Kitchen Display System (KDS)

Orders in the kitchen:

Managing work in the kitchen is a complex issue. In the beginning, waiters used paper tickets to pass orders on to the chefs. This option led to several errors in preparing orders. This process evolved into a system of printers connected to restaurant POS, which automatically printed receipts in the kitchen used by the kitchen staff to prepare meals. Communication-based on paper receipts is one-way communication. The modern KDS system raises this area to a much higher level of two-way communication between the kitchen and customer service.

KDS in the kitchen increases the efficiency of these processes and ensures the possibility of real kitchen management thanks to establishing even a complex workflow and orchestrating internal processes. It effectively breaks down and synchronizes orders and work in the kitchen, significantly improving efficiency.

KDS functionalities are much more comprehensive and can indicate the ingredients workers should use when preparing meals, which optimizes work and constitutes a perfect element for supervising new workers. It can also indicate ingredients that have run out, which blocks the sale of meals based on them.

The KDS system unifies and connects orders from various channels, whether an order is placed in the restaurant or through an ordering application. All of them are found in the system. They are distributed to the appropriate workstations in the kitchen with an indication of whether they will be consumed in the restaurant or should be prepared for take-out. The Ordering Stack system makes it possible to place orders in advance. Such orders are displayed on the KDS at the appropriate time (in advance) to ensure they are ready at a particular time. 

Dividing the kitchen into workstations depends exclusively on the specific needs of a given restaurant. It is available in simplified or extended versions. For example – Italian restaurants most frequently operate the following workstations: pizza, pasta, salads and appetizers, and the bar. However, QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) restaurants develop the process that takes place at workstations in the kitchen responsible for specific tasks such as frying fries, grilling meat, adding toppings to burgers, preparing salads, drinks and desserts, and completing orders. These factors increase operational efficiency, which is extremely important in the case of the QSR model.

Frequently, the final element in the KDS system is the station for completing orders, i.e., the place where all of the elements of an order are gathered. This station sees all of the elements that have already been prepared, are still being prepared or need to be started. From this place, orders are provided and contain everything the client ordered. This process is linked to displays on the status screen, especially in self-service restaurants. They inform the clients when their orders are ready to be picked up. They can also be supplemented with a status screen for deliverers for personal orders or orders placed through food ordering applications such as Uber Eats, Bolt Food or Glovo.

The KDS system also perfectly supports the Cloud Kitchen (Dark Kitchen) model, where several kinds of kitchens are found in one place. In this model, every type of kitchen is equipped with its form KDS system that supports a given kind of kitchen, but they can be connected to work together. An example could be a common station for preparing fries. The coordinator and the workers at the station for completing orders have access to all orders. This allows for efficiently combining orders and preparing them to be given to deliverers.

KDS Hardware

The screens placed in the kitchen should have a high resistance to many factors, especially steam, high temperatures, and grease. Modern solutions have antibacterial coatings. Recently, increasingly more touchscreens are used. However, another option is still used – non-touch screens with so-called bumpers, i.e., display control buttons.

An example of KDS configuration:

It can be seen in the picture below showing 4 KDS screens in the order fulfillment process:

An example would be a setup for a burger and fries restaurant.
We have 4 stations in the kitchen (roles) here:

When an order comes in, consisting of a burger, fries, and a drink, the cooking process is as follows:

1. The new order (grill items only) appears on the grill screen, status: NOT STARTED
2. The grillman starts grilling the meat for the order and marks it as started on the screen.
3. At the same time, this order appears on the screen by the fryer (only items to be made on the fryer). STATUS: NOT STARTED
4. When the employee starts cooking the fries, he marks the order as started.
5. The KDS sandwich picking order appears when the grillman starts working, you can see its status.
6. On the KDS ordering screen, our order appears only when the grill and french fries stand for the end of the order (both of them must finish).
   

What is Ordering Stack:

Ordering Stack is a fully personalized multi-channel system for placing and preparing orders in restaurants with a system of kitchen displays, with self-service kiosks,  with the possibility of running loyalty programs and marketing campaigns, with full integration with POS/EPOS systems such as Oracle Micros, Oracle Simphony, Loyverse, Agnis and online food ordering applications including Uber Eats, Bold Food, Glovo, Take Away and others.

Ordering Stack provides real automation and digitalization of restaurants, created based on many years of cooperation with the KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King and Guty brands.

The entire system works perfectly with other models of the Ordering Stack system that ensure full automation of work in restaurants:

• Self-service Kiosks – reduces lines and enables clients to place orders independently 
• Integration of orders with online food ordering applications and direct POS system integration
  
  

In addition, we guarantee high efficiency and product scaling in accordance with the requirements of chain restaurants. We offer a dedicated team of experts that support the system’s implementation, configuration, development and functionalities based on real needs.

Our experience:

Ordering Stack Delivery was developed by 3e Software House, a company with more than 20 years of experience in creating software dedicated to orders, including ordering systems.

Find out more about our experience in creating software for restaurants.

All Ordering Stack components, including KDS, are based on the idea of ​​pushing data. This means that the KDS application listens for new events after its launch and as soon as they occur, they are handled immediately. In practice, this means that immediately after adding a new order, it will appear on KDS.