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At Labriola Bakery & Café, Illinois, guests can dine in or take away. Currently, the company has opened a specialty restaurant called Labriola Ristorante in Chicago, which is equipped with outdoor seating and a bar. The company’s operations manager Edwin Arreola began looking for a solution to ensure that these foods reach consumers as soon as possible. Specifically, he wants to ensure that consumers get food within 10 to 12 minutes after ordering.
Finally, the company chose a Table Tracker solution based on RFID and Zigbee technology, which was provided by Long Range Systems (LRS). The system was put into use in January 2015. The initial range of use was in cafes and bars. This summer, the system was extended to use on outdoor terraces.
The cafe has a total of 25 seats and can accommodate 90 to 95 customers. The cafe attaches a 13.56MHz RFID tag to the back of each as the tag is compatible with the ISO 15693 high-frequency air interface protocol standard. The label is provided by LRS. Labirola also attached tags to 15 chairs and 18 high tables in front of the bar counter. Recently, the company also attached tags to 20 tables in the outdoor terrace area.
When ordering, consumers need to enter the order in the POS system and receive a rechargeable Table Tracker device. At the same time, the staff will enter the Table Tracher device number into the POS system to store the Tracker ID and the order. Then, consumers can bring the Tracker to an empty table or bar to let the staff know the location of the consumer. The Tracker has a built-in HF RFID reader and a Zigbee device. At the same time, the device can also transfer the device to the Table Tracker software.
When the Tracker is placed on the table, the device can read the ID number of the label on the table and transmit the ID number to the gateway through the Zigbee mesh network. Then, the gateway will transmit these data to the Table Tracker software.
Two monitors are installed in the restaurant to display order status and location data: one is installed in the kitchen and the other is installed in the beverage station. After the order is ready, the staff can view the Tracker number and its location information on the Aloha software. Then, they can deliver the food to the customer.
Arreola said that the restaurant pursues fast service, so the Table Tracker software will issue a yellow warning 10 minutes after receiving an order, and a red warning after 12 minutes. In addition, the software can also provide efficiency reports.
Arreola said that by speeding up the service, the technology can attract more repeat customers. He said: “Consumers’ feedback on this system is very positive.” Although he had worried about network connectivity issues, so far, there has never been a problem in this area.
In the future, Labriola will also install this technology in Oak Brook stores, but there is no exact time yet.
Strong stated that Labriola is using the latest version of Table Tracker. Although the company’s solution was developed for the food ordering model of fast casual restaurants, it is also applicable to canteens, fast food restaurants, cafeterias, etc. of enterprises or hospitals.
LRS produces its own gateway and tracker equipment. The latest version of Table Tracker can accommodate 125 Tracker devices. At the same time, the software can also filter data, such as take-out orders or fresh-to-eat orders.
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