Tampopo uses its iQ to problem solve

The group opened its first restaurant in Manchester in 1997 and now operates six restaurants, including one in London. Speed, accuracy and a well organised kitchen are crucial to delivering Tampopo’s menu of freshly prepared Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese dishes, but this was difficult to achieve without a comprehensive POS system.

Before Tampopo adopted Zonal’s Aztec POS system, processing paper orders meant a high risk of human errors, while communication between front-of-house and the kitchen was poor. What’s more, monitoring performance across the estate was a manual, time-consuming effort, and identifying areas for improvement a difficult task.

But CEO David Fox says all that changed when Tampopo switched to Zonal POS, and improved still further with the adoption of Zonal’s Kitchen iQ smart kitchen and service management solution.

“Zonal’s Aztec EPoS system has transformed our business and given us a platform on which we can manage everything from our stock control through to table management, and now kitchen management.”

“Now I can walk into any one of our restaurants and see at a glance if the kitchen is in control of service. Before, I’d have to wade through a mountain of paper orders, which is time consuming.

Planning for a better service

Fox says that Kitchen iQ has given his teams the data they need to plan for service better, identifying key trading times that were previously going under the radar, such as Sundays. “And importantly, Kitchen iQ is a big hit with staff, who have all benefited from the technology,” he adds.

Kitchen iQ improves speed, accuracy, and communication during the order process, with orders clearly presented on screens in the kitchen as soon as they’re taken, while automatic routing to relevant cooking stations further improves speed and efficiency. Colour-coded screens indicate each order’s status, and front-of-house staff are paged when orders are ready.

“For our front-of-house and kitchen staff it’s also meant the entire process is digitalised, reducing mistakes and speeding up the food delivery process. This has definitely had a positive impact on our customer satisfaction results,” adds Fox.

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