AS REPORTED IN “AUSTRALIAN HOTELIER” MAGAZINE 

Sanyo Office Machines is one company which has been at the leading edge of management systems for the hospitality industry for a number of years.  Apart from its wide range of intelligent, user-friendly terminals designed for all areas of a hotel, a big winner is the company’s POS-Magic, a comprehensive management system which incorporates both reliable stock control and a membership/loyalty program marketing capability.  The system is powerful with its host of special features, represents a smart business tool that can give management that ongoing competitive edge.

Using Windows-based software (and yes, it is Year 2000 and GST compliant!) publicans can, among the many other functions, control stock, track customer spending, promote loyalty schemes, instantly update information and prices (even ‘spot’ reductions such as Happy Hour discounts), build in a multi-level recipe control which converts nip and cocktail sales back to bottles for stocktake purposes, obtain accurate breakdown reports on ingredients/serves for each menu dish and have daily/weekly/yearly profit and re-order data on hand at all times, apart from all the normal accounting processes.

The intelligent terminal keyboard for instance comprises 128 programmable keys and up to 19,000 Price Look Ups (PLUs) with barcodes and up to 10 price levels on each PLU.  But despite such features, and even with built in receipt and journal printers, cash drawer and customer loyalty card readers, the super machine is compact, virtually error-proof, has a waterproof keyboard for wet bar areas and comes with a battery back-up.

Publicans have embraced the smart machines enthusiastically.  Licensee of Liverpool’s El Toro Hotel, Paul Nelson says that the POS system is now installed throughout the hotel.  “We have a diverse range of functions - restaurants, bars and bottleshop and found the system suited out needs.  We are very happy with it, the reports are great and best of all we can change the process at the drop of a hat” he says.

North Sydney’s Union Hotel also opted for POS-magic after looking at various systems.  Director, Chris Miesch of Transmedia (which operates the hotel) says that the terminal’s stand-alone capability which would allow the hotel to keep trading in the event of a computer failure, was one of the main attractions.

Says Miesch: “We also like the strength of the Sanyo name and their level of support – other features to appeal are the user-friendliness and they give us comprehensive stock control.”

Cash registers have been around for a long time, more than 100 years in fact since American publican, James Ritty invented the first cumbersome machine to help keep track of his sales and reduce staff pilfering.  The first machines were large, temperamental and anything but user-friendly, but to the avant garde who embraced the technology, they were magic, saving hours of work and for the first time, giving them some measure of stock control.  Many of the early machines are still around, some returning large sums to collectors at antique auction rooms, others converted into art-deco or if the cynical are to be believed, serving such mundane functions as boat anchors.  Whatever their fate, they deserve their place in history as the fore-runners of today’s ‘intelligent’ electronic cash registers (ECR’s) and other point of sale (POS hardware/software which are being hailed by the hotel industry as ‘magical’ as was Ritty’s early machine.

Today’s ‘local’ is no longer a simple place for mates to drink.  Fierce competition from clubs, restaurants, coffee/wine bars and supermarket liquor shops have become a fact of life and to survive, more and more pubs are evolving as ‘one-stop entertainment venues’, incorporating everything from bar, bistro and bottleshop to glitzy mini-casinos, discos and function rooms.  The revolution has put enormous pressure on publicans who are finding that they are having to become instant experts on a host of different businesses, all requiring time, effort and constant monitoring of that all-important bottom line.  Can POS technology provide the solution?

Yes, say the experts – and all at the touch of a button!

Manufacturers and suppliers have been striving to come up with ever more sophisticated POS hardware/software to cater for the needs of the hospitality industry and it has become increasingly difficult for publicans to know which to choose.  Do they need stand alone ECR terminals in each area of the hotel, terminals linked to a back-office computer, a system with swipe card, barcode reading or laser scanning capabilities, or a combination of all the options?  The list of options is endless and budget will inevitably play a large role in final selection although companies are generally happy to advise on suitable cost-saving configurations.  The publican, however, should be aware of some of the golden rules.

Make sure the entire system is user-friendly, both for experienced and new staff – it should work for you, rather than you working for the system.  It should be powerful enough to answer all your needs now and to allow for upgrading as our business and accounting requirements grow.  And even if linked to the back-office computer, it is useful if the POS terminals have stand-alone capabilities for special event/outside functions or in case of network failure.