Assessment 1: Operations and Project Management - Bramble Cafe

Assessment 1

Operations and Project Management

Individual Report

“Bramble Cafe”

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Abstract

This report addresses problems such as long waiting times for orders and common mistakes in orders due to rush hour at Bramble Cafe by having the usage of digital ordering system. The goal of the system is the integration of the ordering process so that the cafe avoids mistakes and increases its customers’ satisfaction.

Executive Summary

The main problem of Bramble Cafe, a local eating place specialising in breakfast and lunch services, is related to its management during stressful hours; the time-consuming service, the extended lateness of the order preparation, and the frequent mistakes in the orders. These issues have implications for customer experience and the resultant revenue benefits.

A paper-based system which involves the use of kiosks, an app, or a tablet can be used in the propositions in this proposal because the ordering process is eliminated. The new system would help decrease waiting time, and low order accuracy, and release the employees for the provision of exemplary services. By linking it with the kitchen and payments, there can be shown an increase in the general performance of Bramble Cafe and a more convenient experience for the customer.

The plan of adoption of the proposed solution therefore requires the following steps: A trial run of the system is done in the peak traffic periods only to test its efficiency. Thus, by implementing the ordered digital ordering system, with conscious monitoring and Control, the quality of services which Bramble Cafe will offer will be improved, customer satisfaction will be increased, and the goals and business vision of the company’s long-term development will be achieved.

1. Introduction

Bramble Cafe is a small local café in Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow in the United Kingdom that can offer Breakfast, lunch, snacks and many more. However, the place during busy hours tends to slow down operations with customers flooding the cafe, especially during lunchtime and over the weekend. Customers receive their orders late and mistakes are made frequently thereby frustrating the customers and the organisation. Thus, it is possible to note that there is a definite need to implement the possibility of ordering food digitally. This system would of course, mean that the time taken to prepare the orders, prepare an actual meal, and the time it would take to deliver the orders to the customers would all be reduced considerably further, the order would also be largely accurate and free from any errors.

Figure 1: Bramble Cafe

(Source: Google, 2024)

2. Current Process and Challenges

Overviews of the Current Ordering Process

Currently at Bramble Cafe, the current method of ordering involves a conventional manual technique whereby the customers have to order from the waitstaff. When customers arrive at the restaurant they are seated and they have to wait for a waiter to come and attend to them. This is more so during lunchtime or on the weekends, the time taken to do this may be long since waiters are multi-tasking between different tables. Customers’ orders are either written down or entered into a point-of-sale (POS) system which is then dispatched to the kitchen for cooking (Christl, 2023).

Challenges During Peak Hours

1. Long Waiting Times

One of the major problems in the current process is that customer waiting time is high and even worse during rush hours (Ji, Lee and Moon, 2023). This aspect is true especially when the number of customers is high, waitstaff takes longer time to take orders. They cut down on the time in which customers spend waiting to be seated, have their orders taken and wait for food to arrive. This is especially so where customers are waiting for their tables which makes the waiters under immense pressure to attend to them expeditiously.

2. Manual Entry Errors

The dependence on manual input by waitstaff in the order-taking process brings in issues of order-taking errors (Kousalya et al., 2021). At peak periods staff are overwhelmed with more orders hence high possibility they will make errors. Some of them may include wrong orders taken, not understanding the customer’s special instructions, or keying in the wrong item into the POS.

3. Pressure on Waitstaff

Busy hours put a lot of stress on the waitstaff because of the various functions that they have to perform including, placing customers at their tables, relaying orders to the kitchen, serving food and drinks, processing payments and answering inquiries from the guests (Hamermesh, 2019). This has the attendant effect of creating cumbersomeness in the processes of service delivery. When staff is overworked he or she is not able to meet the high standards of service delivery as expected.

Impact on Operations

1. Lower Customer Satisfaction

Waiting time, mistake frequency and the quality of service during rush hours all reflect the customers’ satisfaction level. Those dissatisfied customers won’t come back again and may even write a negative review about the cafe and this would affect the reputation of the cafe.

2. Potential Loss of Revenue

Mistakes made in the orders placed as well as delayed service delivery mean losses to the cafe business (Feldman, Frazelle and Swinney, 2018). Sometimes the orders may need to be reproduced which can call for the usage of excess food and more expenses. This is because any customer who had a bad experience with the service will not return to eat in the restaurant again leading to the generation of less revenue.

3. Negative Reviews and Complaints

It is possible to maintain poor service quality during rush periods which would be likely to heighten customer complaints and negative word of mouth. In modern society where everything is presented online, reviews have become very vital in determining the reputation of a business. An increased negative feedback rate may be effective enough to discourage other potential customers from visiting the cafe resulting in reduced sales and fewer opportunities for business expansion.

3. Proposed Solution: Digital Ordering System

Overview of the System

The proposed solution for Bramble Cafe is the introduction of an ordering system which is supposed to tend to the problem of overcrowded working hours. For instance, the options can be self-checkout kiosks, smartphone & tablet applications or tablets that are situated at every table (KioskBuddy, 2023). Customers ordered items directly from the digital interface that would include communication with the kitchen and payment platforms, which makes it possible to eliminate the traditional order and payment processes.

Benefits of Implementation

1. Reduced Wait Times

Another advantage of a digital ordering system is that it saves the customer’s time that they have to spend waiting for services. Previously, customers had to wait for the service staff to take the order usually at lunchtime or during weekends. This causes congestion and hence, the formation of queues and increased human traffic in the course of waiting to be served.

2. Operational Efficiency

Ordering saves the waitstaff’s time which can be used to perform other significant activities like serving food and beverages, cleaning tables, and addressing customers’ concerns (Walker, 2021). This enhances the flow of operation because the staff is not occupied and overwhelmed with taking orders.

3. Customer Satisfaction

A faster and smoother way of placing an order improves the experience of a customer. Customers can be satisfied because they spend less time waiting for their orders, and since there are fewer order mistakes, customers tend to be satisfied more. Self-service is also an advantage to customers who are savvy in Information Technology and looking forward to having more control over the process.

4. Operations management tools for analysis

Process Flowchart

Using a process flowchart, one can see the current steps used in the ordering process and identify areas of change.

1. Current Order-Taking Process Flowchart:

2. Streamlined Process with Digital Ordering System:

Queueing Theory

For analysing and evaluating the effects of waiting time in case of rush hours, queueing theory proves to be quite effective.

• Current Wait Times: During these periods, it may take customers a long time to get what they want since the waitresses are many but they cannot manage to attend to many tables at the same time (Alt, 2021). Where only a few staff members are taking the orders, the time taken per table increases with the influx of customers.

• Expected Wait Time Reduction: With the help of a digital ordering system, customers can order fast and the average time one customer waits is also brought down (Davis Jr, 2020). For example, if the average time taken per customer is normally 5 minutes but management has worked hard to cut it to 2 minutes, the turnover increases almost doubles and in the process reduces significantly the waiting period per customer.

Capacity Utilisation

Capacity utilisation acts as an indicator of the extent to which resources that are available to an organisation (in this case staff and the number of seats) are fully exploited.

• Current Capacity: Currently the capacity of Bramble Cafe is low such that manual order taking affects the whole system. Due to a lack of manpower, Bramble Café’s efficiency is highly impaired, it fails to provide service to the potential customer traffic during the busiest working hours. For instance, in the case of manual ordering, as many as twenty tables can be served within an hour (World Health Organization, 2023).

• Increased Capacity: Having introduced the issue of an e-system in ordering food, waiters can concentrate on serving food and addressing other issues that may arise in the restaurant. This change enhances the cafe’s ability to cater for as many clients as possible within the shortest duration possible. Using the digital system, the customer throughput is expected to improve by 30 % which means, the cafe can serve about 26 tables within one hour, it augments the operation efficiency without involving more workers.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

This is a cost-benefit analysis which takes into consideration the pros and cons of cost when implementing the digital ordering system.

• Costs: The main costs are the costs of equipment for kiosks and tablets, software development costs, cost of integrating the system, cost of training the staff, and maintenance costs. For example, the expense of a given software and its related hardware would amount to £10000 and the additional expense of training and maintenance can be around £5000 per year.

• Benefits: The benefits include enhanced revenue because of the high rate of customer turnover, little cost of human resources employed in order taking since few are required, and less mistake making which gives rise to less wastage of food. For example, let the actual and predicted growths in revenue be 20%, and let the labour cost cut be 10%, then, the cafe can achieve its goal.

5. Implementation Plan

Phased Implementation

The process of putting into practice the use of an exclusive digital order system at Bramble Cafe will be gradual to avoid hardships on the business operations.

1. Trial Period:

• It will be started in the first instance within the periods in the day when the quantities are high, including weekends or lunchtime. These periods are the best to perform the test they denote the optimum traffic thus making it easier for Bramble Cafe to determine the effect of the system under real-life working conditions (Ayaz and Dehais, 2018).

• Objective: Determine the capability of the system in dealing with a large number of customers and its ability to eliminate long delays and wrong orders.

• Scope: The trial will be limited to one or several tables, or specific areas of the cafe to make sure it does not affect large parts of the business and it will be monitored closely.

2. Staff Training:

All the staff will be trained before the trial to ensure they have an understanding of and know how to use the digital ordering system.

• Support Staff: In the initial stages of the implementation period technical support will be provided on the spot to solve any arising problems without necessarily disrupting services.

• Continuous Learning: The staff will also be able to feedback during the process facilitating the identification of new patterns that will improve the process. More training sessions will be held as per the responses received and problems identified in the future (Parisi et al., 2019).

3. Gradual Rollout:

• After the trial phase is over and the technical or operational problems are resolved the system will be implemented step-by-step. The final tier will integrate all the tables and the other forms of ordering such as mobile apps or tablets into the digital system.

• The gradual expansion will guarantee that staff and customers will be able to adjust to change and if there are issues that crop up, they will be addressed one at a time before the extensive implementation since the issues may be containable but huge once they occur.

Timeline

1. System Setup (2 weeks): This phase will include procurement and deployment of the required equipment which are countertop displays (kiosks, tablets) and integration with the kitchen and payment sections. After that a series of tests to check that each component is working perfectly.

2. Staff Training (1 week): It should be noted that any assignment to use the digital system will be associated with comprehensive training of all the employees of the company, especially about the peculiarities of its functioning, as well as in the case of malfunctioning. These will be in animated form majorly involving role-play, customer interaction methods and also and demonstrations.

3. Trial Period (4 weeks): It will be done in the evenings, on the weekends and at lunch hours as these are the busiest times. The monitor will be devoting efforts to decreasing the waiting time, cutting down on mistake incidence, and responding to customer complaints.

4. Full Launch (2 weeks): It is therefore expected that based on feedback and improvements that indeed the system will be adopted fully for all operating hours.

Risks

1. Technical Issues:

• When using this system, service disruptions may occur, and this would not go well with the majority of the customers.

• Mitigation: During the early days, owners shall be able to hire the services of IT support personnel to ensure that problems are promptly fixed. Also, manual ordering of the products will still be possible when the use of the system is not possible.

2. Customer Resistance:

• Certain clients may prefer the conventional system of making an order, as well as being served by waiters and waitresses.

• Mitigation: Traditional order placement will also be maintained for the first phases as option providers who are not It savvy may not want to use online orders (Orr, 2018). The staff at the wait will also make sure that new customer is acquainted with the new system in place to ensure their ease. For example, at Bramble Cafe, it is possible to make gradual changes to reduce the excessive use of manual ordering while ensuring that the customers get used to the digital system slowly.

Monitoring

1. Customer Feedback: During the trial phase the feedback from the customers using the system will be sought through surveys. The feedback will be significant to understand where the organisation needs to improve, especially about the product’s user-friendliness and the rate of service delivery (Kwangsawad and Jattamart, 2022).

2. Staff Feedback: Employees will also share their opinions on how this system affects their working procedure as well as their interactions with customers (Kaasinen et al., 2020). Such feedback will assist in reviewing the roles of the staff and make sure that despite the transformation of their task, they continue to deliver good customer service.

3. Key Metrics: Below are the measures that Bramble Cafe will use to measure the success of the chosen implementation:

• Average Wait Time: Determine the amount of time it takes from when a customer makes the order to the time they are served their meal, especially during peak hours, this should be greatly improved.

• Order Accuracy: Monitor, how many times orders contain mistakes and try to achieve a significant reduction in this indicator.

• Customer Satisfaction: Conduct post-visit surveys to ensure that the general satisfaction level, in terms of the speed, accuracy of service and ease of using the new system is recorded.

6. Conclusions and Recommendations

The following are potential advantages of the digital ordering service to Bramble Café, Increased efficiency, time-saving, decreased number of order mistakes as well as an increase in satisfaction among the customers. With the help of online ordering, the flow of clients who come to the cafe during rush hours increases, which is in line with the aim that outlines the proper work of coffee shops even during rush hours. In Bramble Cafe’s case, it is advised that there be the immediate commencement of a trial phase during peak hours. It will make it possible for the cafe to assess the performance, obtain feedback and implement any changes before a full implementation of the system.

References

Alt, R., (2021). Digital transformation in the restaurant industry: Current developments and implications. Journal of smart tourism, 1(1), pp.69-74.

Ayaz, H. and Dehais, F. eds., (2018). Neuroergonomics: The brain at work and in everyday life. Academic Press.

Christl, W., (2023). MONITORING WORK AND AUTOMATING TASK ALLOCATION IN RETAIL AND HOSPITALITY.

Davis Jr, R.D., (2020). Development of a Wait Time Prediction Model for the Service Industry (Doctoral dissertation, Tennessee State University).

Feldman, P., Frazelle, A.E. and Swinney, R., (2018). Service delivery platforms: Pricing and revenue implications. Available at SSRN, 3258739.

Hamermesh, D.S., (2019). Spending time: The most valuable resource. Oxford University Press.

Ji, Y., Lee, W.S. and Moon, J., (2023). Café Food Safety and its Impacts on intention to reuse and switch cafés during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of starbucks. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(3), p.2625.

Kaasinen, E., Schmalfuß, F., Özturk, C., Aromaa, S., Boubekeur, M., Heilala, J., Heikkilä, P., Kuula, T., Liinasuo, M., Mach, S. and Mehta, R., (2020). Empowering and engaging industrial workers with Operator 4.0 solutions. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 139, p.105678.

KioskBuddy, (2023) Available at: https://www.kioskbuddy.app/blog/ordering-system-for-restaurant (Accessed on: 19/09/2024)

Kousalya, M., Lakshi, E., Kanna, M., Pravin, G. and Prabhu, T., (2021). Automatic Restaurant Food Ordering Menu Card. International Research Journal on Advanced Science Hub, 3(3S), pp.7-12.

Kwangsawad, A. and Jattamart, A., (2022). Overcoming customer innovation resistance to the sustainable adoption of chatbot services: A community-enterprise perspective in Thailand. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 7(3), p.100211.

Orr, S., (2018). Maintaining a viable competitive position in the e-commerce space through advanced supply chain management strategy adoption.

Parisi, G.I., Kemker, R., Part, J.L., Kanan, C. and Wermter, S., (2019). Continual lifelong learning with neural networks: A review. Neural networks, 113, pp.54-71.

Walker, J.R., (2021). The restaurant: from concept to operation. John Wiley & Sons.

World Health Organization, (2023). Workload indicators of staffing need: user’s manual. World Health Organization.

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