Systems and methods for analyzing restaurant operations

• US 10,019,686 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2016
• Issued: 07/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panera LLC (Panera Bread Company)
• Original Assignee: Panera LLC (Panera Bread Company)
• Inventors: Hurst, Blaine E., Nettles, Michael R., Griffith, Bryan Wesley
• Primary Examiner(s): Nawaz, Talha M
• Application Number:
  US15/194,949
• Publication Number:
  US 20160364661A1
• Time in Patent Office: 742 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0635 Risk analysis of enterprise or organisation activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/40 in video content extracting overlay text G06V20/62; video retrieval G06F16/70; processing of video elementary streams in video servers H04N21/234; processing of video elementary streams in video clients H04N21/44
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/44 Event detection
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/51 for comparison or discrimination
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/28 by using information signals recorded by the same method as the main recording G11B27/22 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D

Abstract

Some embodiments of the invention are directed to systems and/or methods for analyzing the operations of a restaurant of other enterprise(s). Audio and/or video recordings of occurrences in the restaurant may be analyzed to generate a qualitative assessment of an employee'"'"'s performance in a role in the restaurant during a particular time period. Quantitative data, such as may be generated by operational systems in the restaurant, may also provide an indicator of the employee'"'"'s performance in the role during the same time period. An overall assessment of the employee'"'"'s performance in the role during the time period may be based at least in part on the qualitative assessment and the quantitative data.

Claims

1. A system for use in analyzing operations of a restaurant having at least one operational system deployed therein, the system comprising:

at least one recording device, configured to capture at least one of audio recordings and video recordings of occurrences in the restaurant;

at least one computer-readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon; and

at least one computer processor, programmed via the instructions to;

access quantitative data generated by the at least one operational system, the quantitative data comprising at least one quantitative measure of a performance by an employee in a first role in the restaurant during a time period;

access at least one of an audio recording and a video recording, captured by the at least one recording device, of the employee performing in the first role during the time period;

analyze the at least one of the audio recording and the video recording to generate a qualitative assessment of the employee'"'"'s performance in the first role in the restaurant during the time period, wherein the qualitative assessment relates to at least one of whether the employee accurately conveyed details of a customer'"'"'s order to another employee, whether the employee inquired about a customer belonging to a loyalty program, whether the employee engaged a customer in conversation about something other than a purchase of food or drink, whether the employee offered a customer a drink or side with an order of food items, whether the employee provided a customer with a beverage cup and directed him/her to a beverage machine, whether the employee informed a customer what to do while waiting for an order to be prepared, whether the employee performed a food preparation task according to predefined procedures, whether the employee accurately indicated when an assigned stage of food preparation was completed, and whether the employee kept an area within the restaurant clean; and

generate an overall assessment, based on the qualitative assessment and the at least one quantitative measure, of the employee'"'"'s performance in the first role.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the qualitative assessment relates to an interaction between the employee and at least one customer during the time period.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the qualitative assessment relates to a communication of information by the employee to at least one other employee during the time period.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the information communicated by the employee comprises information provided to the employee by a customer.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to determine, based at least in part on the overall assessment, whether the employee is to remain in the role in a future time period.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to, if a determination is made that the employee is not to remain in the role in the future time period, automatically redeploy the employee to another role during the future time period.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to, if a determination is made that the employee is not to remain in the role in the future time period, automatically identify another employee to be assigned to the role in the future time period.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the employee has a manager, and wherein the at least one processor is programmed to, if a determination is made that the employee is not to remain in the role, communicate a recommendation to the manager to redeploy the employee to another role during the future time period.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the qualitative assessment relates to validating accuracy of at least some of the quantitative data.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one of an audio recording and a video recording comprises a first audio recording, and wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to employ at least one speech recognition tool to analyze the first audio recording.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one of an audio recording and a video recording comprises a first video recording, and wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to employ at least one image analysis tool to analyze the first video recording.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to generate a plurality of qualitative assessments relating to the employee'"'"'s performance in the first role during the time period, each of the plurality of qualitative assessments relating to the employee'"'"'s performance of a different function in the first role during the time period.

13. A system for use in analyzing operations of a restaurant having at least one operational system deployed therein, the system comprising:

at least one recording device, configured to capture at least one of audio recordings and video recordings of occurrences in the restaurant;

at least one computer-readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon; and

at least one computer processor, programmed via the instructions to;

access quantitative data generated by the at least one operational system, the quantitative data comprising at least one quantitative measure for each of a plurality of employees in the restaurant, the at least one quantitative measure for each one of the plurality of employees relating to the one employee'"'"'s performance in a corresponding one of a plurality of roles in the restaurant during a corresponding previous time period, the plurality of roles in the restaurant comprising a first role;

access at least one of an audio recording and a video recording, captured by the at least one recording device, of each one of the plurality of employees performing in the corresponding one of the plurality of roles during the corresponding previous time period;

analyze the at least one of the audio recording and the video recording to generate a qualitative assessment of a performance by each one of the plurality of employees in the corresponding one of the plurality of roles during the corresponding previous time period, wherein the qualitative assessment relates to at least one of whether the one employee accurately conveyed details of a customer'"'"'s order to another employee, whether the one employee inquired about a customer belonging to a loyalty program, whether the one employee engaged a customer in conversation about something other than a purchase of food or drink, whether the one employee offered a customer a drink or side with an order of food items, whether the one employee provided a customer with a beverage cup and directed him/her to a beverage machine, whether the one employee informed a customer what to do while waiting for an order to be prepared, whether the one employee performed a food preparation task according to predefined procedures, whether the one employee accurately indicated when an assigned stage of food preparation was completed, and whether the one employee kept an area within the restaurant clean; and

determine, based on the qualitative assessments and the quantitative data, which of the plurality of employees should be assigned to the first role in the restaurant in a future time period.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the qualitative assessment for each one of the plurality of employees relates to a performance by the one employee in the first role during a corresponding previous time period.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the qualitative assessment for each one of the plurality of employees relates to a performance by the one employee in a role other than the first role during a corresponding previous time period.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to analyze the at least one of the audio recording and the video recording to generate multiple qualitative assessments for one or more of the plurality of employees, the multiple qualitative assessments relating to the one or more employees each performing in multiple roles during corresponding previous time periods.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein a first employee of the plurality of employees is currently assigned to the first role, and wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to select another of the plurality of employees to be assigned the first role instead of the first employee.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to automatically reassign the first employee to a role other than the first role.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to automatically redeploy the first employee to a role other than the first role.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to employ at least one of an audio recording or a video recording captured by the at least one recording device to determine whether the first employee reports to the other role to which he/she is redeployed.

21. The system of claim 13, wherein none of the plurality of employees is currently working in the restaurant, and the at least one computer processor is programmed to determine which of the plurality of employees is to be called in to work in the first role in the restaurant in the future time period.

22. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to generate an employee deployment model for the future time period by determining which of the plurality of employees is to assume each of the plurality of roles in the restaurant in the future time period.

23. A method for analyzing operations of a restaurant, the method comprising acts of:

(A) accessing quantitative data generated by at least one operational system deployed in the restaurant, the quantitative data comprising at least one quantitative measure of a performance by an employee in a first role in the restaurant during a time period;

(B) accessing at least one of an audio recording and a video recording of the employee performing in the first role during the time period;

(C) analyzing the at least one of the audio recording and the video recording to generate a qualitative assessment of the employee'"'"'s performance in the first role in the restaurant during the time period, wherein the qualitative assessment relates to at least one of whether the employee accurately conveyed details of a customer'"'"'s order to another employee, whether the employee inquired about a customer belonging to a loyalty program, whether the employee engaged a customer in conversation about something other than a purchase of food or drink, whether the employee offered a customer a drink or side with an order of food items, whether the employee provided a customer with a beverage cup and directed him/her to a beverage machine, whether the employee informed a customer what to do while waiting for an order to be prepared, whether the employee performed a food preparation task according to predefined procedures, whether the employee accurately indicated when an assigned stage of food preparation was completed, and whether the employee kept an area within the restaurant clean; and

(D) generating an overall assessment, based on the qualitative assessment and the at least one quantitative measure, of the employee'"'"'s performance in the first role.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the qualitative assessment generated in the act (C) relates to an interaction between the employee and at least one customer during the time period.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the qualitative assessment generated in the act (C) relates to a communication of information by the employee to at least one other employee during the time period.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the information communicated by the employee comprises information provided to the employee by a customer.

27. The method of claim 23, further comprising an act of:

(E) determining, based at least in part on the overall assessment, whether the employee is to remain in the role in a future time period.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the act (E) comprises, if it is determined that the employee is not to remain in the role in the future time period, automatically redeploying the employee to another role during the future time period.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the act (E) comprises, if it is determined that the employee is not to remain in the role in the future time period, automatically identifying another employee to be assigned to the role in the future time period.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein the employee has a manager, and wherein the act (E) comprises, if it is determined that the employee is not to remain in the role in the future time period, communicating a recommendation to the manager to redeploy the employee to another role during the future time period.

31. The method of claim 23, wherein the qualitative assessment relates to validating accuracy of at least some of the quantitative data.

32. The method of claim 23, wherein the at least one of an audio recording and a video recording comprises a first audio recording, and wherein the act (B) comprises employing at least one speech recognition tool to analyze the first audio recording.

33. The method of claim 23, wherein the at least one of an audio recording and a video recording comprises a first video recording, and wherein the act (B) comprises employing at least one image analysis tool to analyze the first video recording.

34. The method of claim 23, wherein the act (C) comprises generating a plurality of qualitative assessments relating to the employee'"'"'s performance in the first role during the time period, each of the plurality of qualitative assessments relating to the employee'"'"'s performance of a different function in the first role during the time period.

35. At least one computer-readable storage medium having instructions recorded thereon which, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform a method for analyzing operations of a restaurant, the method comprising acts of:

(A) accessing quantitative data generated by at least one operational system deployed in the restaurant, the quantitative data comprising at least one quantitative measure of a performance by an employee in a first role in the restaurant during a time period;

(B) accessing at least one of an audio recording and a video recording of the employee performing in the first role during the time period;

(C) analyzing the at least one of the audio recording and the video recording to generate a qualitative assessment of the employee'"'"'s performance in the first role in the restaurant during the time period, wherein the qualitative assessment relates to at least one of whether the employee accurately conveyed details of a customer'"'"'s order to another employee, whether the employee inquired about a customer belonging to a loyalty program, whether the employee engaged a customer in conversation about something other than a purchase of food or drink, whether the employee offered a customer a drink or side with an order of food items, whether the employee provided a customer with a beverage cup and directed him/her to a beverage machine, whether the employee informed a customer what to do while waiting for an order to be prepared, whether the employee performed a food preparation task according to predefined procedures, whether the employee accurately indicated when an assigned stage of food preparation was completed, and whether the employee kept an area within the restaurant clean; and

(D) generating an overall assessment, based on the qualitative assessment and the at least one quantitative measure, of the employee'"'"'s performance in the first role.

36. A method for analyzing operations of a restaurant, the method comprising acts of:

(A) accessing quantitative data generated by at least one operational system deployed in the restaurant, the quantitative data comprising at least one quantitative measure for each of a plurality of employees in the restaurant, the at least one quantitative measure for each one of the plurality of employees relating to the one employee'"'"'s performance in a corresponding one of a plurality of roles in the restaurant during a corresponding previous time period, the plurality of roles in the restaurant comprising a first role;

(B) accessing at least one of an audio recording and a video recording of each one of the plurality of employees performing in the corresponding one of the plurality of roles during the corresponding previous time period;

(C) analyzing the at least one of the audio recording and the video recording to generate a qualitative assessment of a performance by each one of the plurality of employees in the corresponding one of the plurality of roles during the corresponding previous time period, wherein the qualitative assessment relates to at least one of whether the one employee accurately conveyed details of a customer'"'"'s order to another employee, whether the one employee inquired about a customer belonging to a loyalty program, whether the one employee engaged a customer in conversation about something other than a purchase of food or drink, whether the one employee offered a customer a drink or side with an order of food items, whether the one employee provided a customer with a beverage cup and directed him/her to a beverage machine, whether the one employee informed a customer what to do while waiting for an order to be prepared, whether the one employee performed a food preparation task according to predefined procedures, whether the one employee accurately indicated when an assigned stage of food preparation was completed, and whether the one employee kept an area within the restaurant clean; and

(D) determining, based on the qualitative assessments and the quantitative data, which of the plurality of employees should be assigned to the first role in the restaurant in a future time period.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the qualitative assessment generated in the act (C) for each one of the plurality of employees relates to a performance by the one employee in the first role during a corresponding previous time period.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the qualitative assessment generated in the act (C) for each one of the plurality of employees relates to a performance by the one employee in a role other than the first role during a corresponding previous time period.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein the act (C) comprises analyzing the at least one of the audio recording and the video recording to generate multiple qualitative assessments for one or more of the plurality of employees, the multiple qualitative assessments relating to the one or more employees each performing in multiple roles during corresponding previous time periods.

40. The method of claim 36, wherein a first employee of the plurality of employees is currently assigned to the first role, and wherein the act (D) comprises selecting another of the plurality of employees to be assigned the first role instead of the first employee.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the act (D) comprises automatically reassigning the first employee to a role other than the first role.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the act (D) comprises automatically redeploying the first employee to a role other than the first role.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein the act (D) comprises determining, based at least in part on at least one of an audio recording and a video recording, whether the first employee reports to the other role to which he/she is reassigned.

44. The method of claim 36, wherein none of the plurality of employees is currently working in the restaurant, and the act (D) comprises determining which of the plurality of employees is to be called in to work in the first role in the restaurant in the future time period.

45. The method of claim 36, wherein the act (D) comprises generating an employee deployment model for the future time period by determining which of the plurality of employees is to assume each of the plurality of roles in the restaurant in the future time period.

46. At least one computer-readable storage medium having instructions recorded thereon which, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform a method for analyzing operations of a restaurant, the method comprising acts of:

(A) accessing quantitative data generated by at least one operational system deployed in the restaurant, the quantitative data comprising at least one quantitative measure for each of a plurality of employees in the restaurant, the at least one quantitative measure for each one of the plurality of employees relating to the one employee'"'"'s performance in a corresponding one of a plurality of roles in the restaurant during a corresponding previous time period, the plurality of roles in the restaurant comprising a first role;

(B) accessing at least one of an audio recording and a video recording of each one of the plurality of employees performing in the corresponding one of the plurality of roles during the corresponding previous time period;

(C) analyzing the at least one of the audio recording and the video recording to generate a qualitative assessment of a performance by each one of the plurality of employees in the corresponding one of the plurality of roles during the corresponding previous time period, wherein the qualitative assessment relates to at least one of whether the one employee accurately conveyed details of a customer'"'"'s order to another employee, whether the one employee inquired about a customer belonging to a loyalty program, whether the one employee engaged a customer in conversation about something other than a purchase of food or drink, whether the one employee offered a customer a drink or side with an order of food items, whether the one employee provided a customer with a beverage cup and directed him/her to a beverage machine, whether the one employee informed a customer what to do while waiting for an order to be prepared, whether the one employee performed a food preparation task according to predefined procedures, whether the one employee accurately indicated when an assigned stage of food preparation was completed, and whether the one employee kept an area within the restaurant clean; and

(D) determining, based on the qualitative assessments and the quantitative data, which of the plurality of employees should be assigned to the first role in the restaurant in a future time period.