Your kitchen is bustling with sizzling pans, the clatter of dishes, and the frantic shouts of chefs. Orders fly in on paper tickets, piling up in a huge stack. Confusion reigns as cooks struggle to decipher faded scribbles and which order came in first. This is the nightmare scenario of a restaurant without a kitchen display system (KDS).
With a KDS, however, you can streamline the process of sending order tickets to the kitchen when they are entered into the system. This reduces the need for notepads and simplifies communication between the front-of-house (FOH) and back-of-house (BOH).
In this article, we discuss a few more features and benefits of a kitchen display system for restaurants. Let’s dive in!
Core Features of Kitchen Display Systems
The KDS (Kitchen Display System) is a consolidated platform from which servers can check order statuses and track their progress, reducing confusion and offering accurate updates to diners. This improved communication results in a more harmonious and productive restaurant.
Here are a few more key features of a KDS:
Order Management
Imagine a customer orders a pepperoni pizza. Within seconds, it appears on the KDS, complete with its unique identifier. The kitchen staff receives the order directly, ensuring there’s no room for confusion or misinterpretation. This is because a KDS integrates with your restaurant’s point-of-sale (POS) system, allowing chefs to begin preparing the food as quickly as possible.
That’s not all! KDS acts like a virtual hub, keeping all orders organized and accessible. It’s like having a personal assistant in the kitchen, ensuring no order gets lost in the shuffle.
Display Options
The primary feature of a KDS is the monitor, which displays all incoming orders for the kitchen team. While some restaurants prefer the feel of paper orders, a digital monitor display is essential for speeding up services by eliminating paper tickets, which generate more of an order backup than necessary.
When employing a KDS system, the monitor promptly displays the most recent digital orders to the kitchen workers. This allows the chefs to prepare promptly rather than waste time deciphering the scribble.
Moreover, most KDS also have a customizable screen, meaning you can change from large overhead screens to individual workstations depending on your needs.
Integration Capabilities
You might think of a kitchen display system as an extravagant method to show your waitstaff what customers have ordered. Most restaurant managers, however, fail to appreciate a key aspect of KDS’s ability to sync meal orders with a restaurant point-of-sale.
When restaurant managers integrate their KDS and sales data with their POS system, they control all aspects of business operations considerably. Restaurants may get a rapid analysis of their menu items at any time because a POS tracks and syncs every meal order in one single hub for simple access.
On that, you can also see which menu items cost more than they earn, and you can even utilize your POS system’s reporting feature to generate profit and loss statements on the fly.
Reporting and Analytics
A modern KDS is frequently outfitted with data analytics capabilities. Restaurant owners and managers can receive valuable insights on kitchen performance, order volumes, and peak times by examining the data supplied by the KDS.
This data-driven strategy enables them to make informed decisions to improve operations, arrange staff schedules, and efficiently manage inventory.
Suppose you own a pizzeria. Now, using KDS you could figure out if over the last few months, there has been a rise in late-night pizza orders. This will help you take strategic decisions such as extending your opening hours and offering late-night discounts. This information is also necessary for providing a tailored customer experience.
A good KDS will inform you about consumer purchasing and spending habits, order frequency, choice of dining (take-out, dine-in, or delivery), and more.
Automated Workflow Management
A KDS system also automates your restaurant’s workflow management through a token system. This system is a digital conductor, synchronizing order taking, food preparation, and service for seamless operation.
The KDS system assigns each order with a unique token, which links various stages of the order process. From the moment the order is placed to the moment it’s served to the customer, the token ensures everyone is on the same page. This eliminates confusion, delays, and errors, leading to a more organized and efficient workflow.
Cloud-Based Operations
A cloud-based KDS helps you manage all your operations on a single system with robust security measures. These include data encryption and restrictive controls to protect your information from unauthorized access.
That’s not enough! With cloud-based KDS, you can access the system remotely, monitor kitchen operations in real-time, and adjust as needed. This allows you to stay connected even when you’re away, ensuring smooth operation and the ability to address any issues promptly.
Benefits of KDS System for Restaurant
Every year, the restaurant generates about 1 million tons of food waste. By improving order accuracy and streamlining operations to guarantee hot food and timely service, KDS effectively mitigates food wastage to a considerable extent.
A few more key benefits of a KDS system are:
Maximize Kitchen Teamwork
A KDS acts as the central nervous system of your kitchen, coordinating the flow of orders and ensuring everyone is on the same page. It eliminates the need for constant communication, allowing chefs to focus on what they do best — cooking.
This also means no more missed orders, forgotten modifications, or frantic shouting across the kitchen.
Customize Kitchen Displays
Not all kitchens operate similarly, and a KDS understands this. It allows you to tailor the display to your workflow, highlighting critical information like allergies, cooking times, and table numbers.
This level of customization ensures that your kitchen operates at peak efficiency, maximizing its potential and minimizing wasted time and resources.
Reduce Cross-Station Confusion
Cross-station confusion is a major obstacle in any kitchen. Servers yell orders, and cooks scramble to decipher handwritten tickets – a recipe for chaos. A KDS acts as a central communication hub, displaying orders clearly and concisely.
This eliminates the need for repetitive verbal communication and ensures everyone is always on the same page.
Streamline Order Processing
A KDS speeds up order processing, which contains all metrics critical for restaurant operational excellence, such as table flip time and customer wait time.
Since orders are received with greater ease than previously, the kitchen can reduce order preparation time for each meal. As a result, customers receive their orders more promptly, resulting in a significantly better operations process and customer experience.
Enhance Customer Experience
A KDS enables you to prioritize orders based on variables such as preparation time, specific demands, or table size, guaranteeing that all orders are served on time and correctly.
You may also avoid meal pacing concerns by using a KDS, which prevents some customers in a party from receiving their meals before others.
Plus, with the system keeping track of how long each dish takes to make, staff can make sure that all orders are ready at the same time, giving customers a better eating experience.
Conclusion
A restaurant kitchen display system provides various advantages that considerably improve a food service establishment’s overall performance. These solutions can assist in streamlining processes and ultimately improve customer satisfaction by boosting efficiency and accuracy and enhancing communication and order management.
If you’re looking for the perfect KDS system for your restaurant, try out Restroworks Kitchen Display System. It is a cloud-based solution that offers top-notch features such as order management, integration with over 400 software, and a user-friendly interface. These help you avoid the chaos of paper orders and track orders for an enhanced guest experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
1.What is the average cost of implementing a KDS?
The average kitchen display system price is $500–1,000, depending on the type of KDS system, size and the features you want.
2.How does a KDS integrate with existing kitchen equipment?
KDS systems offer integration options like bump bars (update order status), kitchen printers, and API integration with equipment like ovens and fryers to streamline operations.
Most KDS allow easy menu customization, course management, and service style flexibility for dine-in, take-out, and delivery.
