— By Lindsey Walker —
Why asset tracking software is good for your restaurant business.
Operating a foodservice or restaurant business involves managing various appliances, each essential for daily tasks like cooking and refrigeration. Integrating these appliances into a system that gathers data for decision-making can be time-consuming. The Internet of Things (IoT) offers a solution by utilizing appliance data to optimize property management and enhance business performance with real-time insights. From ensuring customer satisfaction to maintaining quality standards, running a restaurant or café requires careful attention to detail to drive sales and profitability.
While creating a welcoming atmosphere is important, effective restaurant management is the backbone of success. Investing in ambience, climate control and food quality is crucial, but adopting technology is equally essential. Whether overseeing a chain of restaurants or a small café, implementing an automated restaurant management system can significantly contribute to achieving short term goals and long term success.
Asset Tracking in the Restaurant Business
1. Efficient Utility Management
Using utility management software can help your restaurant keep track of and analyze utility consumption, as well as generate reports. It’s handy for making utility bills for different periods, like yearly, monthly or daily.
One of the best things about this software is that it can send you alerts when consumption is getting high. This way, you’ll know when it’s time to take action.
This software covers important tasks like monitoring HVAC systems, electrical operations, chiller plants and water usage.
2. Insightful Reports & Analysis
With asset tracking management software, restaurant managers can access detailed reports and analytics. This helps in running day-to-day operations smoothly.
These reports show things like how much raw material you’ve used, how much money you’re making and what you’re spending from gathering materials to serving food.
Plus, this software isn’t just about collecting data. It also helps in making important decisions like setting prices, choosing popular dishes and improving overall restaurant performance.
3. Cloud-Based Management
Using cloud-based management is a great choice for restaurants and businesses. With cloud-based asset management, security is part of the package.
Dedicated servers and database systems improve security by having a specialized team protect your data. Your data is stored in a safe, encrypted way.
Cloud-based asset management simplifies tracking your restaurant’s assets with a single database. You can access it from your phone, tablet or computer, making it easy to use. This means you can manage your assets even when you’re away from the restaurant, whether on a business trip or vacation.
4. Asset Tracking
Keeping track of your restaurant’s assets, especially across multiple locations, can be tricky. Asset management software makes it easier to track assets in real time, no matter their size or where they are.
For example, if you have delivery vehicles, the software lets you see where they are and if they’re being used. It also helps you keep tabs on their value and maintenance needs. This ensures your assets stay in good shape and perform well.
5. Streamlined Sales Management
Managing sales can be a complex task for restaurants. From handling various payment methods to tracking expenses, taxes and profits, having an all-in-one restaurant management software is essential. This software not only simplifies sales tracking but also offers additional features such as tablet ordering and POS management.
With restaurant management software in place, everything becomes more manageable. Waiters can take orders directly on tablets, seamlessly integrated in real-time with the back-end system to track costs, revenues, and sales. Moreover, the software enables the generation of detailed reports on sales revenue, payment methods and more — providing valuable insights for informed decision-making.
6. Efficient Customer Service
The software streamlines processes, resulting in quicker and more convenient service for customers. By maintaining real-time records of assets, restaurants can also ensure better regulatory compliance, contributing to an improved brand image and customer loyalty.
Why Restaurant Management Software Is Important & Beneficial
1. Simplified Employee Management
Tracking employee performance and attendance can be quite a challenge when done manually. However, with the help of an RMS (Restaurant Management System), you can efficiently manage time and participation for various roles within your restaurant staff, including waiters, managers, chefs, cooks and others. Outdated methods like using Excel spreadsheets, written contracts and paper records are gradually fading away.
Restaurant and cafe owners are now opting for smarter solutions that require only a modest investment to ensure operational efficiency. They recognize that implementing a well-managed system reduces the time, costs and effort associated with workforce management. Here are some key features of traditional restaurant management applications with staff management capabilities:
• Updating employee availability
• Tracking employee attendance
• Managing employee leave and documentation
• Creating staff schedules
2. Inventory Management:
Your restaurant or cafe’s success relies heavily on how well you handle inventory. By analyzing customer demand and supplier availability, you can purchase, store and manage inventory more effectively.
Inventory represents a significant cost for restaurants, so keeping a close eye on it is crucial. Tracking inventory levels in real-time — what’s been purchased, used, wasted and stored — helps minimize food waste and streamline inventory management processes. This proactive approach also helps you better understand and meet customer needs.
3. Sales Monitoring:
Tracking sales can be a challenge, but it’s essential for restaurant operations. A good restaurant management software can simplify this task by managing cash and credit transactions and tracking expenses, taxes and profits.
With features like tablet ordering systems and point-of-sale (POS) management, such software makes operations smoother. Waitstaff can input orders directly into tablets, syncing with backend systems to track costs, revenues and sales in real-time. You can generate detailed reports regularly to gain insights into menu item sales, cash versus card transactions and more.
4. Credit & Debit Card Handling:
It’s important to cater to all customer preferences, including payment methods. A reliable restaurant management software should handle credit/debit card and cash transactions seamlessly.
5. Financial Reporting:
Producing financial statements shouldn’t be a headache. Restaurant management software can take care of this for you, generating weekly and monthly reports that show your expenses, sales, taxes and more.
By automating these tasks, the software saves you time and effort, giving you the information you need to make smart decisions for your business.
Asset Tracking Practices for a Restaurant Business
1. Asset Organization
Start by making a detailed list of all your belongings, ranging from major appliances like freezers and ovens to smaller items such as pots and cutlery.
Group them based on their purpose (e.g., kitchen equipment, serviceware, furniture) or where they’re used (e.g., front-of-house, back-of-house).
2. Utilize Technological Solutions
Explore the possibility of using enterprise asset management software or specialized asset tracking tools.
These platforms can store crucial information about your assets, monitor their locations (especially helpful for mobile equipment) and even generate maintenance schedules.
Consider incorporating barcode or RFID tags for effortless scanning and real-time data updates.
3. Implement Check-In/Out Procedures
Develop a structured process for monitoring equipment usage, particularly for valuable items or those prone to disappearing.
This might involve maintaining a physical logbook, assigning specific staff members to oversee checkouts or implementing a mobile app for staff convenience.
4. Regular Audits & Physical Counts
Plan regular audits (monthly or quarterly) to reconcile your digital records with the actual assets on-site.
This practice helps identify any inconsistencies, missing items or misplaced equipment, ensuring accurate asset management.
5. Harness the Strength of Your Team
Provide comprehensive training to your staff on asset tracking protocols and stress the importance of accountability.
Encourage a culture of responsibility by prompting employees to promptly report any instances of missing or damaged equipment. n
— Lindsey Walker is the marketing manager for NEXGEN, a Sacramento, Calif.-based industry leader in designing advanced computerized maintenance management systems and asset management software tools for utilities, facilities, public works, manufacturing and fleet industries.