Don't have a modern POS system for your restaurant?

July 29, 2009 - PRLog -- Tired of dealing with undecipherable hand-written? Would you like to know for certainty how much of any product to order in the coming week - instead of just going by a "best guess"? Then you have made the first decision to help your business.

A point of sale (POS) system can give you a new level of control over your restaurant operations, helping you increase efficiency, boost profits, and fine-tune inventory management. When upgrading from a cash register and hand-written orders to a restaurant computer system can be hard, but the return on investment can really make it worth your time and effort.

Restaurant Automation - Buying Tips

•Always prepare for the worst. As with all modern POS systems, you should know that daily backups are crucial. Talk to your vendor about automated backup schedules.
•Clean all. Preventative maintenance ensures the reliability of all your computer POS equipment.
•If you can't stand the heat... When choosing printers, remember that the heat in the kitchen can be enough to ruin thermal paper. Impact (dot matrix) printers are a the most popular.
•Find the right dealer. Restaurants have very specific POS needs. POS-For-Restaurants can help you locate an experienced point-of-sale company in your area who is the best option for your restaurant.

What is a restaurant POS system?

A basic POS system is a glorified cash register, but more appropriate for your specific type of business. The typical restaurant POS station consists of a computer and cash drawer, a receipt printer, and a touch-screen monitor. Almost all restaurants have such electronic POS registers, with additional attached accessories depending on the needs of your restaurant.

For retail-style restaurants like sub shops, POS systems often include printers in the food preparation area, eliminating the errors that can happen when hastily-scrawled orders are passed back to the kitchen. For quick-service restaurants, POS systems are practically a requirement for living up to their name: orders taken on terminals in the front are displayed on monitors in the kitchen, ready to be quickly assembled and delivered to the customer.

Point of sale systems are all not created equal and differ in some respects. These systems need to be designed alongside your menu and seating plan so enable them to communicate orders to the kitchen and bar, track reservations and seating, and handle transactions.

Fine dining POS systems typically include more stations: multiple server stations, a bar station, a hostess station, and printers in the kitchen than more basic POS systems. They also have more features - including the function to create and store open checks as well as tracking which server is responsible for which customers.

Restaurant point of sale benefits

POS systems can greatly reduce the amount of time your staff spends in the kitchen and speed up the order process. The efficiency gain is always well worth the effort. If a restaurant with 20 tables and an average check of $45 can increase turnover by one party per table, that is an extra $900 on a busy night. Just consider the additional savings that come from an even smaller shrinkage:employees can't provide food at no or reduced charge to friends.

In addition to the direct cost savings, restaurant POS systems offer detailed reports that can help you make more informed business decisions. Sales reports help you better predict volume and schedule employees appropriately. Accurate inventory reports ensure you order the right ingredients every week cutting down on waste. And order reports let you see which items are most profitable, which items generate the the least profit, and those you should drop from the menu.

For more information on proper restaurant POS system or to have a local POS professional serving the restaurant industry, you may visit http://pos-for-restaurants.com

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