The customer must not wait impatiently any more for unavailable waiters
Initial situation: The restaurant has 18 tables, 2 waiters and 1 kitchen. Customers are unsuccessfully waiting for the waiter for giving him an order, respectively a reorder, and become always more impatient. Unavailable waiters are trying not to look into the customer's eyes when they pass by, because they are fully occupied with other customers and they can not receive any new requests. The customers feel ignored and are unsatisfied...
The restaurant manager decides to undertake a change.
Composition of the system: 18x iPod Touch (2x for 2 waiters, 1 x for the cook, 15x for 15 tables), 1x bill printer, 1x WLAN.
The service procedure: On every table, besides pepper and salt, there is now an available iPod. The iPod is thin, small and unobtrusive. It has a hull similar to a dish and fits the other table cutlery. If needed, the customer can send an order by clicking on his iPod. At the same time, the cook in the kitchen receives the order on his iPod, without having the waiter involved. Before paying the bill, the guest can check the total amount on his iPod and prepare cash. Once the waiter has received the money, he can close the table's payment on his iPod and release the table for other customers.
A menu in paper form can still be used for information purpose or for customers who are not interested in ordering by iPod.
Service costs per month:
3 iPod x 0.- CHF, 1 bill printer x 0.- CHF, 15 iPod x 8.- CHF = 120.- CHF, total 120.- CHF/month.
You save salary costs for the service staff, lead a relaxed staff, which can care for the personal contact to the customers instead of running around uselessly.