Systems and methods for analyzing restaurant operations

• US 10,304,020 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2018
• Issued: 05/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Panera LLC (Panera Bread Company)
• Original Assignee: Panera LLC (Panera Bread Company)
• Inventors: Chapman, III, Charles Jarvis, Nettles, Michael R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nawaz, Talha M
• Application Number:
  US16/212,553
• Publication Number:
  US 20190108464A1
• Time in Patent Office: 173 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 provide systems and methods for deploying employees to roles in a restaurant. For example, some embodiments are directed to basing employee deployment decisions at least in part on a combination of quantitative data and qualitative assessments of performance by various employees in various roles. Qualitative assessments may, for example, relate to an employee'"'"'s success in promoting customer satisfaction, or to the accuracy of quantitative data relating to a task or function.

Claims

1. A method for use in a system comprising at least one employee location data source and at least one recording device configured to capture video recordings of occurrences in a restaurant, the method comprising acts of:

(A) determining, based at least in part on data from the at least one employee location data source, that an employee of the restaurant vacated a station in the restaurant to which the employee is assigned during a particular time period;

(B) determining whether the employee improperly vacated the station based at least in part on an analysis of a video recording captured by the at least one recording device, the analysis relating to identifying whether one or more predefined conditions existed in the restaurant at a time when the employee vacated the station;

(C) if it is determined that the employee improperly vacated the station, causing the employee to be redirected back to the station, wherein causing the employee to be redirected back to the station comprises at least one of sending an electronic notification to a device operated by the employee, sending an electronic notification to a device operated by a supervisor associated with the employee, and ceasing to present tasks on a monitor at a location in the restaurant to which the employee has moved.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one employee location data source comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader configured to receive signal from an RFID tag transported by the employee.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the RFID reader is deployed at or near the station to which the employee is assigned during the particular time period.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one employee location data source comprises at least one location-aware device of a location-based service configured for geofencing.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one employee location data source comprises at least one workstation to which employees log on to perform work.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the video depicting the restaurant during the particular time period depicts the employee.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the video depicting the restaurant during the particular time period depicts one or more cashier stations at which customers queue.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the video depicting the restaurant during the particular time period depicts a food preparation area in which multiple employees prepare food.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the act (A) comprises determining that the employee improperly vacated the station based at least in part on data collected by at least one operational data system at or near the station.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one operational data system comprises a cashier workstation configured to receive input describing customer orders.

11. At least one computer-readable storage medium having instructions recorded thereon which, when executed in a system comprising at least one employee location data source and at least one recording device configured to capture video recordings of occurrences in a restaurant, cause the system to perform a method comprising acts of:

(A) determining, based at least in part on data from the at least one employee location data source, that an employee of the restaurant vacated a station in the restaurant to which the employee is assigned during a particular time period;

(B) determining whether the employee improperly vacated the station based at least in part on an analysis of a video recording captured by the at least one recording device, the analysis relating to identifying whether one or more predefined conditions existed in the restaurant at a time when the employee vacated the station;

(C) if it is determined that the employee improperly vacated the station, causing the employee to be redirected back to the station, wherein causing the employee to be redirected back to the station comprises at least one of sending an electronic notification to a device operated by the employee, sending an electronic notification to a device operated by a supervisor associated with the employee, and ceasing to present tasks on a monitor at a location in the restaurant to which the employee has moved.

12. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the system comprises at least one operational data system at or near the station, and wherein the act (A) comprises determining that the employee improperly vacated the station based at least in part on data collected by the at least one operational data system.