obtain the image data of the menu.
Further, in the menu image master, the old image of the menu in which the main ingredients are out of stock is saved, the menu image of the substitute menu is registered, and (S6) the menu code and the image data are stored in the input terminal device 11 as menu update information. Send. At the same time (S7), the main ingredient information in the menu master file is also saved in the save area, and the ingredient number of the alternative ingredient is registered as the main ingredient. (S13) If there is no alternative menu setting, the input terminal device is instructed to delete the menu from the menu master table, and the target menu is changed from the input menu input screen of the input terminal device to the target menu. Instruct to delete. (S12) Next, when the out-of-stock food detects a menu used as a sub-food, a food master is searched and the out-of-stock control information of the food is confirmed. (S8) If the control information indicating that the substitute food is used is set in the out-of-stock control information, the food material number registered as the substitute food is further confirmed, and the food image master is set using the substitute food number as a key. The image data of the food is obtained from the file.
Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the image data of the out-of-stock food and the substitute food are replaced, and the menu image data of the menu is regenerated. (S9) Then, in the menu image master, save the old image of the menu in which the sub ingredients are out of stock, register the menu image regenerated with the alternative ingredients, and store the menu code and image data in the input terminal device 11 in the menu. Sent as update information. At the same time as (S10), a process is performed to save the out-of-stock sub food number in the menu master file and to register the food number of the alternative food instead. (S11) If there is no setting to use the alternative food, the input terminal is instructed to delete all the menus using the present food from the menu master table, An instruction is given to delete the menu from the order menu input screen. (S12) In the present embodiment, an example in which the display of the corresponding menu is deleted when there is no designation of the replacement of the food is presented. It is also possible to reconstruct the menu image.

Thus, each of the input terminal devices is notified of the out-of-stock condition, and the presence / absence of the alternative menu and the image data of the alternative menu are sent to the input terminal device 11.
The table such as the image data in the RAM 33 of the input terminal device 11 is rewritten.

At this time, if an order has been entered in the input terminal device 11, a search is made as to whether the menu to be changed has been ordered in the data being entered, and if the corresponding menu is detected. In such a case, a message for changing to the menu provided by the out of stock is interrupted and displayed. When the customer confirms the menu image again according to this message, the menu image after the change is replaced, so that it is possible to determine whether to order or cancel the order.

If a menu that must be deleted from the order input screen is being ordered without setting a substitute menu, etc., the menu currently being ordered is out of stock. A message indicating that you want to make a selection will be displayed. The menu is temporarily blocked so that order entry cannot be performed, and is deleted from the screen after the order entry is completed.

FIG. 9 illustrates a screen image of the input screen of the order menu in which the menu image is updated due to “out of stock”. “Daily set meal B” on the pre-change screen (FIG. 9A) is an example of a case where “out of stock” of the main ingredient has occurred. Since the main ingredient of "daily set meal B", "shrimp (shrimp fry)" has been sold out, the image data of "yaki fish set meal" specified as an alternative menu in the daily set meal B menu master file is changed to "daily set meal". It is displayed on the post-change screen (FIG. 9B) as image data of "Set Meal B".

An example in which the menu image is changed due to the occurrence of “out of stock” of the sub-foodstuff is “Tonkatsu set meal”. Since the "potato" of the sub ingredient displayed on the before change screen was "out of stock", the image data was changed to "carrot" which is a substitute ingredient, and the image data generated again with this combination of ingredients is changed Displayed on the screen.

Since there is no alternative menu specified,
The example deleted from the order entry screen is the “Oyster Fry Set Meal” on the screen before the change.

Further, for the menu in which the image data has been changed through such processing, the menu number, the food number before the change, and the food number information after the change are stored in the data control device 12, and When the menu order data is input, as shown in a print example in FIG. 10, a change message is added to the cooking instruction and the order data is printed or displayed. In addition, when the out-of-stock ingredients are received and the out-of-stock items in the corresponding ingredients menu are released, the out-of-stock information is input from the output terminal device or the like, and the image data is changed because the ingredients were used. For the menu where the error occurred, the process of returning the original image data from the old image data saved in the menu image master is performed automatically, and the corresponding food number saved in the menu master file is re-used as the main ingredient or sub ingredient. It is registered, and this result is also reflected on the input terminal device 11 at the same time.

In the present embodiment, the input terminal device 11 and the data control device 12 consider that the processing time is the shortest, and each device holds data necessary for various processes. A method is also conceivable in which all data is stored in the control device 12 and the input terminal device 11 refers to the data as needed.

The input terminal device 11 is arranged at each table. However, when the input terminal device 11 and the data control device 12 are connected by radio, the input terminal device is not arranged at the table. Similar to the menu book, it is also conceivable that the service is distributed every time a customer sits down, thereby reducing the number of used machines. In this case, the waiter waitress who is the waiter inputs the identification code and the number information of the table.

Further, in the present embodiment, the menu information message displays the ingredient information, the cooking method, and the like.
It is also possible to perform automatic replacement of food material data and display of calorie calculation or the like in accordance with the change of the menu image.

[0060]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It becomes possible to automatically perform recovery at the restaurant restaurant when an out-of-stock menu occurs, preventing order cancellation due to out-of-stock menu and improving store sales.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of hardware constituting the present system.

FIG. 2 is an external view of an input terminal device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an input terminal device and a data control device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration and storage location of various types of master data used in the present system.

FIG. 5 is an image diagram of an image synthesizing process.

FIG. 6 is an initial screen of the input terminal device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an image replacement process.

FIG. 8 is an image diagram of image resynthesis;

FIG. 9 is an order input screen of the input terminal device.

FIG. 10 is a printing example of a cooking instruction slip after a change in stockout has occurred.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Input Terminal Device 12 Data Control Device 13 Display Terminal 14 Restaurant Printer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of input terminal devices arranged on each table of a store and mainly for a customer to input order data by himself / herself;
A data control device that receives the order data from the input terminal device, stores the order data in a storage device, and transmits a cooking instruction / providing instruction, and an output terminal device that outputs a cooking instruction / providing instruction in accordance with an instruction from the data control device. In the input terminal device, a touch panel is attached to a display unit, image data is displayed together with character data of each menu at the time of order entry, and the order data is registered by touching a screen of a corresponding menu display portion. In the order data management system, the menu image data is composed of a combination of a plurality of food images constituting the menu,
In the case where out of stock has occurred in a specific food material, switching to an alternative menu is performed, and in accordance with this, the image data of the menu of the input terminal device is changed to image data of a previously specified alternative menu. Order management system. 2. A plurality of input terminal devices arranged on each table of a store and mainly for the customer to input order data by himself / herself;
A data control device that receives the order data from the input terminal device, stores the order data in a storage device, and transmits a cooking instruction / providing instruction, and an output terminal device that outputs a cooking instruction / providing instruction in accordance with the instruction of the data control device. In the input terminal device, a touch panel is attached to a display unit, image data is displayed together with character data of each dish at the time of order input, and the order is registered by touching a screen of a corresponding menu display portion. In the order data management system, the menu image data is constructed with a combination of a plurality of ingredient images constituting the menu, and when a particular ingredient is out of stock, all menus using the corresponding ingredient are used. Change to alternative ingredients and, in accordance with this, replace all applicable menu image data with menus using alternative ingredients. Order management system and changes to the image data. 3. When a menu image is changed due to out-of-stock ingredients, a message indicating that the menu is in operation with an alternative menu is output to the output device until the out-of-stock state is released. 3. The order management system according to claim 1, wherein: