2TouchPOS "Stays in the KNOW"
Occasionally I get a call from a business partner (one of
our customers) who explains that they are still experiencing operational
frustrations even though they now have 2TouchPOS.
I enjoy going in and seeing first-hand how 2TouchPOS has
helped our establishments. It is still
apparent that because of the “restaurant
hustle” that some of our owners just don’t have the time to delve deeply
into the operational components of our software. That’s where our Customer Support Group (Technical
Support Staff) can make a big difference.
Call the 2TouchPOS guys with your concerns they may just have a remedy
for what you, might want to accomplish.
We enjoy helping too!
Since the establishment I was visiting seemed to talk about
their kitchen more than anything else I thought I would spend my time there. I also visited the establishment on a busy
day. I thought I would start during a
shift that is busy because usually the veteran staff is ALL present. This was the lunch shift I would be able to
see the Sous Chef de cuisine and lunch prep area in action. Then, if needed I would stay through the
dinner shift as well.
What I noticed was that the line was pretty well organized
in a sequence for plating. However, the
establishment didn’t really need that at lunch.
The staff on the line barely spoke maybe it was because I was watching
and… during lunch this establishment had heavy soup and sandwich sales. But
somehow their “Mojo” was off. Three people bumping into each other struggling
to get each menu item made, and plated.
After
the rush was over these are the 4 things I suggested:
1.) Put 2 people behind the line during the rush. One to manage the lunch entrees and the other
to work the fryer, sides, and condiments.
Bring the 3rd person to the pickup area. This 3rd person would have their
own printer and would call out the orders as they came in. The prep staff would also have their own
printer and tab rack. And so would the 3rd person in the pickup area. They would be expediting the orders and
setting up the server trays for pick-up.
Both parties would then place the order in the sequence in which it was
received on a “tab line” and mark off completed orders.
If order tabs are not a preference we can set up a display as well;
however in busy establishments your 3rd person or expeditor really
needs to organize as well and an extra printer for the expeditor is an awesome
way to make that happen. When the order is "trayed up" the order tab is place directly on the tray. Then hot food is delivered immediately to the right table with the correct order.
2.) I
also suggested a salad bar. For this restaurant,
they usually have plated salads. Changing
to a salad bar (at least for lunch) would do several things. First, it would better serve guests during a
time when they need to get in and out. Second
the line in the kitchen prep area really wasn’t set up for the
preservation of lettuce and greens to
retain freshness, the cold table still gets a little warm because the staff are
grilling close by and they leave it open slightly. During the lunch shift, there was no room in
the refrigerator for servers to plate salads ahead of time as the space is
being used to prep for dinner. So Salad
bar at lunch would keep your greens cool and put everything in front of the
customer. Displayed properly your customers are going to love the choices that
you provide to them to make their own great salad. 
3.)Another
item I noticed was that the soup warmer temperature was way too high. They had started the shift with a cream based
soup and a broth based soup. The warmer
boiled the cream based soup until it separated and the broth-based soup was turned
to mush. I suggested that the expeditor
also be responsible for gauging the soup temperature, stirring to keep the soup
evenly heated and letting the chef know when levels were low. Don’t put noodles or barley or rice for that
matter directly in the broth based soup. Cook these items until they are al
dente, they place them in a small plastic insulated warmers next to the soup.
When the server picks up the soup they add the starches. This way your broth-based soups don’t turn to
mush during the shift. During lunch the
soups could be placed on the salad bar with the servers responsible for gauging
temperatures, adding the starches and refreshing the salad fixings as the salad
bar would be out on the serving floor. 
4.) The
fourth item I noticed was the garbage. Ok
yeah I’m sorry I looked at the trash;
but you can actually learn a lot about your establishment by taking a
look at what get’s thrown out during each shift. There was no specified way to track kitchen waste. Our 2TouchPOS system can monitor server and bartender
waste on the Spills, Comps, and Void tabs.
This is a great way to track waste and monitor losses. However, what if
a kitchen staffer makes something incorrectly?
Perhaps they have overcooked an item? Kitchen waste also could be
tracked in the 2TouchPOS system if the kitchen staff member knows how to use
2TouchPOS well enough and has access. Or
perhaps at the end of the rush the kitchen staffers can ask a server to assist
in capturing the waste by starting a tab and moving it to the Spills, Comps, or
Void tabs. Monitoring all food waste is an important part of balancing when you complete
your profits and loss statements. Another
reason to look in the trash is to see how many of your customers do not finish
a meal. You can find out if your portion
sizes are off. Are we throwing out half
a meal? Are the cups of soup coming back only partially consumed? Or are the
customers sending back empty plates? Some of the people just couldn't finish their meal. Maybe portion sizes needed to have controls in place. What the customer leaves on the plate or
doesn’t leave… can tell you what you might need to change. Monitoring all of this can help reduce waste
and save YOUR establishment a great deal of money.
Now I need to decide if observing the dinner rush is
feasible. I think providing feedback for
the lunch crew has been helpful to both shifts.
So for now we will place the dinner observation on a back burner. Hey thanks for having me; and let’s talk about how getting 2TouchPOS
might make a difference for you and your crew!
Need help with any of this? Contact an account manager or our tech support team.
Info@2TouchPOS.com
Phone: 888-756-7994 ext.1
Phone: 888-756-7994 ext.1
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