Automated Scheduling: Your Restaurant's New Best Friend

Running a restaurant is hard work. One of the biggest headaches for restaurant owners is creating work schedules for their staff. Doing this by hand takes a lot of time and it's easy to make mistakes. It's also tough to make sure you have enough staff when you need them, without having too many people working during slow times.

But there's good news: automated scheduling can help. This is a special kind of computer program that makes schedules for you. It looks at things like how busy your restaurant usually is at different times and what skills your staff have. Then it creates a schedule that works well for everyone.

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What Is Automated Labor Scheduling?

Automated scheduling is a smart computer system that creates work schedules for your restaurant staff. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to make decisions quickly and accurately. This system looks at your restaurant's data in real-time and can work with other software you use to run your business.

How Is It Different from Old-School Scheduling?

Automated scheduling is very different from the old way of making schedules by hand:

1. It's much faster and makes fewer mistakes.
2. It can handle lots of information at once.
3. It keeps improving the schedule over time, learning from past data to make better future schedules.

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The Impact on Restaurant Operations

1. Better Efficiency and Productivity

Automated scheduling helps your restaurant run more smoothly:

• It makes sure you have the right number of staff for how busy you are. This means you're not short-handed during rush times or overstaffed when it's quiet.
• It reduces problems with having too many or too few staff on shift. This helps avoid stress from being understaffed or wasted wages from overstaffing.
• It makes it easier to talk to your staff about schedules. Many systems let workers see their schedules on their phones and request changes easily.

2. Saving Money and Using Labor Better

Automated scheduling can help your restaurant save money:

• It cuts down on overtime costs by spreading hours more evenly among staff.
• It gets better at predicting how many workers you'll need at different times. This improves over time as the system learns from past data.
• It helps balance the hours of full-time and part-time staff. This can help you manage labor costs while still meeting your staffing needs.

3. Happier Employees Who Stay Longer

Your staff can benefit from automated scheduling too:

• The schedules are fairer and everyone can see how they're made. This reduces feelings that some people get better shifts than others.
• It's easier for staff to balance their work and personal lives. Many systems let workers input their availability and preferences.
• There are fewer scheduling mix-ups. This means less stress for your team and fewer last-minute schedule changes.

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Key Features of Automated Scheduling Systems

1. Smart Prediction of Customer Demand

Automated systems are great at guessing how busy your restaurant will be:

• They look at how busy you've been in the past to predict the future. This includes daily, weekly, and monthly patterns.
• They consider outside factors that affect your business. This might include things like local events or weather forecasts.
• They spot seasonal trends. For example, they might notice you're busier during summer or on holidays.

2. Quick Changes When Needed

These systems can adapt quickly to unexpected situations:

• If you suddenly get busy or slow, the system can suggest staff adjustments.
• They make it easy for staff to swap shifts or find someone to cover for them.
• The system can send quick messages to staff about schedule changes or open shifts.

3. Works Well with Other Restaurant Systems

Automated scheduling doesn't work alone. It can connect with other tools you use:

• It can use sales data from your cash register system to make better staff predictions.
• It might link to your inventory system to help schedule staff for deliveries or big prep days.
• It often connects to your payroll system, making it easier to track hours and pay staff correctly.

4. Easy to Use on Phones or Tablets

Both managers and staff can use these systems on their mobile devices:

• Managers can check and change schedules from anywhere, at any time.
• Staff can see their schedules, request time off, or pick up shifts using their phones.
• The system can send reminders about upcoming shifts or alert staff to schedule changes.

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Implementing Automated Scheduling for Your Restaurant Business

1. Pick the Right Automated Scheduling System for You

Consider 5-Out, an all-in-one platform for the restaurant industry:

• Advanced AI and ML Forecasting: It uses next-gen artificial intelligence and machine learning to predict upcoming demand, helping you prepare for busy times.
• Automated Everything: It does more than just automated scheduling. It helps with automating everything in a restaurant.
• Automated Labor Budgets: It can make budgets for your staff costs by week, day, or even hour.
• Automated Actions: It suggests actions to help you use your team better and make more money.
• Automated Integrations: It works with systems you might already use, like your cash register (POS systems), inventory tracker, and reservation book.
• Easy to Set Up: It's easy to set up - you can start in just 5 minutes.
• Mobile App: It has a mobile app so you can use it on your phone.

2. Make the Switch Smoothly

Follow these tips for a good start:

1. Start using the new system bit by bit, not all at once.
2. Ask your staff how it's going and if they have any problems.
3. Keep an eye on how the system is working and make changes if needed.
4. Make sure everyone knows who to ask if they have questions about schedules.

3. Get the Most Out of 5-Out

Use all of 5-Out's features to help your restaurant:

1. Try using 5-Out for other tasks besides scheduling, such as automated inventory, automated reporting, and etc.
2. Use the information it gives you to make smart choices for your business.
3. Follow its suggestions to make your team work better and earn more money.
4. Keep your system up to date and learn about new features when they come out.

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ROI: Measuring the Success of Automated Scheduling

Important Numbers to Watch

Keep an eye on these things to see how well-automated scheduling is working:

1. How much do you spend on staff compared to how much you earn? This should go down.
2. How often do your employees leave? This number should get smaller.
3. How happy are your customers? Look for better reviews and higher scores.
4. How much time do your managers spend making schedules? This should drop a lot.

Real Stories of Success

Restaurants using 5-Out have seen amazing results:

1. Little Italy Pizza used 5-Out's smart forecasting to save over $376,000 in just one year. Their labor costs fell from 24% to 19.3%. These savings helped them move to a bigger location.
2. Tono Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks used 5-Out to grow their business. Even as they expanded, they kept their staff costs steady at about 25% of what they earned.
3. Detroit Wing Company found 5-Out very easy to set up. They saved $2,000 per store in the first month alone by following the insights provided by the system.

Long-Term Gains for Your Restaurant

Over time, automated scheduling can really help your business:

1. You'll likely save more and more money as you use the system longer and get better at using it.
2. Your restaurant will probably run more smoothly, with fewer scheduling problems and less wasted time.
3. As your business grows, the system can help you manage more staff and locations without much extra work.

Automated labor scheduling is transforming the food service industry, offering a smarter way to manage employee schedules. By streamlining the scheduling process, restaurants can save time, reduce costs, and improve staff satisfaction. As we've seen from success stories across various establishments, the right scheduling software can lead to significant improvements in operations and profitability.

In today's competitive restaurant landscape, efficient scheduling is more crucial than ever. Whether you're running a small café or a large chain, automated scheduling can help you optimize your workforce, meet customer demands, and stay ahead of the curve.

Ready to see how automated scheduling can revolutionize your restaurant? Request a 5-Out demo today and discover how we can automate scheduling and everything else for your restaurant. Take the first step towards a more efficient, profitable future in the food service industry.