Dividing the Day to Multiply Operational Efficiency

In the restaurant industry, dayparting is the practice of dividing the business day into several parts– Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner etc. During these blocks of times, different menus are featured with items targeted toward that particular mealtime and/or demographic.

Analysis of dayparts can provide owners and managers with actionable insights into how they can optimize their meal service operations. Measuring metrics such as order accuracy, kitchen bump time, and production time by menu item, across different times of the day, can influence menu assortment, pricing strategies, ordering logistic accuracy, and effectively aid in the proper scheduling of staff.  

QSR magazine measured the order accuracy rate of dayparts and found the following.  “While most dayparts enjoy an order accuracy rate around or above last year’s benchmark group (87.2 percent), the dinner daypart came in well below, perhaps because of the complexity of dinner orders.”[1]

Typically, the lunch and dinner rushes, when most ‘quick serve’ restaurants are the busiest, are when the cashiers feel pressured by lines and make mistakes resulting in a decrease of order accuracy. Reporting on dayparts will identify training opportunities that, when addressed, will improve the efficiency of not only the cashier but the daypart as well.

As a quick serve restaurant owner/manager, focusing on order speed tends to take priority over all other metrics.  Order speed and accuracy go hand in hand – you can’t talk about one without the other. According to an article written by QSR magazine, in today’s society, order accuracy and speed are moving in opposite directions regardless, of daypart, due to the evolving complexity of customer needs.² The top QSR chains understand the changing times, and are adjusting training programs to best prepare staff to improve operational efficiencies. In addition, relying on a data analytics tool that considers input from the POS, and other operational data sources, for visibility into cashier and daypart efficiency, has become a necessity for QSR managers.

Preparing your staff to have that ‘need for speed’ during their shift is not the only preemptive measure managers should take.  Insight into potential menu item issues, or related menu item components, preparation time, and other factors impacting speed and accuracy can prove to be fruitful. If a menu item has too many components or its preparation is too complex, even your best employees won’t be able to meet order time standards for these items.  Having the right tool to identify the cause of production impediments allows you to consider alternatives such as altering that menu item or changing the time at which it is offered.

At Agilence, we incorporate all relevant data feeds into our 20/20 Data Analytics™ to give our customers complete visibility into operational efficiencies.

Want to multiply your profits? Give us a call and we’ll show you how.

[1] Source: QSR Magazine; October 2014 – Accuracy by Daypart

2 Source: QSR Magazine; October 2014 - Drive-Thru Performance Study 2014