The Client
Melanin food court and bar is an amalgamation of tradition, fun and quality food. Located at the heart of Nairobi’s nightlife district, Melanin offers a wide range of eateries and drinks in a nature-inspired surrounding with a touch of professionalism and fabulous entertainment.
The Requirement
Melanin food court and bar identified the need to implement a complete restaurant solution to help their business with streamlining the facilitation of order placing, order processing, order display, billing and interdepartmental coordination.
The Challenge
Melanin food court and bar
is celebrated as Nairobi’s newest happy hour joint. The establishment offers a
wide variety of cuisines including French cuisine and breakfast, Spanish la
paella, Asian Cuisine, Fish chicken and chips, burgers and sandwiches, Smoothies,
Greek cuisine, Yohei sushi and sake, Pizza, Urban Choma, Alcohol beverages and
juices.
To streamlines their services, the establishment decided to seek the help of technology by implementing a complete restaurant solution that takes care of all the functions of a restaurant, starting from order taking, order processing, order display and to billing and settlement. The solution had to be robust enough to handle every aspect of restaurant operations and make interdepartmental coordination a bliss. The requirement called for the integration of various module including a consumer app, an app for waiters, Kitchen Display System, Point of Sale system along with hardware compatibility.
The Solution
Our team developed a comprehensive restaurant solution based on mobile technology to help the establishment with streamlining their services. The solution has five major components.
Consumer app
The consumer app has a dedicated version for popular mobile platforms, Android and iOS. It helps the customers of Melanin to place orders directly from the app interface. The process is so simple and direct in a way that customers have to just choose their table number and the items they want to be served.
Waiters’ app
The waiter’s app helps the waiters of the restaurant to confirm the orders placed by customers. Each waiter will be assigned with a set of tables and, every table will have a table number. Customers must mention their table number while placing an order. The order will go to the respective waiter to let him/her confirm the order personally. Confirming orders helps in ensuring that the items ordered are correct, and the customers are available on the table to be served. It also helps to avoid any order that is not genuine, helping the restaurant to save time and resources.
Once the order is prepared in the kitchen, the waiter will get a notification on the app with the respective order number.
Kitchen Display System
Once the order is confirmed by the respective waiter, the order is displayed on a display that is placed in a visible area of the kitchen so that the kitchen staffs can start working on the order, right off. The items in an order can be mapped to different sections of the restaurant if the restaurant has dedicated space and team for each category of dishes. When an order is completed, the kitchen manager can tap on the screen to remove it from the list of orders.
Android POS
The Android POS itself can be called as a complete restaurant solution. It is placed in the cashier’s desk and helps with all functions of a restaurant starting from taking orders to bill and settlement.
Hardware
The solution is compatible with lastest Fiscal printers, Bluetooth and Wifi printers, and cash drawers. A touchscreen display can be used in the kitchen for displaying orders and managing them easier.
Features
Lightweight
The solution uses the latest mobile technology, making it lightweight and easy to use.
Cloud storage
The solution uses cloud technology for storage needs and avoids the need for a traditional server.
Consumer app
The consumer app makes it simple for customers to place orders. The need to stand in a queue to order food and drinks is now completely outdated at Melanin.
Order management
Orders are automatically
assigned to waiters based on the table number.
No fraud orders
Order is sent to the
kitchen only after confirmed by the respective waiter.
Order status notification
When an order is ready in the kitchen, a notification is sent to the waiters’ app with the respective order number.
Order display
Orders confirmed are directly sent to the respective KDS (If there are dedicated space and teams for different categories of cuisines).
Display customization
The style and colour of orders displayed by KDS can be easily customized.
Android POS
The Android POS placed at the front desk helps with all the functions of a restaurant starting from order taking and payment to billing and settlement.
Secure login
Only authorized users can access and use the system.
Shift data
All the transactions are saved based on shifts. Beginning and ending balance will be displayed every time a shift is completed.
Customer relationship management
Using Android POS, staffs
can assign loyalty points to customers and send them promotional offers
directly from the POS interface.
Split bills
The Android POS that is part of the solution enables split bills. The split amounts can be paid using different modes of payment like cash or card.
Refund
Items in an order can be easily refunded or replaced with the help of a few taps by the finger.
Bill settlement
When the payment is made using cash, the balance needed to be handed over to the customer is displayed automatically on the POS screen.
Real-time reports
The Android POS displays real-time data on sales, inventory and staff performance.
Technologies Used
Android Java with MVP architecture, Firebase, Room Database, Java 1.8 Enterprise edition, iOS
The Result
The solution has helped Melanin food court and bar to have full control over all their operations. Along with increasing the efficiency of the establishment, the solution has also helped them in improving customer satisfaction by enabling their customers to place orders directly from a smartphone.
