Handheld POS Serves 1,300 Guests Per Hour at Dinner & Movie Concept Chain

SUMMARY

I was interested in reading an article by Darek Health, about Studio Movie Grill, one of an upscale cinema chain where you can sit down & enjoy a wonderful dinner while watching a movie. I find that to be very relaxing & entertaining. Now Studio Movie Grill is based in Dallas, Texas, where there are many other locations of innovated full-service bar & food cinemas as this company; however, Studio Movie Grill managed to invest in handheld POS (point of sale) systems for their food-service operation. You don't see this every day in many cinemas in which having handheld POS can suit your desires better with order food. Before, the handheld POS at Studio Movie Grill, the company would have to use pen & paper which proved to be slower. Now that they switch to wireless handhelds, the company's service began to increase rapidly. It is stated in the article that each Studio Movie Grill location now serves an average of 1,300 customers per hour. This new investment in handhelds enabled the company to reduce food-service staff & increase the service in which the average amount of money each customers spends. In the beginning, the company tried investing in PDAs, but they had smaller screens with short battery life & bad food-service operation. Therefore, the change that set up & upgrade to the Socket Mobile's (SoMo) 650 handheld computer & Digital Dining software; which included larger screens, long battery life & good wireless connections for a better food-service operation. This change was a great move. This improvement for the company formed greater efficiencies in fast food-service operation in which the company will continue to grow. I definitely will expect other companies to invest in mobile handhelds in their food-service operation. It is a great investment!

REFLECTION

I chose this article for a few reasons. One of the reasons were due to the fact that I love learning about how new technology or operations can improve a company in many ways. The second reason was due to the fact that I've been to an innovated cinema like Studio Movie Grill & realize the type of food-service. And lastly, I just learned about POS (point-of-sale) system so I'm interested to learn about the development in our society. Now I truly believe that technology is growing rapidly so more & more companies are adapting to these changes, whereas reading the article showed that investing in handhelds POS was a great move for Studio Movie Grill. It definitely increase their service in which gave them a better average of customers served in one hour, as to what the number is stated from the article's title. Also, I remember back in the days, I went on a date to an innovative cinema like Studio Movie Grill & from reading this article, I realize there were no handheld POS service which made the service slow even though we were still able to eat & enjoy the movie. But now that I am aware of mobile handhelds for these cinemas, I would prefer to be able to use one for my food-service. I realize point-of-sale systems are very convenient & helpful for every customers desires, especially when it comes to fast food-service operations. I've been to a couple of restaurants with handhelds POS & I like that type of system. It also set competition for other companies in different locations. Therefore, the investment for handheld POS is never a bad ideal.

• Health, D. (2011, January 13). Handheld POS Serves 1,300 Guests Per Hour at Dinner & Movie Concept Chain. Retrieved January 31, 2011, from Hospitality Technology: http://hospitalitytechnology.edgl.com/case-studies/Handheld-POS-Serves-1,300-Guests-Per-Hour-at-Dinner---Movie-Concept-Chain65986

Hotel Retrofitting: How to Avoid Falling into a Money Pit

SUMMARY



Eric Rahe, principal of BLT Architects, and Bob Voth, executive vice president of PHY Engineers Inc., recently create an article that dealt with building new hotels in old buildings. In the hospitality industry today, there are many hotels that are structured from existing buildings and that plays a cost of things being affordable and easy to use certain technology. Now these two gentlemen were looking forward to repurposing existing buildings in urban environments and restructuring these buildings into hotel. However, they believed that remodeling building always have three challenges when it comes to properly using certain technology. One of the first issues were knowing what is currently in the building. In urban environments, many time the old buildings that are trying to be used as hotels are old apartments or offices. Therefore, there can be difficulty renovating an old building that's been renovated in the past by different architects. The cost of breaking down walls and other things can be a bit expensive. The best way to deal with this problem would be to use 3-D laser imaging technology that can help identify certain structure issues befor the designing process. This way can limit the cost of constructions.
The second issue that this architect and engineer faced was incorporating systems in small spaces. In other words, old buildings may have small systems which may limit a few things due to small spaces. By far, this can be a big challenge to renovate an old building to a hotel since certain requirements for that building must be met.
The last issue was, of course, creating a modern experience for the guest. Service is very important in the hotel, therefore, many guests would expect high-tech, nice hotel rooms. Even though when it comes to renovating old buildings into hotels, some hotels were not build to have many wired for modern technology, so many wiring must be fixed in one single location in the rooms. Within this issue, Rahe and Voth believe that lighting was often the biggest challenge when it comes to wiring. However, just by a wireless radio frequency system, that limit the amount of wires that need to be used. In that case, the developing process became easier and pleasing for the guest and operators. As long as you were aware of the old structures, reusing that building to a hotel can work out just the way you want it.

REFLECTION

The reason I chose this article because I work at a hotel that's been reused into a new hotel. When I was hired at the Crowne Plaza, I remember being told that the Crowne Plaza was an old building before just two years ago. It took a whole year just to renovate it  from an old building into a hotel. However, the building still deals with certain structure issues. Just like from the article, it deal with incorporating system in small spaces. In a few rooms, the wiring for technologies are literally located in one single location of the room. Even though it is reuse and made better, guests would have to deal with the old structures. For example, some light switches are located outside the guest's bedroom than on the inside of their bedroom. Many guests are confused by that mix up, so we, as employees, make sure they are aware of where to locate certain things in the rooms they book. Also, even though the Crowne Plaza is renovating from an old building to a new hotel, it still face need of constructions. There will always be something new to add in every building. I sure agree on the challenges E. Rahe and B. Voth faced when it came to reconstructing an old building into a hotel. It has a whole lot of reconstruction to be done just to please every guest and operator.


Rahe, E. & Voth. B. (2011, January 4). Hotel Retrofitting: How to Avoid Falling into a Money Pit. Retrieved January 23, 2011, from Hospitality Technology: http://hospitalitytechnology.edgl.com/top-stories/Hotel-Retrofitting--How-to-Avoid-Falling-into-a-Money-Pit65728