14:332:452:01 Software Engineering, Spring 2013 Course Project

Rutgers University

Restaurant Automation
Group No. 3

Team Members Name Email

Mitchell Gollub Derrick Louie Digant Patel Carolina Santamaria Jay Nadkarni

mgollub@scarletmail.rutgers.edu delouie@scarletmail.rutgers.edu digantp21@gmail.com cs827@eden.rutgers.edu jay.d.nadkarni@gmail.com

Instructor: Prof. Ivan Marsic Project URL: https://sites.google.com/site/segroup3ra/

Revision History:
Version No. Date of Revision

v.0 v.1 v.2

1/26/2013 2/2/2013 2/9/2013

14:332:452:01 Software Engineering, Spring 2013 Course Project

Rutgers University

Problem Domain: Currently, restaurants are managed and run mostly with a pen and paper system without much technology involved. However, people can make mistakes in ordering and customers want to be provided with an experience that is unique and satisfying. Also, software has been used to manage and keep track of inventory of countless other businesses. Our Restaurant Automation system addresses an implementation of computers and software to simplify the interactions between customers and the staff of the restaurant. The main issues in managing a non-franchised restaurant we are trying to eliminate are: Mistakes in ordering food Running out of food in inventory during operating hours Bill splitting among customers at a table Seating/reservation conflicts Cutting down on waiter idle times Lack of a customer feedback system Collection of data to sustain profit margins Misjudging wait times for table availability The goal of our project is to make the restaurant more profitable and improve customer experience. The problems listed above such as mistakes in ordering food, low inventory reminders, seating conflicts, customer feedback, can be solved with an integrated system so that employees and customers can communicate food orders and general statuses in the restaurant. Each employee will have access to the system either through a tablet or touchscreen to quickly communicate small tasks, like orders and table availability. Waiters can use their tablet to seamlessly take orders from the customer and deliver the order to the kitchen without running back. Also, at the end of the meal, customers can fill out an optional survey about the service from a mounted touch screen, perhaps near the entrance, which will tell the manager more about the customer experience.

14:332:452:01 Software Engineering, Spring 2013 Course Project

Rutgers University

Proposed Treatment: A key solution to these problems is providing a way to effectively and clearly communicate information to the people who need it. Customers have orders to place, so we want our system to help the waiter properly give that information to the kitchen. Inventory data must be kept and give a warning to the manager when stock is low. Hostesses need an effective method to know when tables are clear for seating, which can be given as table statuses from the waiters interface. Customers have opinions on their experience at the restaurant, which they might like to express to the manager. Our software can remedy this through an optional survey. So, restaurants, especially privately owned ones, could greatly benefit from having a connected interface that the employees can communicate through, and also to collect data from the customer. The actors in the system can access the software from an available touch screen and send their input to whoever is in need of it. The applications installed on the touch screens will communicate with the other devices through Wi-Fi to a central server application which will record food order and inventory data as well as redirect traffic. Cutting down on communication time and mistakes saves time and money for a company, we can do this for a restaurant by electronically delivering the information straight to the right person. Here are some broad descriptions of common restaurant roles that will benefit from our system: A server takes orders with pen and paper. People can easily make mistakes when communicating. Having the waiter take the order on a bright tablet (Server Tablet) will make it very clear what is going be seen by the chef. The waiter can even show the tablet display to customers after ordering to ensure the order is correct. Also, the customer has the option of using the R.A.D. to alert the server directly from a small device to order more food or drinks. The hostesss job of seating and reserving tables is also still done with pen and paper. We plan to implement a table map of the restaurant on her Hostess Station showing the status of each table. Each table will have a color signaling its availability along with the part of the meal the customers are on (appetizer, entree, dessert) and a display of the time they have been on that portion of the meal. Food Runners can change the table information as the meal progresses and food is delivered to the table. Hostesses also can use the R.A.D. to call waiting customers to an available table. The hostess can then on the interface drag the R.A.D. number to the appropriate table so that the waiters know where a customers page is coming from. This information will give the hostess a great deal of help while estimating wait times and managing table seating. The customers can also see a nice benefit from the electronic system. Ordering is more precise with the easily read tablet, they have the ability to call the waiter from a R.A.D. (so they do not have to shout or call them over), and there is an available survey to speak their mind and help with restaurant statistics. As long as the system benefits and pleases the customer, it should prove profitable to the restaurant and bring in more people.

14:332:452:01 Software Engineering, Spring 2013 Course Project

Rutgers University

The manager now will have access to a complete updated inventory layout as well as customer feedback from food orders and a survey. When a customer places a food order, the menu item is associated with an amount of ingredients found in the inventory. When the order is made and delivered, the ingredients are subtracted from the inventory totals. This will give the manager a solid idea of how much food is available in storage. The system can also be made to send out notifications when the stock is low. The submitted order also gets put into a tally to show popular food items and allows the manager to promote the selling items and maybe remove from the menu items that are not selling as well. Surveys completed by customers on the Survey Station gives customer experience data to the manager to aid in decision making for the business. The Survey Station can also incorporate a restaurant rewards program or print coupons for customers as incentive for completing the survey. Chefs will receive clearly printed orders sent from the server and printed from the Chefs Printer. This will also help reduce confusion in orders and increase customer satisfaction.

Other than business growth, which is any profit organizations main goal, we would like to ensure customer enthusiasm along with satisfaction. Our implementations should provide a restaurant experience like no other and in correlation increase revenue. Our first priority is to have the staff fully competent with the new technology which will enable them to take care of all customer needs while maintaining efficiency. From hosts to waiters, waiters to cooks, cooks to food runners, they all need to have solid communication reliance. Our technology reduces some individual roles and reduces wait times for customers for seating, eating, and leaving the establishment. However this requires stable employee structure. This should not take more than a few days up to a week depending on the employee. Training clearly will relate to the success of the entire restaurant, the better and more proficient and employee is at his/her job, the more dependable they are to ensure customer satisfaction. Next step in the process will be involving the customers in the system. Goals from this point on will be to collect and analyze data on frequent time intervals to promote future sales. It is crucial to determine which hours are most popular for dining, which food items are most preferred, and which employees are providing satisfactory service. Through manager analyzation of this information, decisions can be made to make special menu promotions, hire/ layoff certain employees, and overall make their system more profitable. Each day, week, and month there will be graphical reports for easy observation and decision making. Also, inventory shortages will immediately be sent to managers to verify automatic re-ordering. This process will be on going through the restaurants operation. Menu and staff decisions will be evaluated at manager discretion (at least monthly). As far as what needs to be accomplished, the restaurant

14:332:452:01 Software Engineering, Spring 2013 Course Project

Rutgers University

should have continually increasing revenue and maintain customer satisfaction which will be assessed from the post-meal surveys.

14:332:452:01 Software Engineering, Spring 2013 Course Project

Rutgers University

Product ownership: Digant and Carolina: Group Profile: 1 Carolina has programming experience in C/C++, has restaurant experience 2 Digant has programming experience in C/C++, has written a business proposal, public speaking experience Responsible Classes: i Customer 1 Hail waiter with RAD ii Waiter (Tablet GUI) 1 pass order to cook 2 pass drink/condiment requests to food runner 3 place order 4 bill splitting 5 pay bills(via credit card, cash) 6 get customer notifications(R.A.D.) 7 partial restaurant table status(change state to unoccupied) iii Cook (ticket printer) 1 order ticket printout iv Food runner (wall mounted GUI) 1 full restaurant table status(change state to appetizer,entree,dessert) 2 customer drink/condiment request notifications v Hostess (podium/wall mount) 1 full restaurant table status(change state to occupied) 2 view timer that shows how long each table has been on current state 3 reservation 4 seating queue a -reservations at higher priority Jay and Mitch: Group Profile: 1 Mitch has programming experience in C/C++/Java/C#/Python, has written a business proposal 2 Jay has programming experience in C/C++, has written a business proposal Responsible Classes: i Inventory system (data structure) 1 database

14:332:452:01 Software Engineering, Spring 2013 Course Project

Rutgers University

ii

2 manager updates when new inventory is received 3 notifies manager when stock is low Manager(tablet and/or PC) 1 view of other systems 2 view, order, update inventory 3 view customer reviews 4 sales info 5 create food promotions

Derrick: Group Profile: 1 Derrick has programming experience in C/C++, has written a business proposal Responsible Classes: i Survey station 1 takes customer reviews 2 prints coupon in return for taking the survey Note: All of us have taken the required prerequisite courses, are ECE students at Rutgers, and have done live project demonstrations.

14:332:452:01 Software Engineering, Spring 2013 Course Project

Rutgers University

Estimated cost: 3 Mounted Touch screens -1 Survey Station -1 Hostess

current market price of tablet x 3

-1 Food Runner Station 5 Tablets -4 Waiters -1 Manager Software Training $999.95 $10/hour/employee current market price of tablet x 5

The cost of our system is dependent on tablet price. There is a tablet available for each table, the hostess, one for the food runners, one for each waiter, and one for the manager. So as an estimate for a restaurant with 20 tables, 1 hostess, 1 food runner station, 4 waiters, 1 survey station, and 1 manager would be 8 tablets ( 8 * $300 is about $2400 ) and the software would be a charge of about $1000. The training is about $10/hour/employee (7 employees * 6 hours * $10 = $420). So a rough total for a medium sized restaurant to install our system would be around $3820.

Updates to Proposal: REVISION 1: 1.) In order to increase versatility of our system, we eliminated having wall mounted menus at tables. We felt that not only this would limit the type of restaurant that could use our system (chain vs. private), but also the structure they must have to use the wall mounted menu (booth style tables) and the liability it imposes in maintaining the security and functionality of the devices. With this change, our system can be used by any type of restaurant. Waiters have the same responsibilities they do now, with much added technology however will increase efficiency and structure of operations. 2.) A new device we are going to implement is called RAD (Restaurant Alert Device). This device will have multiple uses:

14:332:452:01 Software Engineering, Spring 2013 Course Project

Rutgers University

a.) RAD will be handed to a customer when they enter if there is a wait time, the device will alert the customer by vibrating and flashing LED lights when there table is ready. b.) When the host sees that a table has freed up, they will make a link in the host computer system assigning the corresponding RAD device to the available table. c.) Once the customer has been seated and the link is bridged between the RAD and the available table, the host will then signal the waiter in charge of the table that a customer has been seated at one of their tables. d.) RAD will also have a small alert waiter push button used to aid in any customer needs. 3.) The survey structure will be a computer kiosk located near the entrance/exit of the restaurant. There will be an incentive such as a $5 off next meal coupon to motivate customers to take the time to fill out the survey after they have had their experience, and these results will be sent to the manager for evaluation. 4.) Roles were further broken down, Digant and Carolina will be in charge of the restaurant service functionality, Derrick will develop the survey, and Jay and Mitch will be responsible for the Inventory/ Manager report data bases. REVISION 2: 1 2 3 Team Profiles and Product Ownership sections were combined. Functionality was combined into Planned Treatment. Planned Treatment shows a bulleted list of major roles the system plans to target