SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING PRODUCTION OF FOOD PRODUCTS

• US 20150187027A1
• Filed: 06/26/2013
• Published: 07/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Isport Marketing Pty., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Isport Marketing Pty., Ltd.
• Inventors: Lowe, Ian John
• Application Number:
  US14/410,950
• Publication Number:
  US 20150187027A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants

Abstract

A method of controlling ordering and production of food products in a restaurant, constructing a composite queue from time slots associated with customers standing physical lines to place their orders at manual registers, and time slots associated with customers placing their orders electronically over a communications network, determining, in regard to a current order load states of at least some cooking areas in a kitchen, determining whether one of the load states varies from a pre-determined load state by a first threshold amount, and if so determining an increment to the service delay for the current order, and communicating information about the increment to the customer being served.

Claims

1. A method of controlling ordering and production of food products in a restaurant, the method comprising the steps of:

constructing a composite queue from;

time slots associated with customers standing in one or more physical lines to place their orders at one or more corresponding manual registers; and

time slots associated with customers placing their orders electronically over a communications network;

wherein;

the time slots in the composite queue are spaced apart by a speed of service delay; and

an order in the composite queue is sent to a kitchen when the order reaches the front of the composite queue;

determining, in regard to a current order received from a customer being served from the composite queue, load states of at least some cooking areas in the kitchen;

determining whether one of said load states varies from a pre-determined load state by a first threshold amount; and

if said one of the load states varies from the pre-determined load state by the first threshold amount, changing the speed of service delay.

2. The method according to claim 1, comprising the further step of communicating information about the change to the speed of service delay to the customer being served.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the constructing of the composite queue

comprises the steps of:

determining a current speed of service delay being dependent upon an average time to prepare the current order in the kitchen;

determining a number of active time slots in the current composite queue, being time slots to which customers have been allocated;

determining a current total composite queue delay dependent upon said number of active time slots in the composite queue and the current speed of service delay; and

allocating a new customer to a first time slot following the last active time slot in the current composite queue.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the average time to prepare the current order in the kitchen depends upon a delay associated with congestion of a cooking area where the order is to be prepared.

5. The method according to claim 1, comprising the further steps of:

determining whether one of said load states varies from a pre-determined load state by a second threshold amount;

if said one of the load states varies from the pre-determined load state by the second threshold amount, determining a change to the front of house service processing speed; and

changing the front of house service processing speed by said determined change.

6. A computer implemented system for controlling ordering and production of food products in a restaurant, the system comprising:

a server having a processor;

a memory storing a program for directing the processor to execute a method for controlling ordering and production of food products in the restaurant, the method

comprising the steps of;

constructing a composite queue from;

time slots associated with customers standing in one or more physical lines to place their orders at one or more corresponding manual registers; and

time slots associated with customers placing their orders electronically over a communications network;

wherein;

the time slots in the composite queue are spaced apart by a speed of service delay; and

an order in the composite queue is sent to the kitchen when the order reaches the front of the composite queue;

determining, in regard to a current order received by the server from a customer being served from the composite queue, load states of at least some cooking areas in the kitchen;

determining whether one of said load states varies from a pre-determined load state by a first threshold amount; and

if said one of the load states varies from the pre-determined load state by the first threshold amount, changing the speed of service delay.

7. The computer implemented system according to claim 6, comprising the further step of communicating information about the change to the speed of service delay to the customer being served.

8. A server for a computer implemented system for of controlling ordering and production of food products in a restaurant, the server comprising:

a processor;

a memory storing a program for directing the processor to execute a method for controlling ordering and production of food products in the restaurant, the method comprising the steps of;

constructing a composite queue from;

time slots associated with customers standing in one or more physical lines to place their orders at one or more corresponding manual registers; and

time slots associated with customers placing their orders electronically over a communications network;

wherein;

the time slots in the composite queue are spaced apart by a speed of service delay; and

an order in the composite queue is sent to the kitchen when the order reaches the front of the composite queue;

determining, in regard to a current order received by the server from a customer being served from the composite queue, load states of at least some cooking areas in the kitchen;

determining whether one of said load states varies from a pre-determined load state by a first threshold amount; and

if said one of the load states varies from the pre-determined load state by the first threshold amount, changing the speed of service delay.

9. The server for a computer implemented system according to claim 8, comprising the further step of communicating information about the change to the speed of service delay to the customer being served.

10. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a computer executable software program for directing a processor in a server to execute a method for controlling ordering and production of food products in a restaurant, the program comprising:

computer executable code for constructing a composite queue from;

time slots associated with customers standing in one or more physical lines to place their orders at one or more corresponding manual registers; and

time slots associated with customers placing their orders electronically over a communications network;

wherein;

the time slots in the composite queue are spaced apart by a speed of service delay; and

an order in the composite queue is sent to the kitchen when the order reaches the front of the composite queue;

computer executable code for determining, in regard to a current order received by the server from a customer being served from the composite queue, load states of at least some cooking areas in the kitchen;

computer executable code for determining whether one of said load states varies from a pre-determined load state by a first threshold amount; and

computer executable code for, if said one of the load states varies from the predetermined load state by the first threshold amount, changing the speed of service delay.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 10, comprising the further step of communicating information about the change to the speed of service delay to the customer being served.