JP2007179428A - Waiting time display system in restaurant - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display to visiting customers the waiting time, until the current ordered dish will be served, improve the reliability of the displayed time, and allow the customer to promptly decide whether to utilize the service, while preventing load increase on a kitchen associated with the display, even when there are many orders. <P>SOLUTION: With a main menu set as a tact menu, a POS register will pool tact menu items upon receipt and repeats outputting for a certain time and then aborting for a fixed time. Cook slips are issued for up to a fixed number of output items in a fixed time, and the slips are checked to perform cooking. Items in excess of the fixed number are returned to the pool, depending on the situation. Based on the output timing for cook slip issuance, waiting time is calculated and displayed. As a result, arrangement of kitchen staff and assistants can be appropriately performed without hindering customer's schedule after meal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention allows a customer at a restaurant such as a restaurant to immediately determine whether or not the customer will use it by displaying the waiting time from receiving the order until receiving the food provided so that the customer can immediately see the restaurant. In addition, the present invention relates to a waiting time display system that does not cause an increase in the load on the kitchen due to the display.

  In restaurants and other restaurants, particularly during lunch and dinner, the waiting time may be long and cause trouble for customers. If the customer can know the waiting time immediately after coming to the store, and the time is reliable, the customer can immediately decide whether to use or not, and the trouble can be avoided.

Regarding waiting time in a restaurant, there are Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2. Patent Document 1 calculates a waiting time for serving from an order time and a serving time, and provides a coupon as a service when the time exceeds a predetermined time. It can also be displayed. Patent Document 2 is to install a terminal in each passenger seat and display the waiting time for each menu as the sum of the variable time required for cooking start and the fixed time required for cooking.
JP 2003-296823 A JP 2004-102817 A

  In the technique of Patent Document 1, since the average value of past waiting times read at a predetermined cycle is displayed and the number of orders at that time is not taken into consideration, the waiting time displayed depending on the number of customers and orders The difference in actual waiting time becomes large, and the problem remains in reliability. In addition, there is a problem that the load increases at the cooking place when the number of orders is large in order to match the displayed time. The technique of Patent Document 2 can be used as a reference when selecting a menu after arriving at a guest seat, but cannot be used for determining whether or not to use the store.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to display the waiting time until the food is provided when a new order is received at a restaurant or other restaurant at the present time, and to display the reliability of the displayed time. In order to improve the property, the customer can immediately determine whether or not to use it, and even if the number of orders is large, the load of the kitchen is not increased due to the display.

  The present invention for solving the above problems includes an input terminal carried by a store clerk, a POS register installed in the store, a kitchen indicator installed in a kitchen, and a waiting time display installed for customers who come to the store The POS register issues a floor slip from the kitchen indicator when it receives an order from the input terminal, issues a receipt for the deposit from the customer, and has the following functions (1) to (7). It is the waiting time display system in the restaurant characterized by doing.

(1) An order number is assigned to each menu item of the received order, and a predetermined tact menu item is pooled.
(2) For menu items other than the tact menu, issue a ticket slip from the kitchen indicator.
(3) The pooled tact menu item is output for a minute, the output is stopped for b minute, and the tact consisting of a cycle of a + b is repeated.
(4) When the output item number n at one output timing is equal to or less than the predetermined item number s, a cook slip is issued from the kitchen indicator.
(5) When the output item number n exceeds the predetermined item number s, a cook slip is issued from the kitchen indicator to the menu items up to s, and the menu items exceeding s are returned to the pool according to the situation. .
(6) For the received order, the provision target time is calculated according to at which tact the cook slip is issued and printed on the floor slip.
(7) Assuming that a new order has been received at the present time, a waiting time is calculated for the tact menu of the order depending on at which tact the cook slip is issued and displayed on the waiting time display.

  In the present invention, one or more of the output time a (minutes), the stop time b (minutes), and the predetermined number of items s can be changed.

  According to the present invention, a restaurant visitor can see the waiting time when ordering at the present time by looking at the waiting time indicator at or near the entrance and immediately know the waiting time. The time to be displayed is an estimated required time from ordering to receiving food provision, and is calculated in consideration of unprocessed menu items at the kitchen. Then, when the order is received, the food provision target time is calculated, printed on the floor slip indicating the billed amount, etc., and handed to the customer at the time of serving the food. Since the actual food provision time is equal to or earlier than the time derived from the displayed waiting time and the target time printed on the floor slip, it is proved that the displayed waiting time is highly reliable. In addition, the waiting time to display can also be set as the food provision scheduled time. Further, the food provision target time to be printed may be time or required time.

  Therefore, the customer can immediately determine whether or not to use, and does not hinder the schedule after the meal. Further, the number of menu items to be cooked instructed to the cooking place is an appropriate number according to the ability, and therefore, the load does not increase even when the number of orders is large. Furthermore, the number of kitchen staff and the number of shop assistants can be appropriately increased or decreased according to the situation such as the number of menu items to be cooked.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention includes an input terminal 1, a POS register 2, a kitchen indicator 3, and a waiting time indicator 4. Each clerk carries the input terminal 1 and inputs customer orders. The contents of the input order are immediately transmitted to the POS register 2 installed in the store. When receiving the order, the POS register 2 issues a floor slip 5 from the kitchen indicator 3 and issues a receipt 8 in response to the deposit from the customer, and also has the functions (1) to (7) above. .

  The kitchen indicator 3 is installed in the kitchen, and issues a cook slip 6 and a ticket slip 7 in addition to the floor slip 5 as shown in FIG. 4 according to a command from the POS register 2. The floor slip 5 is printed with an order number, table number, menu item (not shown), quantity (not shown), and billing amount, and is handed over to the customer when serving food or the like. The cook slip 6 indicates a menu item of a tact menu, which will be described later, and the ticket slip 7 indicates a menu item other than the tact menu, and is used for instructing the staff of the kitchen to cook or prepare the menu item. For this reason, the kitchen indicator 3 may be a printer that issues each of the slips 5, 6, and 7 as a piece of paper, or may be a display that has a print function for issuing the floor slip 5. Further, a printer for issuing the floor slip 5 and a display for displaying the cook slip 6 and the ticket slip 7 may be used. Further, a plurality of units can be installed, and the floor slip 5 and the ticket slip 7 issue and the cook slip 6 issue can be provided at appropriate positions.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the waiting time display 4 displays the expected time required from the time when a new order is received until the food is provided, that is, the expected waiting time from when the customer places an order to the store clerk until the food is provided. It will be installed for customers who come to the store. The installation location may be a location where a customer who visits the store, such as the entrance and the vicinity thereof, can easily see it even from a certain distance. Further, the waiting time display 4 may display the scheduled time for serving the food.

The unique function of the POS register 2 in the present invention, that is, the functions (1) to (7) will be described with reference to FIG.
(1) An order number is assigned to each menu item of the received order, and a predetermined tact menu item is pooled. The tact menu is a menu item displayed on the menu table, which is a main item that needs to be cooked and approximates the cooking time, and is determined in advance. Then, it is determined whether or not each received menu item is a tact menu, and the tact menu item is pooled. The effect of the present invention is more reliably exhibited by making the menu items that require most cooking, such as set meals, correspond.

  (2) A ticket slip 7 is issued from the kitchen indicator 3 for menu items other than the tact menu. For items other than the tact menu that can be served without processing, such as drinks and cakes, a ticket slip 7 is issued from the kitchen indicator 3 without pooling. As shown in FIG. 4, the ticket slip 7 indicates menu item names other than the tact menu, order numbers, and table numbers. The issue may be printed out or displayed. The kitchen staff looks at the ticket slip 7 and prepares to provide items other than the tact menu. For the ticket slip 7 for which preparation for provision has been completed, the printed out one is discarded and the displayed one is deleted.

(3) The pooled tact menu item is output for a minute, the output is stopped for b minute, and the tact consisting of a cycle of a + b is repeated. That is, a cycle of a + b is referred to as a tact, and one tact is constituted by an output timing of a minutes and a stop timing of b minutes.
(4) When the output item number n at one output timing is less than or equal to the predetermined item number s, a cook slip 6 is issued from the kitchen indicator 3. That is, it is determined whether or not the number n of output items in the tact menu is n ≦ s, and if it is equal to or less than s, the cook slip 6 is issued.

The cook slip 6 shows a tact menu item name, an order number, and a table number as shown in FIG. The issue may be printed out or displayed. The kitchen staff looks at the cook slip 6 and cooks and prepares the tact menu items. The cook slip 6 for which preparation for provision has been completed discards the printed out one and erases the displayed one.
The output time a (minutes), stop time b (minutes), and the predetermined number of items s are set according to the cooking time of the tact menu item, the expected number of output items n, the number of staff at the kitchen, and the like.

(5) When the number of output items n exceeds a predetermined number of items s, the cook slip 6 is issued from the kitchen indicator 3 to the menu items up to s, and the menu items exceeding s are pooled according to the situation. Return to. The menu items returned to the pool are output again after the next tact output timing, that is, the stop time b has elapsed. Here, “according to the situation” means that the menu item of the same order or the menu item cooked with the same material can be processed within one tact as much as possible by dealing with the situation of the customer side and the cooking side. That is.
For example, when s = 10 is set, if a total of 12 items for 3 orders are output in a minute (n = 12), if there are 2 items, return the order to the pool, Output. The cook slip 6 is issued preferentially for the re-output menu item. If the output is all three or more items, the cook slip 6 is issued for n = 12 menu items without returning to the pool. Further, even within the same tact, it is possible to instruct the cook slip 6 so that it can be preferentially provided for children.

(6) For the received order, the provision target time is calculated according to which tact to issue the cook slip 6 and printed on the floor slip 5 as shown in FIG. The provision target time may be a dish provision target time or a target time from order receipt to dish provision. Since the tact menu approximates the cooking time in a normal operation, the provision target time can be calculated by adding a certain cooking time and cooking provision preparation time to the issue time of the cook slip 6.
The target time from order receipt to food provision is the time from the reception time to the food provision target time. Since the order contents are input to the input terminal 1 and immediately sent to the POS register 2, the reception time of the POS register 2 is equal to the order order time.

The tact of the output timing for issuing the cook slip 6 for the received order can be determined as follows. However, since the actual issue of the cook slip 6 is performed according to the situation as described above, it may be issued for the number of items exceeding s.
If the number of items received at the output timing and pooled in the previous tact is less than s, if the sum of the number of items received is less than s, it can be issued in this tact. When the sum exceeds s, if the number of items reduced this time is less than s, it will be issued at the next tact, and if it exceeds s, it will be issued at the next tact. If the number of items pooled in the previous tact is more than s and less than 2s, if the sum of the number of items reduced this time and the number of items received is less than s, it will be issued at the next tact, and if it exceeds s, it will be issued one after another Issued.

If the number of pooled items received at the stop timing is s or less, it will be issued at the next tact. When the number of pooled items exceeds s, if the number of items reduced by the next issue is equal to or less than s, it will be issued one after another.
The issue time of the cook slip 6 is the reception time when it is issued at this time, that is, at the received tact. When issuing the next tact and the next tact, it is the tact start time.
If the output timing a (minutes), the stop timing b (minutes), and the predetermined number of items s are appropriately determined, it is possible to avoid issues after the next tact.

  (7) Assuming that a new order has been received at the present time, the waiting time is calculated according to which tact menu the cook slip 6 is to be issued and displayed on the waiting time display 4. As described above, for the tact menu item of the received order, it is possible to calculate the time from order receipt to food provision depending on which tact the cook slip 6 is issued, so assuming that a new order has been received at the present time It is possible to predict at which tact the cook slip 6 can be issued and calculate the waiting time from the predicted issue time. As the waiting time, an estimated required time from new order reception to serving food at the present time may be displayed, or a planned serving time may be displayed.

The tact of the output timing for issuing the cook slip 6 when it is assumed that a new order has been received at the present time can be predicted as follows.
If the current timing is 1 minute before the end of the output timing and the sum of the number of items pooled in the previous tact and the number of already output items in the current tact is less than s / 2, it is predicted that the current tact can be issued . In other cases, it is predicted that it can be issued at the tact next to the tact determined for the order received at the present time or immediately before.

  In the present invention, one or more of the output time a (minutes), the stop time b (minutes), and the predetermined number of items s can be changed. Only a, b only, s only, a and b, a and s, b and s, a and b and s are changed. The change can be made as appropriate according to the time zone, day of the week, season, local events, etc., depending on the expected or actual number of visitors and the number of orders. By these changes, the waiting time can be within an appropriate range, and the number of kitchen staff and the number of shop assistants can be increased or decreased.

  Table 1 shows a specific example when the output timing time a is 3 minutes, the stop timing time b is 2 minutes, and the predetermined number of items s is 10. The tact time is a + b = 5 (minutes). The order reception time of the POS register 2 is equal to the order reception time. When the cook slip 6 is issued, the staff is ready to start cooking. For all cook menu items, the sum of cooking time and cooking provision preparation time is 8 to 9 minutes, and the food provision target time to be printed on the floor slip 5 is 10 minutes after the issue time of the cook slip 6. The waiting time to be displayed is 8 minutes when it is predicted that the cook slip 6 can be issued at this tact, 13 minutes when it is predicted to be issued at the next tact, and 18 minutes when it is predicted to be issued at the next tact.

The tact number for issuing the cook slip 6 is determined as described above. For all orders shown in Table 1, the actual waiting time is about the same as or shorter than the displayed waiting time, and the actual provision time is before the target time printed on the floor slip 5. Therefore, the displayed waiting time is highly reliable. In Table 1, Order Nos. 57 and 63 issue the cook slip 6 earlier than the order, and can be provided in a time significantly shorter than the displayed waiting time. Further, in tact 4 and tact 5, processing according to the situation is performed, so the total number of items exceeds the predetermined number of items. In tact 4, since the menu item of order No. 58 uses the same ingredients as those of order No. 56 or order No. 59, cooking was performed with the same tact. In Tact 5, some items of the same order were not separated into the next tact.
In this example, the waiting time continues for 18 minutes, but the waiting time is changed by changing the conditions, such as increasing the number of cooking shop staff and increasing the number of items s, or setting the output time a to 2 minutes and the stop time b to 1 minute. Time can be shortened. In addition, in the time zone where the number of orders is small, it is possible to change the conditions and reduce the number of kitchen staff.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the structure of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the waiting time indicator in this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of each slip in this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: Input terminal 2: POS register 3: Kitchen indicator
4: Waiting time indicator 5: Floor slip
6: Cook slip 7: Ticket slip
8: Receipt

Claims (2)

It consists of an input terminal carried by the store clerk, a POS register installed in the store, a kitchen indicator installed in the kitchen, and a waiting time display installed for customers who visit the store. In order to receive the order, a floor slip is issued from the kitchen indicator, and a receipt is issued for the deposit from the customer. In addition, the restaurant has the following functions (1) to (7). Latency display system.
(1) An order number is assigned to each menu item of the received order, and a predetermined tact menu item is pooled.
(2) For menu items other than the tact menu, issue a ticket slip from the kitchen indicator.
(3) The pooled tact menu item is output for a minute, the output is stopped for b minute, and the tact consisting of a cycle of a + b is repeated.
(4) When the output item number n at one output timing is equal to or less than the predetermined item number s, a cook slip is issued from the kitchen indicator.
(5) When the output item number n exceeds the predetermined item number s, a cook slip is issued from the kitchen indicator to the menu items up to s, and the menu items exceeding s are returned to the pool according to the situation. .
(6) For the received order, the provision target time is calculated according to at which tact the cook slip is issued and printed on the floor slip.
(7) Assuming that a new order has been received at the present time, a waiting time is calculated for the tact menu of the order depending on at which tact the cook slip is issued and displayed on the waiting time display. The waiting time display system in a restaurant according to claim 1, wherein one or more of output time a (minute), stop time b (minute), and predetermined number of items s is changed.

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