Just like all sorts of other types of enterprise, the food business is going through a heavy period of automation. Unless you are willing and ready to keep up with the crowd, it is more than likely that you are going to get left behind.
It is not enough to simply automate in any and every area without much of a clear strategy in place. Instead, you need to have a targeted approach that you are using, taking on board new types of tech whenever it becomes available and useful. Let’s look at a few of the most common ways that you have available to automate your food business.
Work out how to automate supplier relations
Rather than having to manually go through the process of placing repeat orders all the time, you are much better off having this done for you. For example, it could be the case that you are able to have an inventory that triggers a new order every time that you are running low on a particular type of product.
Alternatively, you may be able to set up certain standing orders based on the number of each item that you require. Of course, many of the central decisions of the business still need to be left to you.
Deciding on the products to order in the first place like frozen lobster meat for sale is important, but once this has been settled on, allowing the parts that need less thought to be automated will free up your brainpower and creativity to fully focus on other areas.
Look at your ordering system
Next up, you can place more focus on the ordering system and the ways that you can automate this. For example, if you are running a restaurant business, could you look to install some self-service kiosks?
This way, you are freeing up staff time by letting customers pick what they would like. This may not work for the main part of the restaurant, but it could be effective for a takeaway service.
Another potential option that you have available is to allow your customers to order online rather than requiring them to do it in person. This way, you will have the orders ready ahead of time and you aren’t going to have to worry about getting them processed.
Perhaps automated kitchen equipment will allow the orders to come through directly to where the food is being prepared and you are not going to have to worry about your teams communicating with one another. This also has the advantage of reducing human error, which can be a major issue in food businesses up and down the country.
Better manage your inventory
Poor inventory management is the scourge of food businesses all over the world. It can lead to all sorts of different problems. To begin with, you may not have the correct amount of a certain ingredient that can cause a huge shortage in the number of orders that you are able to fulfil.
Alternatively, it could be the case that you are allowing certain ingredients to expire as you are simply not tracking how they are being used properly.
The idea of sending out automatic orders has already been touched upon, but if you are able to get alerts every time you are running out of items or the expiry dates are coming up, this can help to prevent you from wasting stock.
It can also free up the time of employees who are otherwise having to deal with menial stock taking jobs when they could well be focused on other more important parts of the business.
Use scheduling software
Rather than leaving it up to managers to have to deal with all the scheduling and the potential arguments and disruptions that it can lead to, scheduling software can end up being enormously useful in ensuring that you have the correct number of staff members on at the right times.
It can also give you a clearer picture of patterns so that you are able to schedule the correct number of people for any given shift and you are not left in a situation where staff members are standing around without a great deal to do.
Automated reservation systems
Again, if you are running a restaurant business, it can be enormously useful to put in place an automated reservation system. Again, this will free up staff time as they are not going to be left having to manually take reservations.
Also, it will allow customers more freedom to see when you have times available for booking at your restaurant, as well as changing them easily. Plus, any cancellations should be easier to make as they can be done with the click of a button and the fact that it has happened can be sent directly through to you without too much of a fuss occurring.
You may also be able to have in place a system of digital waitlists so customers can see how busy you currently are and potentially book themselves in when the time becomes available.
Create an easier marketing system
The best food businesses are the ones with automation built into their marketing as well. For example, you can use software to create the emails for you – or at least come up with the right template. You can also use scheduling software so that the emails are released at the right times.
Ultimately, it makes sense that you use and keep up with all the tools that are at your disposal so that you can free up as much time and energy as possible to be spent on other areas.
Automation is useful in all sorts of different business types, and this is certainly the case in the food industry. There are plenty of practical advantages that it can bring in a wide range of different areas from the actual ordering process to marketing to customers and even allowing them to manage a big part of the experience themselves such as ordering.
