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
I like this idea of handheld point of sale systems in restaurants. In our hospitality trends assignment I made an assumption that a future trend will be using the Apple iPad in upscale restaurants for ordering, which is something similar to this handheld P.O.S. These products I believe will benefit the industry and allow costs to be cut and service ratings up. Being able to order your food off an electronic menu and be sent straight to the kitchen will decrease the time you wait for your meal and when something is needed you can request a waiter for a refill or questions. This will also allow groups to split the check easier and make sure they are paying for only what they have chosen. Another great idea for this is to place a barcode reader in the back of the unit and allow customer to pay at the table and not have to give the waiter their credit card for security fraud reasons.
ReplyDeleteThis article was really good reading about how a place other than a typical restaurant or hotel uses new systems like the handheld POS. The movie industry implementing serving food is not a new idea, but the way the Studio Movie Grill does it, is a new concept. At a movie people need to get their food early on and all around the same time so that food being delivered, staff, and customers ordering do not interrupt the film. This information all exemplifies how handheld POS systems speed up service for customers and can help cut costs for the company while gaining customer satisfaction. These POS systems, if implemented correctly, can greatly help the food-service industry and the future with them should be a great help for employees because of the ease of use and maximization of time that server’s use to put in orders. I am glad that you found this just as interesting as I did!
ReplyDeleteStudio Movie Grill in Dallas, Texas definitely found an organizational niche in their industry. Not only is the thought of a full-service bar and food cinema interesting, but how they operate their organization is astonishing. Reading this article was so interesting because of how even movie theaters can improve their customer service and revenue by investing in a POS system. I would think of all businesses a movie theater would be the last place a POS system could be found. The movie grill partnering with Socket Mobile (SoMo) is a great idea. The main reason I read this article was because of the catching title “…serves and average of 1,300 customers per hour”. I thought how is that even possible? So I began to read on and was very interested that of all places for this device to be implemented a movie theater never crossed my mind! I believe all companies dealing with food should invest in a POS system because of how it improves a company in every aspect, also allowing for an abundance amount of information to be exposed as well. Not only is a POS system recommended to invest in, in today’s world a handheld POS system is even better. If a movie theater can do it, anyone can!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if I would take that large of a leap as a business to let the customer do all the ordering on a hand held point of sale system. It is easy for the x generation or even the baby boomers to use these types of devices but the older generations do not adapt as well. I don’t see my mother being able to use one of those types of systems, especially since she does not seem to order directly off the menu. If the business had employees that walked around to help people or if there is a help button on the hand held where a live person could come and help them out.
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