Technology Transforms Restaurant Training
Buffalo Wings & Rings uses security cameras and a kitchen-display system to make training and service more efficient.
By Lisa Bertagnoli, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 11/24/2008 3:04:00 PM
They were already there, nine surveillance cameras conveniently aimed at the dishwashing area, takeout counter, ordering counter and other strategic spots. So why not use them for training purposes?
That's what executives at Cincinnati-based Buffalo Wings & Rings thought when they opened their new corporate headquarters and training restaurant in November.
Philip Schram, president of the 43-unit, full-service wings concept, was inspired while watching the Food Network one day: He realized that via a strategically placed camera, the audience could see the entire demonstration, not just the cook's front or back, as is the case when trainees crowd around a trainer.
Schram, who describes himself as passionate about training, also was persuaded that a visual training method would be more effective. Studies, he says, indicate that trainees remember 30 percent of what they see or hear, but only 10 percent of what they read. "By using the camera, you triple your efficiency," he says.
Tale of the Tape
The video cameras are used several different ways. Trainers tape employees performing certain tasks: "We walk back to the TV, rewind, and it's an instant training session," Training Manager Perry Thacker says.
The videos also allow real-time training. Trainers can record a session, watch it with the trainee, and then immediately spot and correct improper form.
Buffalo Wings has started to copy videos on disk to create a training library and plans to put shorter videos online (long ones take up too much bandwidth) for easy access by employees and franchisees. The use of cameras "allows us to take training to a different level," Thacker says.
More Tech Touches
Recorded training isn't the only tech touch at headquarters. The 3,700-square-foot, 150-seat training restaurant also has a kitchen-display system, which Schram says is valuable in helping cooks coordinate orders so food is delivered to tables hot, quickly and in proper sequence.
The system cost $5,000, a drawback because it adds to the cost of building in a time when cutting costs seems the right thing to do. However, the system has nearly halved ticket times, to 10 to 15 minutes, allowing more turns per shift. "And of course the larger saving is in customer service," Schram says.
The system, now in use at the training store and one other, will be rolled systemwide next year, Schram says.
There's more technology on Buffalo Wings' horizon, including a POS system with a central database, but Schram says new tech tools will be introduced judiciously. "If you're overloaded with too many tools, you'll discard them," he says. "We don't want to overload franchisees."
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