KRM Restaurant Group Maximizes Employee Talent with Automated Kitchen Solution
The KRM Restaurant Group is going forward with a company wide implementation of QSR Automations' complete kitchen system in all fourteen existing 54th Street Grill & Bar restaurants that will complete at the end of this summer. With an intent to continue growing its successful "Five-Four" concept at the rate of two new locations per year, KRM is relying on QSR's ConnectSmart Hospitality Automation Solution (including the ConnectSmart Kitchen (CSK) graphical software along with eXpert hospitality controllers and KP-4000 keypads) to help maximize the talents of its managers throughout the restaurant.
Expansion made easy
While KRM was achieving positive results during today's challenging economy, expansion plans were being impacted because the company could not hire, train, and keep managers in pace to match its growth goals.
"Before QSR, it took a highly aggressive, exceptionally organized 'Type A' personality to expedite food through our extremely busy kitchens, which meant we basically had single use restaurant managers who were spending all of their time in the kitchen," says Michael Norsworthy, president and chief operating officer for KRM Restaurant Group. "Historically, it took ten months to train a manager to run a Five-Four kitchen on a Friday night. After implementing QSR's ConnectSmart solution in our second highest volume location, we were able to successfully run our kitchen with zero problems, under the supervision of a new team member who had been with us only six weeks."
Always focused on the countless unseen details that make the difference between mediocre and magnificent, KRM made the decision to automate its Five-Four kitchens after reading about available options in leading industry publications. Satisfied with their existing point-of-sale solution, KRM first looked at a kitchen video system available from that supplier, and quickly found that system could not meet their needs. KRM turned to QSR after a number of Five-Four chefs shared with management their excellent experiences with the QSR kitchen solutions when they worked at other casual dining restaurants.
"We made an extensive comparison to the proprietary kitchen system available from our point-of-sale provider, and it was a clear choice to implement QSR's ConnectSmart kitchen solution," says Al Stenner, director of information services for KRM Restaurant Group. "The seamless interface between QSR's kitchen solution and our point-of-sale software coupled with QSR's responsive service means we do not lose anything by selecting a best-of-breed solution. And we absolutely gain the advanced features, functionality, configurability, and reliability we need in our complex, high volume kitchens."
Visual presentation
With QSR's ConnectSmart solution, all Five-Four team members (chefs, servers, and managers) benefit from a customized visual presentation of the items and orders in process in the kitchen. Later this year, KRM will begin adding graphical menu cards to help protect quality while cutting down on clutter and print costs. KRM is also able to use a combination of touch monitors and keypads for interaction at each of the Five-Four kitchen stations.
Most important, KRM has eliminated the calling out of orders over a microphone. QSR's powerful delay routing capabilities display each individual item within a specific order at the kitchen station responsible for preparing that item, based on the items' cook times, so that all items within the order complete at the same time. Now, the Five-Four guests no longer overhear the kitchen activities, the chefs are no longer required to cook from memory, and the managers are no longer required to keep track of what each kitchen station needs to be doing at all times.
Expansion made easy
While KRM was achieving positive results during today's challenging economy, expansion plans were being impacted because the company could not hire, train, and keep managers in pace to match its growth goals.
"Before QSR, it took a highly aggressive, exceptionally organized 'Type A' personality to expedite food through our extremely busy kitchens, which meant we basically had single use restaurant managers who were spending all of their time in the kitchen," says Michael Norsworthy, president and chief operating officer for KRM Restaurant Group. "Historically, it took ten months to train a manager to run a Five-Four kitchen on a Friday night. After implementing QSR's ConnectSmart solution in our second highest volume location, we were able to successfully run our kitchen with zero problems, under the supervision of a new team member who had been with us only six weeks."
Always focused on the countless unseen details that make the difference between mediocre and magnificent, KRM made the decision to automate its Five-Four kitchens after reading about available options in leading industry publications. Satisfied with their existing point-of-sale solution, KRM first looked at a kitchen video system available from that supplier, and quickly found that system could not meet their needs. KRM turned to QSR after a number of Five-Four chefs shared with management their excellent experiences with the QSR kitchen solutions when they worked at other casual dining restaurants.
"We made an extensive comparison to the proprietary kitchen system available from our point-of-sale provider, and it was a clear choice to implement QSR's ConnectSmart kitchen solution," says Al Stenner, director of information services for KRM Restaurant Group. "The seamless interface between QSR's kitchen solution and our point-of-sale software coupled with QSR's responsive service means we do not lose anything by selecting a best-of-breed solution. And we absolutely gain the advanced features, functionality, configurability, and reliability we need in our complex, high volume kitchens."
Visual presentation
With QSR's ConnectSmart solution, all Five-Four team members (chefs, servers, and managers) benefit from a customized visual presentation of the items and orders in process in the kitchen. Later this year, KRM will begin adding graphical menu cards to help protect quality while cutting down on clutter and print costs. KRM is also able to use a combination of touch monitors and keypads for interaction at each of the Five-Four kitchen stations.
Most important, KRM has eliminated the calling out of orders over a microphone. QSR's powerful delay routing capabilities display each individual item within a specific order at the kitchen station responsible for preparing that item, based on the items' cook times, so that all items within the order complete at the same time. Now, the Five-Four guests no longer overhear the kitchen activities, the chefs are no longer required to cook from memory, and the managers are no longer required to keep track of what each kitchen station needs to be doing at all times.