By investing in a more efficient and effective technology solution, noncommercial kitchen operators are able to enhance operations and address their current staffing issues.

Staffing challenges continue to cause headaches in the hospitality industry. Noncommercial kitchens are not immune from this, either. The recent surge in COVID-19 cases due to the spread of the delta variant also is adding to the strain, as more people—including workers—test positive for the virus.

Venues such as hospital cafeterias and school dining halls are especially hard hit by the labor shortage, forcing foodservice operators to manage with a smaller staff. Many of them have turned to technology to create more efficient operations and to optimize their use of staff and resources. Even before the pandemic, foodservice operators were using technology for digital ordering, scheduling, purchasing, maintaining inventories of food and suppliesand tracking safety practices. During the pandemic, many have invested in technology designed to reduce contact and maintain distances.

Using technology to its full advantage

Foodservice operators who are challenged by the high cost of recruiting, hiring, training and retaining staff will find that automating their kitchens can simplify certain tasks and fill in staffing gaps. Innovative technology increases the effectiveness of handling day-to-day responsibilities, such as employee scheduling, food prep tasks, equipment cleaning, and tracking incoming shipments of products.

Kitchen automation is a cost-effective solution with long-term benefits. An automated kitchen can increase productivity and reduce the chance of error. One such system, the MenuCommand® Kitchen Automation Platform by DayMark, provides applications for task management, receiving, menu labeling, and temperature monitoring.Using a web portal, operators can document the progress of ongoing operations in both the front- and back-of-house quickly and efficiently with a variety of tools that address the assignment and tracking of tasks, flexible scheduling, employee training, and recording daily health details—including temperature measurement—if necessary.

These automated platforms are also becoming more widely available. DayMark, for example, recently announced that their food safety labeling application, MenuPilot®, is now available on both Apple and Android tablets. The app had historically only been available on Android devices; however, many foodservice operations have shown a preference for Apple iPads due to their easy-to-learn interface, layers of security to protect against viruses and seamless integration between hardware and software. MenuPilot provides centralized management and the communication of menu data and training materials to foodservice operations through the cloud.

By investing in a more efficient and effective technology solution, noncommercial kitchen operators are able to enhance operations and address their current staffing issues. This also allows them to breathe a little easier when it comes to managing critical operations.

Article originally appeared on the Foodservice Director website.