Technology
Barcodes and the RestaurantAssistant
Why?
By using a bar-coding system, kitchen managers can easily identify how long a food item has been out, how long it has till the food expires, and who made it. With barcodes, the old cumbersome system of hand labeling prepared food items is significantly reduced. As the idea holds, once a food item is prepared, the preparer "tags" the item/tray with a unique barcode which is also entered into a database containing expiration dates and various other information for all other prepared food items. By having the barcode in the database, a food item can be monitored in house by the computer, or even remotely from a different restaurant location (think restaurant chains), relieving the kitchen manager to other duties. If a food item expires, the manager is alerted so that they can handle the situation to their discretion. A bar-coding system allows easy entry and removal of an item from a database.A simple scan and selection from the interface to "remove item" will instantly remove an item from the system. To avoid wasting money by overlooking the use of older items, which might expire and have to be thrown out, the kitchen's inventory can be quickly inserted into the database as well.This use of a database can quicken the first-in first-out (FIFO) system of using the oldest item first. The database can tell the manager which item/package to use first, based on FIFO, and by already having scanned the package's barcode, which was inserted into the database upon arrival into the restaurant, a manager does not have to waste time deciphering someone’s writing on a handwritten label.
How?
Each barcode is a unique serial number, represented by printed lines of varying width. The vertical lines allow for a scanning device to read the lines to generate the unique number that they represent. These unique numbers are generated, printed, sent to the database, and placed upon the item instantly. Instead of writing when a food item was prepared, the preparer just chooses the item from the database, selects that they just prepared it, and the database instantly adds the item to itself after generating a unique serial for the item. The software that handles the interface to the database prints the serial number out in barcode format. Finally, the preparer can place the adhesive barcode upon the tray that holds the food item. Scanning a barcode can be done by a wireless barcode scanner.
Scanners… not the movie
Having a wireless scanner would allow the kitchen manager, or any other employee bestowed with the grace of the almighty PDA scanner orgy, to scan an item nearly 300 feet from the database, without a wireless repeater. If a repeater is installed, items could be scanned miles away, being that the kitchen is large enough, and that there are enough repeaters. All in all, wireless is the way to go when it comes to scanner technology, less cords, less mess, and of course a roaming entity that can scan items in random locations from the server
Printers
Having a barcode is nice, but being able to print one at a moments notice is really nice. Any computer printer can print a barcode, but when your dealing with a messy environment like a kitchen or restaurant, you are definitely going to need a more redundant barcode in walks your thermal barcode printer. Although simple label makers such as a Brother P-Touch can print barcodes, they are not wireless, and would render more of a burden. This burden comes by having to input the number by hand, and then printing its corresponding barcode having a localized barcode printer would allow for the printing of more redundant thermal/synthetic labels, and allow for a computer interface to print the label once a new item has been entered into a database.
Costs?
They can be printed on virtually any kind of medium from paper to film, and can even be printed upon RFID transmitters! Although a paper barcode might be the cheapest way to go, the restaurant industry should focus on thermal or synthetic labels, which are necessary in a kitchen environment to adhere to a primitive since of data integrity. Unlike the electronic RFID tags, a thermal or synthetic label can be spilled on, or stepped on. Here’s a simple price roundup:
Printers:
Portable label makers can start at $90 with refills at $15, but separating the adhesive from some labels is a pain. Also, the portable label printers need to have a computer interface to printout the proper label as delegated by the server.
Labels:
Barcode AND RFID printable labels (in conjunction) have a basic cost of $100 for 50 labels, which is much more expensive in relation to the more feasible, and durable thermal or synthetic labels.
1960 thermal labels for $4.50 from SATO
5150 synthetic labels for $25 from BarcodeFactory.com
Scanners:
You can simply use an existing PDA and purchase a Compact Flash barcode scanner attachment for about $320. Obtaining a PDA with a barcode scanner, can cost about $425.Many PDA’s are now wireless enabled (802.11b). Your typical wireless handheld barcode scanners will drop you about $500.
Conclution
Barcodes are cheap! Simply, they are just paper with vertical lines printed on them. Although the restaurant industry might want the slightly more expensive thermal/synthetic or “coated” labels, the labels are simply a quick, cheap, and painless way to get a number into a computer.