Most organisations provide an additionally subsidiary facility for in-house employees. This subsidiary is entirely for the benefit and welfare of the employees and all those who visit and are allowed access. Employees prefer a canteen that not only serves excellent food, but ensures that there is enough for everyone, queues are attended to quickly, billing is quick, and service is efficient and swift. Apart from these factors there are several responsibilities of a canteen service. Automation of its services entirely and effectively is what makes is an effective canteen system. However since there are several factors involved in running a canteen, enforcing a particular system might seem a little tricky. Canteen management system (CMS) when used in canteen automation has not only improved efficiency and cut down on expenses but also ensured that only those allowed enter its premise.
Canteen management system not just integrates all services that a canteen offers and requires but is also considered a user friendly system. IINA India looks at it as a new way of evolving into a paperless and cashless transaction system which is what most organisations and businesses are looking forward to. It also makes use of turnstile gates that ensures entry of authorised employees within its premise. It helps in reducing the fragility that canteens are open to because of any criminal activity or terrorist plan which has become a prominent negative. There are several other benefits of a well employed RFID canteen management system, here’s a brief look at them.
- It does away with the use of paper and printing which is a major system in most canteens. It creates room for an almost cashless transaction for services given.
- Service is fast and efficient and reduces overall cost
- Categorization of goods, foods etc entering the premise as well keeping a tab on its usage
- Placing orders when the need arises
- Reconciliation of a canteen accounts is done on a real time basis
- Data analysis is easier since multiple reports can be effectively generated
- Possibility of multiple site operations since information about consumption and stock is at hand always
The ultimate selling point of the canteen management system is that it almost does away with canteen chaos which is an everyday issue especially during meal times. Walk into any organisations canteen at meal times and you will find serpent queues, billing issues and a lot of cacophony. Another common occurrence is food running out as a result some employees have to make do with unhealthy snacks. The RFID canteen management system is a super-efficient system that easily manages unmanageable chaos. It has even scored tops in organisations where there are 5000+ employees. Taking care of food supplies and ensuring every employee at work gets their plate of food is a task well achieved.
Payment of meals in canteens is where the entire ruckus lies. Billing without doubt is a tedious task, and a crowd of hungry employees only makes room for a lot of unaccounted bills and several other billing errors. This brings down productivity to a huge extent. With the canteen management system that is also functions as a turnstile gate, it is now possible to keep track of bills, payments of meals easy, track usage of food coupons, food programs within just a few seconds. Cash management is not only trouble free but the ability of the system to create a cashless environment is also possible without encountering major glitches.
RFID canteen management system has a simple working system. The initial process is that every employee is issues a RFID canteen card or employee finger print. This card or employee finger print is responsible for keeping unwanted or non-employees out of its premise; this is also known as the tripod/ Flap barriers gate. The card is generally a pre-paid card or as per the organisations plans, this card is simply swiped at the counter of Biometric cum RFID terminal and the meal amount is deducted from the card or updated in the database. Obviously employees can order for food against the cards monetary balance or it can work as post paid thing where all the transaction will be recorded for the month and the deduction from employee salary would be made as per employee and employer contribution. Once the balance on the card reaches nil or at the end of month, the employee can top it up. In case the employee requests for a refund it is done so at the recharge counter. Employees can also issue or ask for a new card is the card is lost or cannot be used.
IINA India suggests the placement of card recharge portals with HR desk where employee cards can be recharged, replaced or topped up at. This is highly advisable for companies where the work force is huge and individual attention to these important details is not possible. This will again improve time management within the organisation ensuring in quicker and much effective service.
It is impossible for organisations to ignore the possibilities and effectives the Biometric cum RFID based canteen management system allows. It not only solves a lot of hassles but also pulls up required records and details on a monthly basis as required. Total canteen consumption, number of meals served, no of employees, prices of edibles as well as non-edibles, contactors payments, salaries of service personnel are just a few important things that the system is capable of taking care of.