Mr. Ferrone

Food & Beverage

Hotel Food & Beverage: Using Technology to Gain Productivity

By Al Ferrone, Sr Director F&B Marketing, Hilton

Technology is also helping us become more competitive by allowing us to manage CRM. And although technology is useful, we need to be careful when applying it so that we do not diminish the experiences that our guests expect. We need to apply it in areas that do not inconvenience or burden our guests when using it. It may make sense for guests to use a kiosk ordering system at an airport, but I would be reluctant to place that kind of technology in a full-service environment. In a full-service food and beverage operation, I feel that it would be a grave mistake to replace service with technology even though it is available.

An example of not using technology is with an older form of technology, liquor dispensing guns. Our guests have made it clear that they prefer bottle-poured and handcrafted drinks versus the automated dispensing system. Technology will not replace personalized service and showmanship in a full-service environment; at least I hope it doesn't. That is my view for the present and the immediate future. It is not clear what our guests will accept in the distant future.

As innovation progresses, we are seeing a plethora of new products designed to control labor and products and that focus on our training needs. Most of the products are transparent and do not detract from providing guests with the experiences they expect. We at Hilton are testing, developing, and implementing several products to assist us with better managing our business.

We know that productivity is the key to healthy profit. We have tested several products that will allow us to look at our sales and product movement in order to identify training areas in real time through information in our POS system. "My Micros" and "Avero Sling Shot" products allow operators to manipulate information in their POS systems so that they can measure all areas of productivity by meal period, by hour, or by individual. It allows users to review what items servers are selling, and can highlight servers' strengths and weaknesses, which allows operators to focus on training needs. It makes the POS system transparent, preventing potential shrinkage.

The information that I am writing about has always been available, but technology has evolved. The problem in the past was that trying to extrapolate the information needed was so laborious that the information was too old to use by the time a report was generated, making it obsolete. With new products, we can measure by a touch of a button, in real time, the peaks and valleys of our business. We can measure by meal day part, by day of the week, and by the hour of the day, if so desired. This allows users to deploy the resources needed in order to provide better service and enhance the sales process. One thing to consider is that even though technology is great, it is not free. Before you buy any software, perform an ROI to determine the price/value relation.

An item we see as valuable is the new "On Demand" printing product. Printing menus can be expensive due to artwork and quantities. Graphic design and production costs can be over a thousand dollars for a high-quality, professional menu. In order to keep the price down, more menus than needed are ordered to receive volume price breaks. Because of the large quantities of menus that are received through conventional printing, restaurants tend to keep menus longer than they should. This results in infrequent menu changes. We have partnered with a company to create an online product which we call "Hilton's Menu Maker." We are rolling out a beverage menu and will grow to encompass restaurants and room service menus soon after. Utilizing this technology, we have created seven distinctive beverage menu designs that are available in two sizes for our hotels to order. We also give each hotel a choice of three menu cover styles which are customized for the hotel's specific outlet. Hotels simply go to the Flavor of Hilton Website located on Hilton.net and choose the look and style to create custom menus. Hotels can order as few as 25 menus at a time. When the menu program is fully implemented, we expect to see a 30-40% reduction in menu costs.

Inventory and cost control are also key areas where technology can play an important role. There are many off-the-shelf systems that can get the job done. Hilton reviewed all the inventory control products available and came to the conclusion that our company needed to build one for specifically for Hilton, which we are in the process of doing. The systems that we reviewed contained hurdles. Some did not tie in with our proprietary purchasing and accounting systems. Some did not have all of the features that we wanted, and the ones that did were too expensive.

As I mentioned, technology is expensive. As we build the components of this system, we are careful that the system does not wind up managing us, and that we manage the system. Too many times, we add technical systems that we think are going to make us more efficient and we end up spending more man-hours to keep it working, negating any savings we had before we installed it. We incurred this when we tested several inventory control products. We know that writing recipes and performing yield tests are time-consuming tasks that need to be updated regularly. If not, information can be inaccurate. We felt that in order to ensure that we had up-to-date information, we needed to create a Web-based system that would tie into our purchasing system. We require a system that will allow our chefs to post their yield and recipe information to the site for other company chefs to use. Having shared information for all chefs to use will save valuable time and money on the property level. This will be one of many key features that will be designed in the new system.

Although I have mentioned that guests want personal service, we have developed, but not yet tested, an automated room-service menu/ordering system. The reason I think this is the exception to personal service is that it is very difficult to keep the room service menu current. If a hotel is on top of its room service game, it will change the menu four times a year. This is not the case in most places. As we all know that food is seasonal and wine vintages change regularly, in most cases room service menus are out of sync. By creating a touch-screen real-time menu, we can change the menu weekly, daily, or even by the meal period if so desired. This is more important if we are going to make the room service operation into a true "In-Room Dining" experience. The touch screen would also take the place of the in-room directory. We will let you know how the system works for Hilton.

Building guest loyalty is a must if we are to gain market share. Both CRM and guest loyalty are important in the restaurant business. Remembering our guests' birthdays, anniversaries, and other specifics about things that occurred on their previous visits helps build a loyal guest base. Years ago, only the most frequent guests received this kind of treatment. Now, with the new customer information recovery system, all guests can be treated as if they are weekly customers. One tool that Hilton is using is "Open Table." "Open Table" is a reservation system that allows our restaurants to capture more information about our guests than they will ever need. Information can be referenced upon guests' return in order to provide personalized service. In addition to being a reservation system, it also assists in floor management. We are using it more in our specialty restaurants. As I said before, make sure that you research the ROI before you sign on for technical services. The cost of service needs to make sense, as each environment has a different need.

Technology can also be used to enhance service. The products Hilton uses assist without sacrificing the personal touch. The use of handheld ordering devices is great for improving speed of service for remote locations such as pool areas and larger lounges. The use of vibrating pagers to let servers know when food is ready allows servers to spend more time on the floor with guests.

There are so many new products available each year that they are too numerous to include in this article. Remember, not every new device or new technology that promises to change the way you do business is good. There is a high failure rate. Be cautious before investing. I would also encourage you attend the Hi-Tech trade show at least every other year to see what is new.

Al Ferrone is a Graduate of the Culinary Institute of America (C.I.A.) with 27 years of experience. Al is the Senior Director, F&B Marketing/Operations Hilton Hotels. He oversees the marketing functions for food & beverage. Prior to Hilton, Al served as Senior Corporate Director of Food & Beverage for Promus Hotel Corporation, Doubletree Hotels and Red Lion Hotels. He has served as an Executive Chef and worked for large four and five-star hotels in New York including the Wardorf-Astoria, The Place, Marriott Eastside/NYC, and the Marriott Marquis/NYC. Mr. Ferrone can be contacted at 901-374-6097 or Al_Ferrone@hilton.com Extended Bio...

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