Buffalo Wild Wings - Tablets at every table (1 Viewer)

[Plorfu]

Are the tablets actually carrying the food to you too?

If an ordinary waiter spends half his time taking orders and half his time delivering orders to the table, removal of the taking of orders would make it such that the restaurant would need only half as many waiters. Pretty basic math, really.

As someone who waited tables in college, the breakdown is this:

10% taking and entering orders

10% staring at the kitchen waiting for the food you entered to be completed

10% wandering around your tables and checking drink levels

25% figuring out a way to bang the new waitress

25% smoking weed/cigarettes outside in the back

2.5% delivering the food

2.5% entering the check/payment into the system

10% trying to figure out how to bang some other waitress

5% filling salt shakers, rolling silverware, etc.

 

[Da Guru]

B-Dubs always seems to hire the very young inexperienced type of servers anyway, so this can only be an improvement.

 

[Ned]

Are the tablets actually carrying the food to you too?

If an ordinary waiter spends half his time taking orders and half his time delivering orders to the table, removal of the taking of orders would make it such that the restaurant would need only half as many waiters. Pretty basic math, really.

50% is a stretch, dontcha think? How many minutes do you see a server taking your order? 2-3? I'll wager they spend a lot more time doing all the other things like bringing your food, drinks, checking on how things are, etc. Tablets won't replace that.

I think this is a great idea. Especially being able to pay whenever you're ready. I can't stand it when we're all ready to leave and we're waiting around for 10mins to find our check. This will help increase turnover at the tables.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

Yes, this is clearly all about minimum wage laws and Obamacare and not at all about really obvious synergies between being able to order the same way in person as you would for carry-out and having internet access at every table.

Thanks Obama!

I agree that it has nothing to do with minimum wage and Obamacare, but I imagine it has quite a bit to do with reducing labor costs in general.

Yes, automation can reduce labor costs. You've got yourself a great headline for a 1983 edition of USA Today.

 

[RCon]

Are the tablets actually carrying the food to you too?

If an ordinary waiter spends half his time taking orders and half his time delivering orders to the table, removal of the taking of orders would make it such that the restaurant would need only half as many waiters. Pretty basic math, really.

As someone who waited tables in college, the breakdown is this:

10% taking and entering orders

10% staring at the kitchen waiting for the food you entered to be completed

10% wandering around your tables and checking drink levels

25% figuring out a way to bang the new waitress

25% smoking weed/cigarettes outside in the back

2.5% delivering the food

2.5% entering the check/payment into the system

10% trying to figure out how to bang some other waitress

5% filling salt shakers, rolling silverware, etc.

So, 22.5% eliminated off the top. Plus, with 22.5% of the waitresses gone, seems like 22.5% * 35% time figuring out how to bang waitresses = another 7% of time eliminated, for an approximate 30% total reduction in staff?

 

[RCon]

Yes, this is clearly all about minimum wage laws and Obamacare and not at all about really obvious synergies between being able to order the same way in person as you would for carry-out and having internet access at every table.

Thanks Obama!

I agree that it has nothing to do with minimum wage and Obamacare, but I imagine it has quite a bit to do with reducing labor costs in general.

Yes, automation can reduce labor costs. You've got yourself a great headline for a 1983 edition of USA Today.

Seems like an awful lot of people in this thread (not you, but several others) are convinced this won't reduce labor costs.

 

[RCon]

Are the tablets actually carrying the food to you too?

If an ordinary waiter spends half his time taking orders and half his time delivering orders to the table, removal of the taking of orders would make it such that the restaurant would need only half as many waiters. Pretty basic math, really.

50% is a stretch, dontcha think? How many minutes do you see a server taking your order? 2-3? I'll wager they spend a lot more time doing all the other things like bringing your food, drinks, checking on how things are, etc. Tablets won't replace that.

I think this is a great idea. Especially being able to pay whenever you're ready. I can't stand it when we're all ready to leave and we're waiting around for 10mins to find our check. This will help increase turnover at the tables.

I'd bet it's quite a bit more than 50%, actually. When I go to BWW, my food is typically delivered by a bus boy rather than my waiter/waitress. My waiter/waitress normally only interacts with me to take my order, check if things are OK, and deal with the check.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

Yes, this is clearly all about minimum wage laws and Obamacare and not at all about really obvious synergies between being able to order the same way in person as you would for carry-out and having internet access at every table.

Thanks Obama!

I agree that it has nothing to do with minimum wage and Obamacare, but I imagine it has quite a bit to do with reducing labor costs in general.

Yes, automation can reduce labor costs. You've got yourself a great headline for a 1983 edition of USA Today.

Seems like an awful lot of people in this thread (not you, but several others) are convinced this won't reduce labor costs.

I think most people are saying it will only marginally reduce labor costs. Which seems right. Firms chase profits on the margins all the time. But this seems, to me, to be far more of an attempt to improve the customer experience as opposed to slashing labor costs. But I'm just pointing out that even if we accept the premise that it will reduce labor costs, that's still pretty much the most facile observation in the history of observations.

 

[matttyl]

Yes, this is clearly all about minimum wage laws and Obamacare and not at all about really obvious synergies between being able to order the same way in person as you would for carry-out and having internet access at every table.

Thanks Obama!

I agree that it has nothing to do with minimum wage and Obamacare, but I imagine it has quite a bit to do with reducing labor costs in general.

Yes, automation can reduce labor costs. You've got yourself a great headline for a 1983 edition of USA Today.

Seems like an awful lot of people in this thread (not you, but several others) are convinced this won't reduce labor costs.

I think most people are saying it will only marginally reduce labor costs. Which seems right. Firms chase profits on the margins all the time. But this seems, to me, to be far more of an attempt to improve the customer experience as opposed to slashing labor costs. But I'm just pointing out that even if we accept the premise that it will reduce labor costs, that's still pretty much the most facile observation in the history of observations.

It will obviously do both - (if you enjoy not having personal interaction and service). Having these tablets at every table will allow then to reduce the size of their workforce by some amount. It could be by 25%, it could be more. My initial point was only to say that as we increase the cost of labor by various means, we're going to see more and more of this as firms, as they always have, will "chase profits on the margin."

I didn't mean to make it political at all, I couldn't care less if labor costs or medical insurance costs are a Democrat thing or a Republican thing, I'm trying to look at it from an economic angle, not a political one. Both minimum wage increases and the ACA could be being pushed by the right, I'd still feel the same way about both.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Their wings stink though

Dry as ####. Plus all that parmesean and fancy ones are terrible. Probably on purpose to sell more booze.

Same reason some places give you free chips or popcorn. Guzzle more drinks you buzzards.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

Yes, this is clearly all about minimum wage laws and Obamacare and not at all about really obvious synergies between being able to order the same way in person as you would for carry-out and having internet access at every table.

Thanks Obama!

I agree that it has nothing to do with minimum wage and Obamacare, but I imagine it has quite a bit to do with reducing labor costs in general.

Yes, automation can reduce labor costs. You've got yourself a great headline for a 1983 edition of USA Today.

Seems like an awful lot of people in this thread (not you, but several others) are convinced this won't reduce labor costs.

Which people are those?

 

[RCon]

Yes, this is clearly all about minimum wage laws and Obamacare and not at all about really obvious synergies between being able to order the same way in person as you would for carry-out and having internet access at every table.

Thanks Obama!

I agree that it has nothing to do with minimum wage and Obamacare, but I imagine it has quite a bit to do with reducing labor costs in general.

Yes, automation can reduce labor costs. You've got yourself a great headline for a 1983 edition of USA Today.

Seems like an awful lot of people in this thread (not you, but several others) are convinced this won't reduce labor costs.

Which people are those?

Both Ned and NCCommish appear to be making that argument.

 

[Smack Tripper]

Is no one talking about how disgusting communal menus and trivia pods are at BWW and now it's expanding to tablets? The wing gunk on them is disgusting. Wings are the worst possible cuisine for this technology.

 

[msommer]

Sure, you might reduce labor costs by increasing the effectiveness of your laborers. If you at the same time as was alleged make more money per table and each table clears faster, you will get more people through your restaurant at busy times and thus reduce customer waiting times and unhappiness, and be more profitable at the same time. More profitable chains may open more franchises in areas that might previously have been thought marginal and thus create more jobs...

The glass is not always half empty, people

 

[msommer]

Is no one talking about how disgusting communal menus and trivia pods are at BWW and now it's expanding to tablets? The wing gunk on them is disgusting. Wings are the worst possible cuisine for this technology.

I think you are the third but who's counting

 

[shadyridr]

I went to a BBW once. Never again. We went during the NFL playoffs. We asked how long the wait was and they couldnt tell us because they had this thing called GameTime. Anytime theres a big game on they cant promise wait times because people tend to sit there at the table to watch the whole game. Isnt that the entire premise of this establishment? They couldnt figure out a better system?

 

[B-Deep]

Is no one talking about how disgusting communal menus and trivia pods are at BWW and now it's expanding to tablets? The wing gunk on them is disgusting. Wings are the worst possible cuisine for this technology.

that was absolutely my first thought

 

[Parrothead]

I went to a BBW once. Never again. We went during the NFL playoffs. We asked how long the wait was and they couldnt tell us because they had this thing called GameTime. Anytime theres a big game on they cant promise wait times because people tend to sit there at the table to watch the whole game. Isnt that the entire premise of this establishment? They couldnt figure out a better system?

your wait time is approximately 2 quarters..

 

[B-Deep]

I am not saying reducing labor is not a goal, or will not be a consequence, but when you think about all the ways this will generate new revenue I think that is a bigger driver. I don't think there will be an immediate labor reduction as it will take time to see how well accepted these are and how much of your labor it saves, there obviously should be some labor savings if consumers embrace these. I just think generating revenue is more likely the primary goal here, and if people's minds work the way I think they do, these tablets have the potential to generate a lot more revenue.

 

[igbomb]

I went to a BBW once. Never again. We went during the NFL playoffs. We asked how long the wait was and they couldnt tell us because they had this thing called GameTime. Anytime theres a big game on they cant promise wait times because people tend to sit there at the table to watch the whole game. Isnt that the entire premise of this establishment? They couldnt figure out a better system?

I'm not sure how you think they should have handled that differently?

 

[B-Deep]

and i like BWs

sure they are not the best wings on the planet, but i enjoy em. I ain't no wing snob

 

[CBusAlex]

I went to a BBW once. Never again. We went during the NFL playoffs. We asked how long the wait was and they couldnt tell us because they had this thing called GameTime. Anytime theres a big game on they cant promise wait times because people tend to sit there at the table to watch the whole game. Isnt that the entire premise of this establishment? They couldnt figure out a better system?

I'm not sure how you think they should have handled that differently?

Kick somebody out so he could have a table, I guess?

Either that or tell him "there's three hours left in this game, so it's a three hour wait". Which honestly isn't really any different from just not giving him a wait time at all.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

I went to a BBW once. Never again. We went during the NFL playoffs. We asked how long the wait was and they couldnt tell us because they had this thing called GameTime. Anytime theres a big game on they cant promise wait times because people tend to sit there at the table to watch the whole game. Isnt that the entire premise of this establishment? They couldnt figure out a better system?

I'm not sure how you think they should have handled that differently?

Kick somebody out so he could have a table, I guess?

Either that or tell him "there's three hours left in this game, so it's a three hour wait". Which honestly isn't really any different from just not giving him a wait time at all.

It's all these jerks fault:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C8y5z_7YtA

 

[Smack Tripper]

I went to a BBW once. Never again. We went during the NFL playoffs. We asked how long the wait was and they couldnt tell us because they had this thing called GameTime. Anytime theres a big game on they cant promise wait times because people tend to sit there at the table to watch the whole game. Isnt that the entire premise of this establishment? They couldnt figure out a better system?

I'm not sure how you think they should have handled that differently?

 

[Long Ball Larry]

Sure, you might reduce labor costs by increasing the effectiveness of your laborers. If you at the same time as was alleged make more money per table and each table clears faster, you will get more people through your restaurant at busy times and thus reduce customer waiting times and unhappiness, and be more profitable at the same time. More profitable chains may open more franchises in areas that might previously have been thought marginal and thus create more jobs...

The glass is not always half empty, people

typical progressive scandinavian hogwash

 

[DrJ]

They've had this at the Chili's by me for a long time. They still have wait staff and I never actually saw anyone order anything on it. I think I paid on it the first time because it was novel, that wasn't anything special. It might be good if you want to leave a crappy tip and don't want to have to actually interface with the waitress to do it. Outside of that, they're just trying to rip you off by charging you for a couple of games and there's not much else here. I'm sure they probably make a couple extra bucks ripping off stupid people and keep the same staff.

 

[Smack Tripper]

Is no one talking about how disgusting communal menus and trivia pods are at BWW and now it's expanding to tablets? The wing gunk on them is disgusting. Wings are the worst possible cuisine for this technology.

I think you are the third but who's counting

I read through page 1 and half of page 2 and I missed it. Talk about burying the lead!

 

[DrJ]

Sure, you might reduce labor costs by increasing the effectiveness of your laborers. If you at the same time as was alleged make more money per table and each table clears faster, you will get more people through your restaurant at busy times and thus reduce customer waiting times and unhappiness, and be more profitable at the same time. More profitable chains may open more franchises in areas that might previously have been thought marginal and thus create more jobs...

The glass is not always half empty, people

And besides, you create the higher skilled job of the person that creates the tablets, the ones that write the software, the ones that service the network in the place, etc. We really need to work on getting servers the skills to do those jobs rather than preserving their current crappy dead-end jobs.

 

[shadyridr]

I went to a BBW once. Never again. We went during the NFL playoffs. We asked how long the wait was and they couldnt tell us because they had this thing called GameTime. Anytime theres a big game on they cant promise wait times because people tend to sit there at the table to watch the whole game. Isnt that the entire premise of this establishment? They couldnt figure out a better system?

I'm not sure how you think they should have handled that differently?

Who said they should handle it differently? I said that was the reason I wont go back

 

[CBusAlex]

Who said they should handle it differently?

They couldnt figure out a better system?

 

[shadyridr]

Who said they should handle it differently?

They couldnt figure out a better system?

You ever hear of a rhetorical question? Hey thats another one

 

[Fat Nick]

This. This is what people don't realize when they make all these cries to increase minimum wage. Businesses can only support a certain level of employee costs. If you forcibly raise the cost of overall compensation to employees (via minimum wage, required benefits, etc), most companies will compensate by cutting jobs.

The end result? The folks who keep their jobs will make more, but there will be more people without jobs. Narrowing the wage gap in some ways...widening it in others.

That's great and all but has absolutely nothing to do with this particular endeavor.

As someone astutely pointed out before, waitstaff makes far less than minimum wage and rarely get health insurance. So let's not be so hasty to blame this on socialist economic policies. It's the march of efficiency that has been going on in this country since its inception.

I guess I made the mistake of tagging onto a post about Obamacare - I guess I should clarify. I could give two ##### about politics. I hate partisan politics because by design, you're either for one side or for the other. I think both sides have merit and can be right depending on the situation.

My view on this is driven more by the cause-effect impact of increasing wages (via salary AND benefits) without increasing the value-add of the employee. I agree with your statement in bold above, so maybe it's not relevant here, but conceptually, my point is that the higher the wage of a minimum-skill level worker is pushed through policy, the more advantageous it is for businesses to look for ways to automate. Automation reduces jobs, and redistributes wages from Minimum-skilled workers to higher skilled workers (i.e. the guy who comes to install the tablet system, services the robot waiters, etc.) It's simple economics, not partisan politics.

I just get frustrated with people claiming workers are underpaid without realizing the cause-effect impact of forcing higher salaries on companies. We're trying to narrow the wage gap. Why not focus on helping workers gain marketable skills so they can JUSTIFY earning more rather than just throwing money at them "because."

That's it...I'm done ranting about minimum wage here, and sorry for aiding to the hijack.

I think tablets at the table are a good idea actually - it was only a matter of time. Me clicking a button to get a refill on a drink is a lot more efficient for both me and the server. I'll just bring some Clorox wipes with me to sanitize the thing.

You know, 6-7 years ago I was right there with you. I had read a slew of books by Thomas Sowell, Milton Friedman and other like-minded economists and would have argued with anybody that minimum wages and rent controls were bad things. The theory is clear and elegant, and sure there are these externalities out there, but they weren't enough to alter the overpowering affect of the self-correcting free market. But as I read some alternative views and had more time to observe the world around me, it has become pretty clear to me that the theory as presented by Sowell and others is simply idealistic naivety.

Income and wealth disparity has spiked since the early 80s. And I have yet to meet a person who would argue that isn't a bad thing. Along with that disparity, minimum wage in real dollars has been much lower than it had been in the decades before, tax rates were much lower than in the decades before, and spending on social programs (aside from SS and Medicare/Medicaid) in real dollars was much lower than in the decades before. True free market believers would argue that all of those changes are good things, but they have directly led to the massive gaps in rich and poor that we have today.

I know some free market believers will argue that we still haven't really gotten enough out of the way of the market and let it show what a true free market can do, but the last thirty years is the closest we've come in the last century and it's been a bit of a mess.

So I'm not buying the potential loss of jobs as a reason to avoid minimum wages. Jobs are not binary things, whereas you either have one and are doing well or don't and are in trouble. There are bad jobs out there, jobs that can't support one person let alone a family. And there are far too many of them. We've created this economy of low-paying, low-skilled jobs, and we better damn well make sure that a person can live off of them, because it's not just teenage kids flipping burgers or waiting tables anymore.

Good post igbomb.

I promised not to hijack this anymore, but wanted to acknowledge the interesting info.

 

[southbound]

I work at Chilis and we'll have these later this month. Already have a few prototypes we've tested out at our store.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

I work at Chilis and we'll have these later this month. Already have a few prototypes we've tested out at our store.

Not for long!!!!

 

[Parrothead]

I work at Chilis and we'll have these later this month. Already have a few prototypes we've tested out at our store.

Not for long!!!!

not enough pieces of flair?

 

[southbound]

Yeah, I'm not too worried about the machines taking over my position to be honest. I think it will help me to be more efficient if anything

 

[Ned]

Yes, this is clearly all about minimum wage laws and Obamacare and not at all about really obvious synergies between being able to order the same way in person as you would for carry-out and having internet access at every table.

Thanks Obama!

I agree that it has nothing to do with minimum wage and Obamacare, but I imagine it has quite a bit to do with reducing labor costs in general.

Yes, automation can reduce labor costs. You've got yourself a great headline for a 1983 edition of USA Today.

Seems like an awful lot of people in this thread (not you, but several others) are convinced this won't reduce labor costs.

Which people are those?

Both Ned and NCCommish appear to be making that argument.

When did I say that? Sure it will cut down on some labor costs, but 50%? Not a chance.

This will be as much of a revenue generator (if not more) as it will expense reduction, IMO.

 

[B-Deep]

Yeah, I'm not too worried about the machines taking over my position to be honest. I think it will help me to be more efficient if anything

i want my baby back baby back baby back

i want my baby back baby back baby back

i want my chilis baby back ribs, chilis baby back ribs

BARBECUE SAUCE!!!!!!

 

[B-Deep]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1l87Wzselg

 

[RCon]

Yes, this is clearly all about minimum wage laws and Obamacare and not at all about really obvious synergies between being able to order the same way in person as you would for carry-out and having internet access at every table.

Thanks Obama!

I agree that it has nothing to do with minimum wage and Obamacare, but I imagine it has quite a bit to do with reducing labor costs in general.

Yes, automation can reduce labor costs. You've got yourself a great headline for a 1983 edition of USA Today.

Seems like an awful lot of people in this thread (not you, but several others) are convinced this won't reduce labor costs.

Which people are those?

Both Ned and NCCommish appear to be making that argument.

When did I say that? Sure it will cut down on some labor costs, but 50%? Not a chance.

This will be as much of a revenue generator (if not more) as it will expense reduction, IMO.

" Are the tablets actually carrying the food to you too?" would seem to imply that you think the addition of the tablets will not allow the restaurant to get rid of waitstaff.

And no one has argued that labor costs will go down by 50%. I wouldn't be surprised if waitstaff labor costs go down by 50% or more, with full implementation, but waitstaff aren't the only labor, obviously.

 

[B-Deep]

50% waitstaff reduction where did you get that?

over what time period?

the next 6 months?

the next year?

5 years?

10 years?

so far there has not been noticeable cuts reported by anyone major company using this, so unless you are talking some very extended time period that guesstimate is hard for me to accept There has been a reported 20% increase in appetizer orders though.