Pizza Hut is a world-leading pizza supplier with over 12,000 establishments in 90 countries. In Belgium, Pizza Hut is franchised by Top Brands NV, which represents 32 full service restaurants and 18 delivery shops, while continuing to open 4 to 5 new restaurants every year. Pizza Hut in Belgium has a turnover of about 40 million Euros and employs a workforce of 1000 employees.

Before implementing its new wireless system, order-taking was rather time consuming and could lead to mistakes such as incorrect orders being served to customers. The food servers took a handwritten order while often also preparing and serving drinks at the customer’s table. Only after serving the table was food server able to deliver the handwritten order to the kitchen. And because these orders were often hurriedly written down, this could result in an order being misunderstood by the kitchen staff.

Besides these constraints, this procedure was time consuming as the kitchen staff would often only receive an order minutes after it was first taken. In addition, the food server had to walk a lot between table, bar and kitchen, often not being able to serve customers promptly. Taking up more time was the fact that the cashier was required to key the orders into the system when customers were checking out. This procedure could also result in wrong items being entered, potentially resulting in a loss of business or a poor level of customer satisfaction.

 
Proof of concept

As GMI Group NV was the solution provider for the tills, it was invited by Top Brands to consider an order-taking solution. The company presented a proof of concept within 2 weeks, offering a prototype application and associating hardware with the help of Unitech’s partner Eutronix. Based on this proof of concept presentation, Top Brands approved the proposal to further develop the solution and appointed a pilot restaurant for testing purposes. “After thoroughly testing and reviewing its advantages over the competition, we felt the combination offered on the PA962 of quality, durability, sealing, price, and functionality were absolutely perfect to fit our application,” commented Jürgen Corstens, Pizza Hut’s store systems manager.

The new solution made it possible to take orders at the table using Unitech’s PA962 wireless terminal. With the use of wireless communication, orders are sent from the PA962 via an intermediate server to the POS systems, as well as to the different work stations such as bar and kitchen for preparing appetizers and main courses. Each work station has its own network printer for printing the assigned order.

 
Roll out

After the successful pilot, the PA962 was selected by Top Brands for further roll out within Pizza Hut. During this roll out, the GMI Group worked very closely with Eutronix to ensure full hardware support as well as easy integration and installation of the RF infrastructure. The PA962 offered Pizza Hut a PDA completely fulfilling the requirements for use in its restaurants. It is built to withstand multiple 1.2 metre drops to concrete and is IP65 rated, sealed against moisture, dust, fat and occasional liquid spills. Additionally, it offers quality WiFi connectivity complying with CCX’s world standard in security. Pizza Hut also selected a number of Unitech accessories, such as holsters, making it easier for food servers to carry and use the PA962. 

Benefits and ROI

Since the application was developed with the user in mind, personnel could easily adjust to the application provided on the PA962. Only limited training was needed; saving a lot of time at implementation stage. Many of the food servers at Pizza Hut commented: “It’s like walking around with a mini-till in your hands.”

With the new solution in place, Pizza Hut’s goal of improving the overall effectiveness of its crew has been achieved. Customers are now served more quickly than before; especially during peak times such as lunch when they have only limited time available. Pizza Hut can now equip its main food servers with a mobile computer, while other personnel carry out supporting tasks, such as preparing drinks and serving dishes. Food servers with a PDA are now able to be much closer to customers and be of assistance when needed, keeping customers happy and satisfied.

An additional benefit is that by using the PA962, Pizza Hut food servers reduce the risk of forgetting orders or entering the wrong products upon payment to almost zero. This is because only the products that come in as an order via the printers are served and charged. The PA962 also offers more detailed information on the sold products; therefore offering more marketing and reporting possibilities.