Handling Orders Using Production Lanes and Workflow

Production Lanes and Workflow are two separate features which can be used in tandem to more effectively manage orders coming into the kitchen.

To support these features, the Order Devices module has two fields on the KDS tab named Lane and Workflow. Here are brief explanations of these fields:

• Lane: You can designate a KDS order device (or group of KDS order devices) to operate in one of two configurable lanes (1 or 2). Two lanes are supported.

• Workflow: The KDS Workflow setting is used to determine where an order appears first, and when bumped or done from that KDS order device, where it appears next and so on. A zero value causes orders to always appear unless the order is required to be claimed, then it appears only after it has been claimed on the order device with the highest workflow value assigned. When each KDS order device is assigned a different workflow value, the KDS order device assigned the highest workflow value shows orders first. Once bumped, the order then appears on the KDS order device assigned the next lower workflow value and so on. If two order devices have the same workflow value, they show the orders at the same time. If order device A has a higher workflow value than order device B, orders show on order device A until bumped or done from order device A, at which time it shows on order device B. The Workflow field supports values from 0 to 999 (the default setting is 0).

Once production lanes have been configured (lane and association), the kitchen staff can use the KDS Toolbar and KDS Bump Bar functions named Lane Claim and Lane Push to claim an order on a station or to push it to another station. Here is how these functions work:

• Lane Claim: Takes ownership of the order by removing the Lane Claim Required banner from the order on the current lane, and then removing the order from the opposite lane. The Lane Claim function can switch the function back to the original unclaimed state (as long as nothing on the order has been bumped yet) when it is selected again from the toolbar.

• Lane Push: Pushes (sends) all claimed suborders of an order from the current lane to the opposite lane.

Note:

The following order device configurations are not supported with the Production Lanes and Workflow features:

• Dynamic Order Mode (DOM)

• Single Item Per Sub-Order (SIPS)

• Load Balancing

• Item Timing

Important:

• Do not click Save until you have completed all of the configuration steps outlined in Configuring Production Lanes and Configuring Workflow. This is contrary to most configuration practices. If you save any changes prior to completing the entire configuration, the feature setup remains incomplete.

• You can only associate Prep Stations with other Prep Stations and Expo Stations with other Expo Stations. When adding KDS order device Associations to the Order Devices module, you need to assign a production Lane to each order device you want to associate with each other, and these order devices need to be assigned differing Lane values (Lane 1 or Lane 2). Only order devices with a lane value of 1 or 2 can be associated with each other.

• When you claim an order, all of its suborders are claimed for that lane. Once claimed to a lane, an order can be unclaimed (or restored to its original state) by using the Lane Claim function again. If any of the suborders have been bumped, you cannot unclaim the order. If the previously-bumped suborders are recalled (using the Recall function), the order can then be unclaimed or restored.

You can use production lanes with kitchen themes to create themes that allow switching between production lanes or not using lanes at all. The Workflow feature can also be used with kitchen themes. See Kitchen Themes for more information.

Examples of Production Lane and Workflow Settings on KDS Order Devices

The following tables show examples of how production Lane and Workflow settings work in tandem.

Once the order is claimed to a lane, it only shows on the prep station with the highest workflow for the lane (Prep 1, in this case). Once the order has been bumped from Prep 1 and then Prep 2, the order then shows on the Expo Station display.

Table 3-11 Example 1: Workflow 1, 3, and 5

Production Lane Settings	Workflow Settings
Prep_1 Station Lane 1	Workflow 5 (Associated with Prep_1 Station Lane 2)
Prep_1 Station Lane 2	Workflow 5 (Associated with Prep_1 Station Lane 1)
Prep_2 Station Lane 1	Workflow 3 (Associated with Prep_2 Station Lane 2)
Prep_2 Station Lane 2	Workflow 3 (Associated with Prep_2 Station Lane 1)
Expo Station – No Lane Assigned (Lane = 0)	Workflow 1 (No Associations and No Lane configured)

Table 3-12 Example 2: Workflow 0, 3, and 5

Production Lane Settings	Workflow Settings
Prep_1 Station Lane 1	Workflow 5 (Associated with Prep_1 Station Lane 2)
Prep_1 Station Lane 2	Workflow 5 (Associated with Prep_1 Station Lane 1)
Prep_2 Station Lane 1	Workflow 3 (Associated with Prep_2 Station Lane 2)
Prep_2 Station Lane 2	Workflow 3 (Associated with Prep_2 Station Lane 1)
Expo Station – No Lane Assigned (Lane = 0)	Workflow 0 (No Associations and No Lane configured)

Example 2 is almost identical to Example 1, but the Expo Station is configured to Workflow 0. Once the order is claimed to a lane, it appears on the Expo Station because suborders always appear at Workflow 0 order devices except when the Lane Claim Required banner shows.