In general, technology has taken over the western society’s culture. Today’s generation of young adults, teenagers, and children have grown up in a world of vast technological expansion and a world in which all they know of is new technology. Nearly everyone has a computer in their home, TV’s all have HD or 3D capabilities, cellphones are more prevalent than ever, tablets and mp3 players were introduced before anyone even knew they needed one. Every industry has been affected by technology for both good and bad reasons. For the purposes of this blog post I will focus on the specific industry of the food and beverage industry of tourism for what technology has done for this industry.
The major benefit of new technology in the food and beverage industry is the ease of Point-of-Sale systems (POS). They are computers that the servers input an order and it is sent directly to the kitchen. Gone are the days of paper tickets and hand-written orders in most restaurants. Orders can be brought back up, specialized, and help with analyzing product data. This is the first benefit of technology, ease of managing inventory and cost procedures. The POS helps record all purchases and will give revenue print outs at the end of each shift or year. The major drawback to this systm is that it takes loner for the food to get back to the kitchen. With a hand-written order, all the server has to do is write the order and put it in the kitchen for the cooks to make. The POS forces ever server to write the order from the table and then go to the POS and type everything back in to send to the kitchen.
Another way that technology has improved is through the use of the internet. Small businesses can post their websites to come up on Google which allows people unfamiliar with the area to type keywords such as “sub shop Bowling Green” and up pops Mister Spots, Dave’s Cosmic Subs, and Jimmy Johns. it helps the local businesses be seen more by outsiders rather than the visitors having to search throughout the city for a sub shop. The downside to this is if you dont have a website or have a website that is outdated, it can turn away business because people can’t locate you easily or can’t receive any information by themselves, leading them to go to a familiar place such as Subway in this example.
The Aloha POS produced by NCR Corporation is a software program that helps professionals in the hospitality industry manage their inventory, prevent theft, and ensure speed of service throughout the location.
The strengths of this software program are:
- Speed.
- Organization.
- Order accuracy.
- Higher Sales.
- Easier Accounting.
The weaknesses of this software program are:
- Expensive.
- Hard to use.
- If it breaks down then you might lose everything.
- Difficulty receiving quick service support.
- Will not last as long or will soon become outdated as technology grows and expands.