INFORMATION SYSTEM IN RESTAURANT

This case study discusses the application of computer based information system at a restaurant. It is
with respect to Chapter 2 of the book. Eat-n-Treat is a family restaurant spread in a very large area.
The restaurant started giving its service with a few staff members such as managers, chefs, waiters
and waitresses. The customer base in the beginning was not particularly impressive, but soon people
started liking the taste of its food. The restaurant was getting popular and added numerous customers
in a few weeks. Restaurant management decided to increase its staff member to provide better service
to the customers. It also increased the menu items in its menu to attract more customers. Every
activity was being done manually such as taking customers’ order, managing staff and inventory
control. Ats the competition is always tough in the restaurant business, Eat-n-Treat soon realised that
the customers have to wait for a long time to get their orders and even tables. Thus, customers were
moving to other restaurants which were nearby. Management was concerned about solving this issue
as soon as possible as the revenue was decreasing rapidly. After an intense discussion on the situation,
the management decided to computerise the entire system. Soon they implemented a fully computer
based information system to manage the business effectively. Now, a waiter takes the order from
customers and then enters the order in an online system through the six computers located in the
restaurant dining room. The order is transferred to a printer. Every printer is assigned a different task
to manage orders efficiently without any confusion. If a customer orders salad, the order goes to the
cold item printer. Likewise, if a customer orders a hot item such as pizza then the order goes to the hot
item printer. Similarly, order for drink is sent to bar printer. Customers’ bill is automatically generated
by the system. Also, incase food items in the kitchen are going to be out of stock then the head chef
sends out the out of stock message. This message is displayed on the computer systems in the dining
area which notify the waiters about the availability of a particular food item. This makes the process
faster and enables waiters to give better service to customers. Other significant benefits of the system
help management to plan and control their business. The system provides minute-by-minute
information on the food items ordered and helps management to decide which item is selling the most
to make menus according to the customer’s taste. The system also helps in controlling cost by
comparing the weekly sales totals with food costs

QUESTIONS

1. Do you think implementing an information system was the only alternative to the restaurant
problems? (Hint: Computer based information system helps to manage the business effectively)

2. How can the tablet computers enhance the efficiency of staff in processes such as taking orders
from the customers? Justify your opinion with an example. (Hint: Tablet computers are portable
computing devices and can be carried by the employees to establish a strong communicati on with
each other which leads to a better control over business operations)