PcPOS
and ISP
Tips and
Troubleshooting
Guide
Table of Contents
PcPOS Tips and Troubleshooting 4
How do I fix orders
stuck on DT video? 4
How do I initialize a
register from repair? 4
How do I change my
password? 4
How do I close/open
the POS without my ISP? 5
How do I reset a
password if I forgot it? 6
If a printer goes
down, how do I redirect the print to another printer until it is repaired? 6
How do I change the
Time on POS system? 6
How do I do Drawer
Counts on the System? 7
How do I add a ‘new’
printer into the system? 9
How do I stop getting
two receipts at two different printers? 9
Emergency POS
Procedures 11
Restaurant Procedures
for Blackout or Loss of Power. 11
Total POS System
Failure Procedures 15
Partial POS System
Failure Procedures 22
PcPOS Quick Reference
Guide 27
Standardizing KPA 30
Customer Order
Display Basic Troubleshooting 52
Buffer Engine Report 54
Buffer Engine
Troubleshooting Guide 68
ISP Tips and
Troubleshooting 71
ISP Malfunction 71
System Date &
Time 71
Referral to POS
Vendor 71
Time Recorder Close 72
Lost Passwords 73
CMU Restart 73
Drawer Countdown 74
Hardware Hint 75
Final Daily Close and
Backup 75
Menu POS Assignments
Maintenance 75
Scheduled Closed
Holidays 77
Safe Shutdowns 77
Happy Meal Auto
Deduct 78
System Errors 79
Special Cash
Functions 80
AOS Maintenance 80
ISP Food Cost Control
Process 82
ISP Labor Control
Process 91
ISP VLH Starting
Point Guidelines - 2001 95
To clear and order from any of your DT screens is a simple
matter. Be aware that this will also
clear any other orders that are on that screen at the same time as the stuck
order, because of this you may want to wait until the store is in a slow
period.
1. Go
to any register and enter Manager Mode.
2. Press
System Management
3. Press
Special Functions
4. Press Clear DT Orders
5. Press
Continue
After about 10 seconds the register will display that the DT
has been cleared and it is OK to start taking DT orders again.
When you receive a register from repair it needs to be
initialized back into the system. After
you connect the register cables and turn the unit on the register should try
and initialize itself automatically into the system. If for some reason this doesn’t happen you will need to call your
POS vendor to initialize it since it will require a daily password. If the register does complete the
initialization and you have KVS monitors you will still need to contact your
POS vendor to reconfigure the KVS programming, however in the meantime it is
possible to use the register to take orders but they will not be displayed on
the KVS videos.
If someone finds out your password and you would like to
change it follow the procedure below.
1. Go
into Manager Mode on any register
2. Press
the Password key
3. Enter
you Current Password and press Entry
Complete
4. Enter
you New Password and press Entry
Complete
5. Re-Enter
you New Password and press Entry
Complete
6. Press
Yes to confirm your password change
The next time you enter Manager Mode you will have to use
the new password.
Since the daily password is required to perform a manual
close/open on the POS you will have to call your POS Vendor to obtain this
password. If you know you are going to
have to perform manual closes/open for several days ask for several days of the
daily password so you do not have to call everyday.
If you or someone else forgets a password it is possible to
reset the password. When a password is
reset it becomes 0. If you are the same
privilege level as the person you are trying to reset it will not work and you
will need a higher privilege level. If
you are the highest privilege level (99) then you will need to call your POS
vendor to get the super password.
1. Go
into Manager Mode on any register using someone else’s badge and password
2. Press
System Management
3. Press
Password Maintenance
4. Press
Reset Password
5. Enter
the badge number you wish to reset
and press Entry Complete
6. Exit
out of Manger mode and try and sign in using 0 for the password
If a printer goes down you will need to redirect the print
to another printer until that printer can be repaired. In order to transfer a printer you must
perform the following procedure.
1. Go
to any register and enter manager mode
2. Press
System Management
3. Press
Device Configuration
4. Press
Device Transfers
5. Press
Transfer a Printer
6. On
the top of the screen press the printer
number that is not working
7. On
the bottom of the screen press the printer
number that you want to transfer the output to
8. Press Save to perform the transfer
9. Press
Yes to confirm
10. Press Exit
The information that normally prints to the defective printer
will now be directed to another printer.
When the printer is repaired perform the same steps as above using the
same printer for steps 6 and 7.
The system will only allow you to change the time up to 59
minutes while the system is open.
Because of this it is highly recommended that you change the time on the
POS system after sales and payroll have be closed out for the day.
1. Go
to any register and enter Manager Mode
2. Press
System Management
3. Press
Change Date/Time
4. Press
Change System Time
5. Enter
the Correct Hour in 24 hour format
and press Entry Complete
6. Enter
the Correct Minutes and Press Entry
Complete
7. Enter
the Correct Seconds and Press Entry
Complete
8. Press
Entry Complete.
9. Touch
the Set Time button to confirm the
time change
The
new time will display in the top left corner of the screen.
Note: This only applies to restaurants without an ISP.
The system will allow 5 Drawer Changes per register before a
Drawer Count needs to be performed.
Depending on how the system is setup the Drawer Count would be performed
from either the register or the OLC. The drawer count can be programmed to
either be used in Total Native Cash or Denomination method. Also depending on how the system is setup
you will either be forced to do these before the system will allow a
close. Regardless of how these are set
if you do 5 Drawer Changes during the day you will have to perform Drawer
Counts before the system will allow
a 6th Drawer Change.
From the Register:
2.
Press System Management.
3.
Select the Drawer Count button. The Uncounted Drawer Screen displays.
4.
Select the Count Drawers
button.
5.
Enter the register
number of the drawer you want to count.
Total Cash Method:
·
Enter the Total Amount of Native Cash in the drawer and
touch entry complete
·
Enter the Total Amount of Foreign Currency in the
drawer and press entry complete.
·
For each Foreign Currency enter the Total Amount in the
drawer
·
For each Coupon enter the Total Amount in the drawer
·
For each Gift Certificate enter the total amount in the
drawer
Denomination Method:
·
Enter the quantity of each denomination in the
following order
·
Number of 1 Cent Coins
·
Number of 5 Cent Coins
·
Number of 10 Cent Coins
·
Number of 25 Cent Coins
·
Number of 50 Cent Coins
·
Number of 1 Dollar Bills
·
Number of 5 Dollar Bills
·
Number of 10 Dollar Bills
·
Number of 20 Dollar Bills
·
Number of 50 Dollar Bills
·
Number of 100 Dollar Bills
·
For each Foreign Currency enter the Total Amount in the
drawer
·
For each Coupon enter the Total Amount in the drawer
·
For each Gift Certificate enter the total amount in the
drawer
6.
Touch Entry Complete. The Counting Drawer screen appears. A Drawer Count report is printed and you are
returned to the System Management screen.
If there are more uncounted drawers for that register the
next drawer count screen automatically displays and is ready to be counted.
From the OLC:
1.
Sign into the OLC
2.
Select POS Related
Functions and press Enter
3.
Select Drawer Count Down
and press Enter. The Drawer Count Down
main menu displays
4.
Select Count New Drawer. The Select Drawer pop-up displays a list of
all the uncounted drawers
5.
Select the drawer
you wish to count and press Enter.
Total Cash Method:
·
Enter the Total
Amount of Native Cash in the drawer and touch entry complete
·
Enter the Total
Amount of Foreign Currency in the drawer and press entry complete.
·
For each Foreign Currency enter the Total Amount in the
drawer
·
For each Coupon enter the Total Amount in the drawer
·
For each Gift Certificate enter the total amount in the
drawer
Denomination Method:
·
Enter the quantity of each denomination in the
following order
·
Number of 1 Cent Coins
·
Number of 5 Cent Coins
·
Number of 10 Cent Coins
·
Number of 25 Cent Coins
·
Number of 50 Cent Coins
·
Number of 1 Dollar Bills
·
Number of 5 Dollar Bills
·
Number of 10 Dollar Bills
·
Number of 20 Dollar Bills
·
Number of 50 Dollar Bills
·
Number of 100 Dollar Bills
·
For each Foreign Currency enter the Total Amount in the
drawer.
·
For each Coupon enter the Total Amount in the drawer.
·
For each Gift Certificate enter the total amount in the
drawer.
6.
Continue counting until all drawers have been counted. If you wish to leave the screen before all
drawers are counted press ESC. A confirmation message appears.
7.
Type Y to exit
without counting a new drawer, or type N to return to the Drawer Count Down
Screen
8.
When finished return to the Drawer Count Down screen.
9.
Select Exit Program.
10.
Select Yes and press
Enter
11.
Type Yes to confirm
and press Enter or Type No to remain
in Drawer Count Down.
If there are more uncounted drawers for that register the
next drawer count screen automatically displays and is ready to be counted.
1.
Power off register that printer will be connected to
2.
Place printer in its location, connect the printer cable to it
and plug the power cord into an IG outlet.
3.
Connect the other end of the printer cable to the controlling
register, in the ‘PRINTER’ port.
4.
Turn power to register on.
5.
At any register, go into ‘System Management’
6.
Select ‘Device Configuration’
7.
On the left, select ‘Device Connection’
8.
Select ‘Printer Connection’
9.
From the top section of the screen, select the printer this
will be (i.e. Grill, Report, Receipt,
etc)
10.
From bottom, select the register that the printer is
physically connected to. Where you
connected the grill printer cable at.
11.
At top right, select the type of printer it is, whether it’s
Thermal, or Star.
12.
Once all three are selected, save your settings and exit out.
1.
From any register, access System
Management.
2.
Select Device
Configuration.
3.
The top of this menu should read Assignments. Beneath that
title there are abbreviations for the different printer types (i.e. RP, RE, GR,
EX). Locate the register(s) in question
and notice what they have listed under RE and EX. These should be the same, but are not, which is why you are
getting two receipts.
4.
Assign the correct receipt printer to both RE and EX.
5.
Save changes and exit out.
************************************************************
STORE ID 99999
STORE NAME McD TEST LAB
************************************************************
Lunch Menu (BLUE
WITH YELLOW TEXT) :
Displayed when
pressing [SNDWCH] :
Displayed when
pressing [FRIES] :
Displayed when
pressing [NUGTS] :
************************************************************
STORE ID 99999
STORE NAME McD TEST LAB
************************************************************
Displayed when
pressing [HPYMLS] :
Displayed when
pressing [SALADS] :
************************************************************
STORE ID 99999
STORE NAME McD TEST LAB
************************************************************
Breakfast Menu
(BLUE WITH WHITE TEXT) :
Displayed when
pressing [SNDWCH] :
Displayed when
pressing [PLATTR] :
Displayed when
pressing [SIDES] :
************************************************************
STORE ID 99999
STORE NAME McD TEST LAB
************************************************************
Miscellaneous
Section (LIGHT BLUE WITH DARK BLUE TEXT) :
Displayed when
pressing [COKE ] :
************************************************************
STORE ID 99999
STORE NAME McD TEST LAB
************************************************************
Displayed when
pressing [DIET ] :
Displayed when
pressing [SPRITE ] :
************************************************************
STORE ID 99999
STORE NAME McD TEST LAB
************************************************************
Displayed when
pressing [ORANGE ] :
Displayed when
pressing [ICETEA ] :
************************************************************
STORE ID 99999
STORE NAME McD TEST LAB
************************************************************
Displayed when
pressing [OPT #1 ] :
Displayed when
pressing [OPT #2 ] :
************************************************************
STORE ID 99999
STORE NAME McD TEST LAB
************************************************************
POS ASSIGNMENTS REPORT PAGE 9 FOR 06/06/01
Displayed when
pressing [OPT #3 ] :
Displayed when
pressing [OJMILK ] :
************************************************************
STORE ID 99999
STORE NAME McD TEST LAB
************************************************************
Displayed when
pressing [HOTBEV ] :
Displayed when
pressing [MISC ] :
Displayed when
pressing [CONDMT ] :
************************************************************
STORE ID 99999
STORE NAME McD TEST LAB
************************************************************
Displayed when
pressing [SHAKES ] :
Displayed when
pressing [DESERT ] :
The C.O.D. does not display orders
Ø
Is the breaker to which the COD is connected turned
“on”?
Ø
Is the COD turned on outside?
Ø
Is the register that is taking orders an Order-taker
(OT) or a Cashier Order-taker (CO)?
Ø
Is the COD connected securely to the controlling
register?
Ø
Check to make sure that your OT and CO have the COD
enabled. To do this, follow these
steps:
On your Order-taker (OT) and/or Cashier
Order-taker (CO) register:
1.
Press MANAGER
2. Enter
User ID and Password
3. Press
Sys Mgmt
4. Press
SPECIAL FUNCTIONS
5. The
box labeled “Display on LED COD” should be “Enabled” (See Below)
If it is not press it once and it should
enable.
6.
Press EXIT
PcPOS 3.70 introduces a new report referred
to as the Buffer Engine Report. This
report details the activity of items tracked by the Buffer Engine. The initial purpose of the report is to help
stores gain confidence with the Buffer Engine and determine how it is working
performing.
Data for this report is provided for each
item tracked by the Buffer Engine. Each
item’s data is accumulated and reported for each of the seven daypart segments
and also totaled for the day. The
report will contain the following statistics per tracked menu item:
·ACT:
Quantity of item purchased during daypart segment.
·GRL:
Quantity of item grilled during daypart segment.
·RED:
Reduction quantity of item based on X-N reduction during daypart segment.
·NET:
Quantity of item used in Buffer Engine calculations during daypart segment.
Generally, NET = ACT - GRL - RED.
·TOT BUF:
Quantity of item “ordered” by the Buffer Engine during daypart segment.
·WST:
Quantity of buffered sandwiches wasted during daypart segment.
·BK:
Quantity of buffered sandwiches blocked during daypart segment.
·AVG BUF:
Average quantity of item in landing zone (not actually sold to a customer)
throughout the daypart segment
The report can be manually viewed or printed
on any register or the OLC (via Online Operations) by accessing System
Management and selecting Online Operations.
In addition, the report can be defined for automatic printing at POS
open and/or POS close. Automatic
printing at open is not recommended as the report will be blank because no
buffer activity has occurred yet for the day.
Like other PcPOS reports, the Buffer Engine
Report can not be viewed or printed if the store if offline. During days in which a store experiences
some sort of CCU failure, the data on the report will likely be incomplete.
The Buffer Engine Report will only be
available on a daily basis and the PcPOS system will not keep historical data
regarding the performance of the Buffer Engine.
Buffer Engine Report Layout
****************************************
STORE# 99999 SINCE Mon.DD’YY(Day)HH:MM
Store Name Mon.DD’YY(Day)HH:MM
MANAGER NAME: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
SUP-SIGN MGR.SIGN
ASST/CREW-SIGN
****************************************
BUFFER ENGINE ACTIVITY BY DAYPART
Daypart slot 1 name [hh:mm - hh:mm]
TOT AVG
MENU NAME ACT GRL RED NET BUF WST BK
BUF
ITEM1 NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NN NNN
ITEM2 NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NN NNN
*
*
*
ITEM30 NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NN NNN
*
*
*
Daypart slot 7 name [hh:mm - hh:mm]
TOT AVG
MENU NAME ACT GRL RED NET BUF WST BK
BUF
ITEM1 NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NN NNN
ITEM2 NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NN NNN
*
*
*
ITEM30 NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NN NNN
TOTAL
ITEM1 NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NN NNN
ITEM2 NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NN NNN
*
*
*
ITEM30 NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NNN NN NNN
***END OF REPORT***
When restaurants first implement Made for
You with POS III software, and make the choice to utilize the Buffer Engine,
questions sometimes arise as to whether the Buffer Engine is operating
correctly. This document provides
guidance to restaurant managers and field consultants in answering such
questions.
The two most
frequent perceptions are:
“I’m making too much product. The Buffer Engine is overcalling, and I’m
throwing away too much product.”
“I’m not making enough product. The Buffer Engine is undercalling, and I’m not able to keep up
with demand.”
Perception 1: Buffer Engine is Overcalling
(Too much Product)
This perception usually forms when there is a lot of product in the bin
during or following a heavy sales period.
There can be many operational reasons why there is extra product in the
bin. The most common are:
The restaurant is not wasting product when the Buffer
Engine issues waste tickets. The Buffer
Engine issues waste tickets, generally assigned to print on the grill printer,
advising restaurant personnel to throw away specific products from the bin. It is not uncommon to find that restaurants
have been ignoring waste tickets or the option to print waste tickets has been
turned off. This not only produces
extra sandwiches in the bin, but also causes the service team to serve older
products.
The restaurant begins to make a sandwich when it appears on
the Kitchen Video System (KVS) monitor, and then it changes to a grill
sandwich. In addition to the grill
sandwich, the original sandwich is still completed and placed in the bin. The Buffer Engine does not know about this
sandwich, and therefore will not issue a waste ticket for it or count it
towards product in the bin.
The restaurant is calling production manually at
times. Two common instances of this is
at the beginning of a heavy sales period or when a drive-thru order is backed up
and waiting. Again, the Buffer Engine
does not know about these sandwiches, and will not issue waste tickets for them
or count them toward product in the bin.
The restaurant has enabled the KVS system to allow orders
to be bumped when they are ‘Totaled’.
In all current POS III releases, it is possible for extra product to be
called for on the KVS monitors if they are configured to allow orders to be
bumped at ‘Total’ time. For
example: a customer orders 3
hamburgers, and the order is totaled. A
crew person at the prep table makes the three hamburgers and bumps the order
off the monitor. The customer modifies
the order adding one more hamburger.
The KVS monitor will now display 4 hamburgers. The grill person now makes all four hamburgers, therefore three
extra get made. (Note: This is still the
recommended configuration and in the next release, PcPOS 3.70, this problem has
been resolved)
Perception 2: Buffer Engine is Undercalling (Not enough
Product)
This perception
usually forms when production has difficulty keeping up with demand. Again, there can be many operational reasons
for this, but the most common are:
The restaurant has not set up one or more items for the
Buffer Engine to track. For example: a
new promotional item (i.e. McRib) that has not been added to the list of menu
items the Buffer Engine is tracking.
The Buffer Engine is unaware of this sandwich and thus can not
anticipate its sales.
The restaurant is not set up correctly for Combo Meal
(Value Meals, Happy Meals, etc.) Decomposition. For example: if the Buffer Engine has been told to track Big Macs
it will do so. However, if the Value
Meal table for the ‘#1 Value Meal’ has either not been set up, or has been set
up incorrectly, the Buffer Engine will not see Big Mac sales as part of ‘#1
Value Meal’ sales. This will cause the
Buffer Engine to undercall production for Big Macs.
The restaurant is wasting product from the bin even though
the Buffer Engine did not issue a waste ticket for that product. This causes the Buffer Engine to think a
sandwich is in the bin and available for sale when it is not.
The restaurant is not making every item that appears on the
KVS monitor, especially those in an order generated by the Buffer Engine. Again, this causes the Buffer Engine to
think a sandwich is in the bin and available for sale when it is not.
There can be other
operational reasons for too much or too little product in the bin. If
it is still believed the Buffer Engine is the cause of problems, the
restaurant should call their POS System Integrator Help Desk. The Help Desk will verify the Buffer Engine
and all related parameters are set properly.
The Help Desk can also determine how many items the Buffer Engine called
over a period of time, how many of them were blocked (used toward customer
orders), and how many were wasted (waste tickets were issued).
If you need to complete an ISP Malfunction, review and print
the 28 pages of ISP Malfunction Help Screens.
From the Main Menu, press <CTRL><F1> and type in “ISP
Mal.” Press <Enter> to view and
<F2> to print. You may also
access the Help Screens at any point while performing an ISP Malfunction to
view information about that portion of the malfunction.
In most areas, the ISP time needs to be adjusted twice
yearly to be in sync with Daylight Savings Time. It is best to do this when the ISP and registers are closed, prior to any employees punching in. Remember to adjust the time on devices such
as your POS or time recorder, to match the new ISP time. To change the time and date:
1.
From the Main Menu, choose store
profile/security (Option H).
2.
Choose system date/time
(Option D).
3.
Enter
the new date and time. If the time
difference is greater than 1 hour, press <F1> to override the error message.
Any time you experience POS (Register) problems, your first phone call should be to
your POS vendor. Some common examples
of POS problems include:
·
Offline registers
·
Drive-thru not working
·
Receipt/grill printer problems
·
Orders stuck on registers
·
Automated Beverage System (ABS) not working
If any of these register
problems exist, contact your POS vendor immediately to resolve them.
IBM 1-800-470-6392
Pan 2+ 1-866-472-6767
PAR 1-800-382-6200
SEI* 1-866-635-9535
RSI 1-800-782-6233
* SEI provides
hardware Help Desk services for Javelin and Panasonic PcPOS.
You may also notice a pink warning message in the lower
right corner of your ISP screen that reads “cmu
restart required.” This is
actually caused by the POS problem that you are currently experiencing. Even though it qualifies as an ISP issue,
the POS system must be working first before you can address the warning
message. Once the POS is working, you
can simply run a restart isp/cmu
communications on the ISP to take care of the problem. Communications will not restart as long as
you are still experiencing a POS problem.
Time Recorder (TR) Close is a function on the ISP that
clears the time punches from the timeclock and posts them onto the ISP. It is run automatically in the middle of the
night and is set up in Store Open/Close Times.
On the Main menu, your TR Close date should match your POS
Close date. If not, your punches will
not balance for the prior day. You will
also not be able to run a Daily Activity Report for the current day.
On occasion the TR Close will not execute automatically if
there are problems communicating with the timeclock. In these cases, you can run the TR Close manually.
1. From
the Main Menu, choose cash/inventory
(Option A).
2. Go
to your store closing menu
(Option E).
3. Choose
time recorder close (Option D).
The ISP will then run the TR Close and post your time
punches onto the ISP. After the TR
Close has gone through, you will need to access your Edit Time Punches again
and escape out before they appear as balanced.
There are times when the TR Close fails to execute even
after an attempted manual run. If this
happens, you may either troubleshoot with assistance from your Help Screens, or
call SEI. To access your Help Screens,
press <CTRL> and <F1>. Type
“Time Recorder” and choose the subject specific to your problem.
The two common error
codes you may encounter are:
Times out of Sync: Verify
the ISP and timeclock times are within 2 minutes of each other. If they are
more than 2 minutes apart, correct the time and retry T/R Close. If your store
uses the timeclock function on the registers, verify ISP and register times are
within 2 minutes of each other. If the times are in sync (2 minutes apart or
less), the message indicates a problem that the SEI Help Desk can help you
troubleshoot.
T/R Comm Error:
This error indicates the ISP and time recorder are not communicating. Verify
the programming on the timeclock and check cable connections from the timeclock
to the Stargate. If your store uses the timeclock function on the registers,
check the same cable connections as you would with a "CMU Restart
Required" message. Verify the Change Time Recorder Vendor setting on the
ISP is set to the style of time recorder used in your store. If a problem still
exists, call the SEI Help Desk.
Someone in your store will probably forget his or her ISP
password at some point. To save time
and possibly money, Owner Operators, Area Supervisors, and some Managers can
issue ISP users a temporary password.
1.
From the Main menu, choose store
profile/security (Option H).
2.
Select isp security (Option
B).
3.
Select user function
assignments/val(Option B).
4.
Select assign user
temporary password (Option D).
5.
Enter the employee’s User ID.
6.
Enter a temporary password for the employee. It is not necessary to enter a comma before
the password.
7.
Have the employee log in with the temporary password.
8.
Be sure to have the employee write down the new, permanent
password that the ISP generates the
next time he or she logs in.
From time to time, you may see a pink message on the lower
right-hand corner of your ISP screen that reads "CMU Restart
Required." This message indicates that the POS and the ISP systems are not
communicating. CMU Restart messages are often caused by register problems, such
as those mentioned above. The first step in troubleshooting a CMU Restart
message is to check for register problems.
If you are asked to perform CMU Restart and are not
experiencing register problems, run Restart ISP/CMU Communications. To access
this function, type "restart" within any ISP menu, and press
<ENTER> twice. You can also access Restart ISP/CMU Communications from
the main menu by following these instructions:
1.
Select ISP Malfunction/Backup/Recovery (Option G)
2.
Select Restart ISP/CMU Communications (Option A)
The function can take from a few seconds to a few minutes to
run. The ISP will alert you when the communications have either restarted or
can not be restarted.
In addition to register problems, another common cause of
CMU Restart messages is a disabled ISP connection flag on the registers. It
only takes a moment to verify that your ISP connection flag is set correctly.
On PC-POS registers:
1.
Invoke System Management
2.
Choose Special Functions
3.
Within Special Functions, a key will indicate the status
of the ISP connection. If the key indicates the ISP connection is disabled,
press this key once to change the flag to ENABLED.
On Pan 2 and Pan 2+
registers:
1.
Invoke MANAGER MODE 1
2.
Choose Option 20. It should be set to 1 for YES
On Par 2 registers:
1.
Invoke MANAGER MODE on the manger register
2.
Choose Option 11 (PRINTR/ISP SETUP)
3.
Choose ISP ONLINE (either Option 9 or Option 13). It should be
set to 0 for YES
If you have completed these troubleshooting steps but still
have a "CMU RESTART REQUIRED" message on your ISP, call the SEI Help
Desk for further assistance.
R & A Drawers: "R"
and "A" drawers appear in Drawer Countdown as a resulf of a failure
in the register system, or after completing an ISP Malfunction. Since the ISP
requires you to complete every drawer change listed before completing Final
Daily Close, it is important to know how to complete "R" and "A"
drawers.
An "R" drawer looks just like a regular Drawer
Countdown. Complete the Drawer Countdown Entry as you normally would, by
entering expected cash and all required fields. Entering zeroes for each entry
field, assigning the drawer to a cashier/window person, and entering a deposit
code will usually complete the "R" drawer. "CR" will then
appear next to the drawer to indicate the drawer is counted and completed.
The "A" drawer has two pages that must be completed – normally with zeroes in all
entry fields. After filling in the required information on page one, press the
<PAGE DOWN> key to view the second page. Complete the entry by assigning
a cashier/window person, designating the drawer as drive-thru or not, and
entering a valid deposit code. Upon exiting, "CA" will appear next to
the drawer to indicate that the drawer was counted and completed successfully.
Incorrect Entries: If
a Drawer Countdown was entered incorrectly and "Inquiry Only" appears
when you attempt to view the specific drawer countdown, that drawer is associated
with a deposit code which is entered and completed under Bank Deposits. To
correct or edit a completed drawer countdown, you must first delete the Bank
Deposit entry associated with that drawers deposit code. After you make
whatever corrections or edits necessary to a particular drawer countdown, you
may re-enter the bank deposit information under Bank Deposits.
On occasion, you may call the SEI Help Desk when you are
experiencing ISP hardware problems. In many cases, the Technician will ask you
to unplug cables during the course of troubleshooting the problem. Because some
cables have small screws, the cables can be difficult to unplug. Many stores
find it helpful to keep a small screwdriver near the ISP in case a problem
arises.
Although Final Daily Close and Backup are very closely
related, they are indeed two separate functions on the ISP. The Backup function
should automatically run at the end of Final Daily Close. However, in some
instances Backup does not complete. In these cases, the Final Daily Close may
be successful. If the "Last Backup Date" on the Main Menu is not
current, the Backup did not complete.
If the Backup does not complete, there are several options.
At noon of the following day, the ISP will automatically attempt Backup again.
If you have work to do on the ISP at that time, you may opt to perform a backup
later.
The store can run a Backup at any time without running Final
Daily Close. From the Main menu, choose isp malfunction/ backup/recovery
(Option G), backup/recovery (Option E), and then backup (To Copy Data from Tape
to ISP) (Option A).
To avoid Backup failure, SEI recommends replacing your tapes
every nine months and cleaning your tape drive monthly. Mark each tape with a
replacement date reminder immediately after purchase.
These two step will dramatically reduce the risk of Backup
failure. Tapes and tape drive cleaning kits can be purchased from Franke’s
Commercial Systems by calling 800/762-7436.
Each POS system can maintain a limited number of items. If
that capacity is exceeded, an error message will appear in Menu POS Assignments
in the ISP. As the McDonald’s menu has expanded, this has become the most
common error on the ISP. Here are suggestions to manage your Menu POS
Assignments and avoid this error.
Preventative
maintenance
·
Assign a specific person to manage Menu POS Assignments
(MPA). This person should periodically check for items that can be removed.
·
Limit use of "convenience" keys. For example,
"girl," "boy," and "under 3" toys all take up
grid space that you may need for menu items. Another example is having a key
for each color of yo-yo, rather than just having one yo-yo key.
·
Remove seasonal items during the times when they are
not needed.
·
Limit keys for no-cost items such ice, no ice, and
extra ice.
·
For POS II systems, avoid putting pop-ups on size keys.
This takes up much more space than putting the pop-up on its own key.
·
For PC-POS systems, limit the total number of what McDonald’s
calls "transitions." Transitions include:
Menu items. Each menu item counts as a transition. A
menu item that is on more than one space on the grid only counts as one
transition. To delete that transition, you must delete each occurrence of that
menu item from the grid.
Pop-up names. A pop-up name counts as one transition.
The empty spaces in the pop-up do not count as transitions, but the menu items
do. A pop-up with four items under it counts as five transitions.
Condiments and modifiers. Each condiment and modifier
counts as a transition.
·
Any time you have several new transitions to add to
MPA, it is a good idea to add a few, escape from MPA to save your changes, and
then go back and continue adding items. If you get an error, any changes you made
while you were in MPA are deleted. By escaping after every few items, you
reduce the risk that you will lose a lot of work in case the error occurs.
What to do if an
error occurs
Call SEI for all system errors. If your system error
indicates too many items in MPA, SEI will direct you to review and remove menu
items for POS II stores, or reduce transitions for PC-POS stores. An SEI
programmer cannot resolve this particular error. The store must decide what
items are needed and which ones can be removed. A Customer Care Technician will
recommend strategies from the preventative maintenance points listed above.
During the busy holiday season, the ISP has an easy function
that will save you some time: Scheduled
Closed Holidays. If you know your store will not be open on a given day,
you can program the ISP in advance for the closing. Make a note that you must
activate the Final Daily Closed
function by midnight on the prior day for it to work properly. For example,
assume you set December 25 as a Scheduled
Closed Holiday and you had run Final
Daily Closed by midnight on December 24. At about noon on the 25th,
the ISP would run a Closed Day. That
opens and closes out the day, so that when you arrive on the morning of
December 26, you can run a Store Opening
as usual.
To set up a Scheduled
Closed Holiday:
1. Select
STORE PROFILE/SECURITY (option H) from the Main menu
2. Select
STORE PROFILE MAINTENANCE (Option A)
3. Select
SCHEDULED CLOSED HOLIDAYS (Option H) from the Store Profile Maintenance menu
4. Enter
the date of the holiday in the MMDDYY format (e.g. 122500 for Christmas Day)
5. Enter
the name of the holiday
Once you have entered that information, exit. Now your ISP
is ready to work while you are enjoying the holidays!
Every once in a while, the ISP may "lock up" or
"freeze." If this happens, you never want to power off the ISP
(simply turn off the power.) This can cause irreparable damage to your hard
drive and it may not boot up again. Turn off the ISP only if a Customer Care
Technician (help desk technician) instructs you to do so.
By accessing the System Maintenance menu, you can shut down
the ISP when the ISP is locked up and not responding. You can access the System
Maintenance menu by pressing four keys simultaneously: <SHIFT>,
<CTRL>,<ALT> AND <F10>. When performed properly, you will see
another menu. Log on to this screen and then choose the option for SYSTEM
SHUTDOWN (Option F). The ISP may give you a message that a severe error has
occurred, but this is a normal message acknowledging the fact that the system
is locked up (an underlying error is recorded in the systems log file.) When
your ISP screen reads "Safe to Power Off" or "Press Any Key to
Reboot," press any key. During rebooting, it may stop at an Optional Recovery
prompt. Choose the option to continue, and the system will complete the booting
sequence.
If your system locks up frequently, this may indicate a
hardware problem. The Customer Care Center (SEI Help Desk) can help you
diagnose and resolve the underlying issue.
Happy Meals are popular menu items that probably account for
a considerable portion of your daily sales. The ISP calculates sales of the
entrée and fries (Product Net Sales) separately from the premium toy
(Non-Product Sales) for each of the individual Happy Meals sold. This process
is known as Happy Meal Auto Deduct. Several ways to check that your Happy Meals
product and non-product totals are calculating properly include:
In Menu Item Update:
·
Set up your Happy Meals using the correct menu item
numbers. A complete list is available in your ISP help screens (<CTRL>
and <F1> pressed simultaneously) under the topic HAPPY MEAL AUTO DEDUCT. The most commonly used number are:
128 – Hamburger Happy Meal
129 – Cheeseburger Happy Meal
714 – 4 Piece McNugget Happy Meal
All of your Happy Meals must be
set up on "Happy Meal numbers" for the process to work correctly. Set
your total cost of the Happy Meal.
·
Set up your premium toy. Menu item numbers 846 – 899
are reserved exclusively for the
Happy Meal toy included in a Happy Meal. (Toys sold separately – including the
Happy Meal toy when sold separately – require a non-product menu item number
outside this range.) For example, if you set up your premium toy using menu
item number 846 with an associated price of $.49, that amount will be deducted
-for each Happy Meal sold – from
Product Net Sales, and instead accumulated in Non-Product Net Sales. The
premium toy must be priced below $.75.
Problems occur when you set up
high-priced menu items in the 846-899 range. If, for example, item 847 is
created to sell CD’s which have an associated price of $4.99, the ISP will
attempt to deduct the full amount - $4.99 – for each Happy Meal sold and
accumulate that amount in Non-Product Sales. Obviously, the amount of the CD is
considerably higher than the menu item price of any Happy Meal. This negative
remainder for each Happy Meal Product Net portion will cause the system to
misrepresent or error when displaying the Product Net Sales total on any report
that includes this category. To avoid this problem, set up all Non Product
items not specifically sold only in combination with a Happy Meal using Non
Product menu item numbers 800-845, 8003, or 8006.
In Menu POS
assignments:
·
Assign your Happy Meals to locations on the menu item
grid (Menu POS Assignments.)
·
Assign your Happy Meal premium (menu item created above
in the 846-899 range with price below $.75) to a key on the grid. This key is
vital, as it is the trigger to
activate the Happy Meal Auto Deduct function of your ISP. This menu item
placement is for tracking purposes only,
and should not be rung on the
register, even though a menu item slot is now used by this menu item. Make sure
to put the key in a place on the grid where your crew will not accidentally
ring it up. It can also be helpful to give this menu item a name that conveys
the message not to use this key on the registers – names such as "ASK
ME", "GHOST", and even "DANGER" have been used to ward
off cashier use at the registers. These names are edited in Menu Item Update,
with 3 locations for the name. The first of the 3 name options creates the menu
item name you see on the register (and KVS).
·
If you have a separate menu item for the premium toys
that you sell separately from Happy Meals, you can also assign this key to the
menu item grid (Menu POS Assignments) with a name such as "TOY."
Setting up the Happy Meal Auto Deduct function offers stores
an automated method to correctly report the Product Net and Non Product Net
sales to McDonald’s.
If you have any problems or questions regarding the Happy
Meal Auto Deduct process, please call the Customer Care Center (Help Desk) at
1-800-515-3636 (for franchise stores only!), or 701-280-2900 (for McOpCo stores
only!) Your ISP help screens may also offer more information on this automated
function.
Occasionally, you may encounter an error message on your
ISP. Many of them are known as "system errors." If you have a system
error, your ISP will give you a message instructing you to call the SEI Help
Desk for assistance. Please take a few steps to help us fix it as soon as
possible.
·
Call the SEI Help Desk right away while the
system error is on the screen. An error will appear in green at the
bottom of the screen and will look like this: 0101 012345 abcde:FATAL:abcde
·
If you are not able to call right away,
press the <print screen> button on your keyboard to print the error.
Call the Help Desk as soon as possible, and have the printed error page ready
when you call.
·
Remember the exact steps you took before you got the
error.
·
When you call the Help Desk with a system error, a
technician will use an automated program to fix it if one is available.
·
If the technician cannot fix the error, he or she will
send the problem to the SEI Level 3 programmers for resolution.
It is always best to call the Help Desk when you get a
system error. System errors are never procedural calls.
From time to time, you may need to make adjustments to the
cash data that pulls from your register system to the ISP. The ISP allows you
to do this through the Special Cash Functions menu.
1. From
the Main Menu, choose Cash/Inventory (Option A).
2. Select
Cash (Option B).
3. Select
Special Cash Functions (Option L).
4.
Adjust Cash (Option A) allows you to edit cash information for
a day that is already Final Daily Closed on the ISP.
Additional Sales (Option D) allows you to enter cash that is
otherwise unaccounted for on a day that is not yet Final Daily Closed on the
ISP. An example of when you would use this is if you have offline sales on the
registers.
Regular maintenance of the ISP’s "Automatic Ordering
System" (AOS) can help your business run more efficiently. Outlined below
are some steps to keep your AOS running smoothly.
1. Check
the modem connection.
2.
Make sure the modem power is ON and its power cord is plugged
in securely.
3.
Verify that the phone cord is plugged into the space labeled
line, wall, or jack (not phone) on the modem.
4.
Follow the phone cord to the other end and make sure it is
plugged securely into the wall.
5. Check
your ISP’s software release number.
6.
On the Main Menu, the software release number appears just
below your national store number, following the words "McDonald’s
RLS."
7.
If the release number is below 7.01, you will need to access
the Software Upgrade Distribution System (SUDS) to perform a software upgrade.
Consult your ISP help screens or call the Help Desk for upgrading instructions.
8. Verify
the Distribution Center information in the Vendor Master Maintenance function.
9.
From the Main Menu select Cash/Inventory (option A)
10.
Select File Maintenance (Option D)
11.
Then choose Inventory Item Maintenance (Option B)
12.
Finally Vendor Master Maintenance (Option C)
13.
Confirm the following information:
14.
Only one vendor is set up to use Automatic Ordering.
15.
The vendor’s name is no longer than 20 characters.
16.
The modem phone number is correct.*
Note: If you must first dial "9" to reach an
outside line, a "9" must precede the modem number as well. For
long-distance calls, a "1" must precede the modem number. If the
Distribution Center’s modem number is long-distance, make sure your store has
the ability to call long-distance. If you are unsure of the phone number,
contact the Distribution Center.
17.
Request an Item List from the vendor using Automatic Ordering,
by placing a "Y" in the "Item List" field, then pressing
<enter>. The ISP will attempt to dial into the Distribution Center to
request an Item List.
18.
You can verify the "Item List" was received by
checking the Transmission reports in Report/Printer Inquiry (Option Z).
When you have completed all of the above steps, generate and
transmit your order again. If the Automatic Order function fails, call the SEI
Help Desk.
A. Start
with “Gathering the Facts”. Collect the
following reports:
QCR
Report
q
Remember to focus on the single area that is the
highest above your targets. For most
restaurants the STAT loss will be an ongoing controlling area.
q
Use the ISP’s Food
Cost Troubleshooting Guide (found in ISP Help) to determine your course of
action to save Food Cost dollars.
Inventory
STAT Report
q
Current and prior month.
Inventory
Summary Report
q
Current and
prior month
B. Once you have the
above, ask “What’s the problem”?:
QCR
Report
q Is
“Unexplained” outside of the recommended +/- .10%? If not, question inventory and/or administration accuracy.
q Is
STAT loss a positive number? A positive
number indicates inventory and/or administration errors and should not be
accepted.
q Is
the restaurant obtaining set performance targets? If not, use the “Food Cost Checklist” Help Screens to determine
the area of greatest opportunity.
Inventory STAT
q
Is the report accurate? Is the inventory accurate? Is there any indication of improper waste
& employee meal reporting?
q
What are the problem items?
q
Are there any trends?
What about raw theft?
Inventory
Summary Report - This report helps to identify STAT problems.
q
Are there any large negative actual usage’s? A negative number here indicates inventory
and/or administration errors and should be investigated.
q
Compare last month’s Inventory Summary Report to this
month’s. Are there trends or large
unexplained discrepancies? Any negative
number in condiments will directly affect unexplained
C. Analyze the problem by determining “Why is this happening”?
q
Is part of your problem with foodcost having too much
stock on hand? The ISP can dramatically
improve the accuracy and efficiency of your order using the “Automatic
Ordering” process. If you are not
currently using “Automatic Ordering” check with your Distribution Center or
your Regional Store Systems Manager for training, the ISP also has Help Screens
on this topic.
q
Are you recording waste, promo, e-meals, and transfers
accurately on a daily basis? Do you
have each of these tasks assigned to specific managers to follow-up on?
q
Cash results affect Food Cost. Follow-up on: t-reds, +/- cash, +/- promo, etc. Use the ISP’s Supervisor’s Cash Audit Worksheet to
help identify problem areas.
q
Are you practicing good security? Insure enough stock
is available for the shift, keep stock areas locked up, have one set of store
keys in use (freezer, stockroom, backdoor), limit number of trash cans in use,
etc.
D. Create a Plan to improve the Food Cost
Optimization Process. Consider the
following Food Cost Routines when
determining your plan.
q Take
accurate inventories every 7-10 days
·
Schedule the inventory on the day you need to take
inventory for your food order. By
combining your STAT inventory and your food order inventory, you can eliminate
extra inventories, saving management administrative time.
·
Complete an accurate double inventory. This means that two separate managers, take
two separate inventories, both using the Telxon Inventory Recorder.
q
Determine the top 2-3 high dollar loss items from
your 7-10 day inventory.
·
This is accomplished by running the STAT report in
“Stat Loss Order”.
·
These items should be reviewed each month and changed
if necessary.
q
Inventory only the top 2-3 priorities on a daily
basis.
·
Insure the inventory is accurate
·
Do not choose raw items that may have variable yields
due to procedural problems, such as sundae mix. Choose items like meat, buns, French fries.
q Run
a daily STAT.
·
Take the information from the STAT and address it on
the floor.
·
Communicate progress with the entire management team
and key crew people.
q
On-the-floor involvement is the best Food Cost
follow-up tool.
·
Observe a Food Cost problem on-the-floor.
·
Validate the problem using the STAT.
·
Take action to solve the problem on-the-floor.
E.
Execute and Evaluate your plan on a consistent basis.
q
Use your resources to learn and train others on basic
Food Cost Principles (shoulder-to-shoulder training, O&T Manual, MDP, ISP
Help screens, ISP Computer Based Training, training classes, etc.). The more people that are working on the
problem, armed with the correct knowledge, the faster the problem will get
corrected.
q
Take your and concentrate on accuracy, you can then
direct your efforts top dollar loss items.
Having to take and inventory, and then correct mistakes later, only
wastes your time. Work on only 2-3 items at a time.
E. Look at the Big Picture
It is critical to
start with accurate reports to insure the team focuses on the root cause of
Food Cost opportunities. Determine if you
are getting a fair return on investment (ROI) for time spent taking inventories
and completing STAT Reports vs. results in Food Cost improvement.
Use a standard management approach to
guarantee continuous improvement in the Food Cost area. Get the entire management team and crew
involved. Set the expectation and fix
the priority items by doing what it takes on-the-floor.
Insure each member of the management team is focusing on the same priorities.
Share successes
with the entire team, crew and management.
Recognition can take many forms: a simple thank you, incentive programs,
bonuses or contests. Involve the crew in troubleshooting and solving Food Cost
issues. Post progress status regularly.
UNEXPLAINED DIFFERENCE
Unexplained difference is the dollar
difference between the P&L food cost and QCR food cost.
P&L food cost equals Beginning Inventory +
Food
Purchases +
Food
Promotion +/-
Food
Transfers -
Ending
Inventory
P&L Food Cost
QCR food cost equals Base Food +
Raw
Waste +
Completed
Waste +
Employee
Food +
Stat
Loss +
Discount
Coupons
QCR Food Cost
Unexplained difference is added to or
subtracted from the QCR so that the QCR food cost equals P&L food cost.
The causes of unexplained differences
are as follows:
·
Differences between the “bill ledger” and “purchases”
side of the ISP
·
If there are more dollars on “bill ledger” than on the
“purchases” side, this would cause a positive unexplained difference
·
If there are more dollars on the “purchases” side than
on the “bill ledger”, this would cause a negative unexplained difference
·
Inventory errors
·
Recipe errors or items with negative actual usage (per
Inventory Stat Report)
·
Unrecorded food transfers affect unexplained after Day
1 (e.g. Unrecorded transfers-in understate stat loss thoughout the month and
therefore unexplained difference is overstated to offset stat loss)
·
Journal entries made by accounting on Day 1 or after
(only affect daily and weekly QCRs)
The following are ways to troubleshoot
and capture unexplained difference opportunity:
Store
level
·
Enter invoices on “bill ledger” and the “purchases” side the same day that you receive them.
·
When entering invoices, tie out the invoice to the
“purchases” side to verify that the dollar amounts are similar. Expect minor pricing discrepancies (for
major food vendors, pass on dollar amounts less than $40.) If the “purchases” is more than $40 off,
verify that all case counts have been entered correctly.
·
Enter your entire major food vendor’s invoice under one
vendor on the “purchases” side. Do not
separate the dry, refrigerated, and frozen products.
·
Review your transaction detail throughout the month to
verify that an entry wasn’t coded incorrectly (e.g. a linen bill accidentally
coded to food).
·
Review A/P list and transaction detail for “pendings”
or “A/Ps” that were double booked (e.g. a payment doesn’t overlay a pending and
therefore doesn’t delete the “pending”).
Take accurate inventories. If you have an unexplained difference and
can not figure out why it exists, re-inventory.
TROUBLE SHOOTING GUIDE FOR
UNEXPLAINED DIFFERENCE
The following is a quick and easy
reference guide that will assist you in troubleshooting a store’s unexplained
difference.
STEP
1
Pull the following reports off the
ISP:
Þ
Transaction detail for the food line item
Þ
Inventory Stat Report
*
Select only food
*
Select report in stat difference order
Þ
Transfer in/out report (only if you are troubleshooting
your month end unexplained difference)
*
Select report in store order
STEP
2
Double check your ending inventory via
the Physical Inventory screen. Verify
that case counts are correct.
STEP
3
Match the beginning inventory amount
on the transaction detail (i.e. the positive food inventory variance number) to
the beginning inventory amount on the Physical Inventory screen on the ISP.
Þ
Select food and condiments for your inventory amount.
Þ
If the amount on the transaction detail is greater than
the amount on the Physical Inventory screen, the dollar difference will be a positive
unexplained difference.
Þ
If the amount on the Physical Inventory screen is
greater than the amount on the transaction detail, the dollar difference will
be a negative
unexplained difference.
STEP
4
Match food purchases from prior
months, which show up as ‘Paid by Accounting’ in the current month, to an ‘A/P
Reversal’ for the opposite dollar amount.
For example, a food purchase for $5,000 made on 1/28 shows up on
February’s transaction detail as 5,000 ‘Paid by Accounting’ and as -5,000 ‘A/P Reversal’.
Þ
If the ‘Paid by Accounting’ does not have an ‘A/P
Reversal’ to offset it, the amount that was ‘Paid by Accounting’ will be a positive
unexplained difference. (Note:
If the ‘Paid by Accounting’ is negative, then the unexplained difference
will be negative.)
Þ
If an ‘A/P Reversal’ does not have a ‘Paid by
Accounting’ or a ‘Pending Accounting Approval’ to offset it, the amount that is
an ‘A/P Reversal’ will be a negative unexplained difference. (Note:
If the ‘A/P Reversal’ is positive, then the unexplained difference will
be positive.)
Þ
If the ‘Paid by Accounting’ is greater than the ‘A/P
Reversal(s), the dollar difference will be a positive unexplained difference. (Note:
In some instances, the Accounting Center pays several food deliveries in
one payment. Therefore, more than one
‘A/P Reversal’ may relate to one ‘Paid by Accounting’)
STEP
5
Make sure there are no food deliveries
which show up on the transaction detail as a ‘Paid by Accounting’ and as a
‘Pending Accounting Approval’.
Þ
The amount that shows up twice will be a positive
unexplained difference.
STEP
6
Match current month food invoices on
the transaction detail to the Purchases screen on the ISP.
Þ
Agree amount on transaction detail to the
Food/Condiments total on the Purchases screen.
Þ
If food invoice does not show up on the Purchases
screen, the amount on the transaction detail will be a positive unexplained difference.
Þ
If the amount on the transaction detail is greater than
the amount on the Purchases screen, the dollar difference will be a positive
unexplained difference.
Þ
If the amount on the Purchases screen is greater than
the amount on the transaction detail, the dollar difference will be a negative
unexplained difference.
STEP
7
Review the Inventory Stat Report for
any items which do not have a calculated usage (i.e. not in a recipe) or items
which have negative actual usage (i.e. growing food).
Þ
If the item does not have a calculated usage, then the
item’s actual usage multiplied by the item’s unit cost will be a positive
unexplained difference.
Þ
If the item has a negative actual usage, then the
item’s negative actual usage multiplied by the item’s unit cost will be a negative
unexplained difference.
STEP
8
Match up transfers in and out from the
transaction detail to the transfer in/out report by store.
Þ
If the transfer in on the transaction detail (i.e. the
positive food transfer ticket amount) does not show up on the transfer in/out
report, the entire amount will be a positive unexplained difference.
Þ
If the transfer in on the transaction detail is greater
than the transfer in total on the transfer in/out report, the dollar difference
will be a positive unexplained difference.
Þ
If the transfer in total on the transfer in/out report
is greater than the transfer in on the transaction detail, the dollar
difference will be a negative unexplained difference.
Þ
If a transfer out shows up on the transfer in/out
report but is not on the transaction detail (i.e. the transfer out was recorded
to an unrecognized McOpCo store #), the entire amount on the transfer in/out
report will be a positive unexplained difference.
A. Start
with “Gathering the Facts”. Collect the
following reports:
Table Maintenance
q
Fixed Labor Guide (use <F2> to print the guide)
q
Starting Points VLH Guide for all Dayparts
q
VLH Adjustment Factor settings (print screen)
q
Crew Ability by Daypart (print screen for each day)
Personnel
q Crew
Minimum Hours (print screen)
q Abbreviated
Personnel Report
Monitoring
q Last
week’s Actual LAB Report
q Projected
LAB Report for the same date ranges of the Actual LAB Report (Weekly Schedule,
Standard Reports, Report #6)
q Daily
Activity Report for the current day
Targets
q
What are the labor performance targets for the
following items?
Weekly Projected vs. Actual Transactions (Goal +/- 2%)
Total Weekly Variance Hours (Goal
less than 100 hours)
Total Weekly Plus or Minus Hours (Goal 0-40 hours)
Needed Hours vs. Actual Hours (Goal
as close to zero as possible)
Contracted Fixed Hours vs. Scheduled (Goal –5 to +15 hours)
Weekly Fixed Hours vs. Total Hours (Goal less than 35%)
Weekly Salaried Management Hours (Goal all managers on schedule)
Once
you have the above, ask “What’s the problem”?:
Table Maintenance
q
Fixed Labor Guide
·
What are the fixed hour percent of total hours? A typical guideline is 30-35%. If not within guideline, why?
·
How do the hours compare to the Fixed Hour
guidelines? See the Fixed Hours section
for recommendations.
·
Playplaces
typically call for a “Park Ranger” to cover restaurant sales and park
hours of operation - approximately 56-112 hours.
q Starting
Point VLH Guide for all Dayparts
·
Does the guide meet the needs of the restaurant?
·
How does the guide compare to recommendations? See the “Positioning Recommendation” section
of this document for starting points.
·
Have there been adjustments to the guide within the
last year?
q
VLH Adjustment Factor settings
·
Have the starting points been adjusted? If so, why?
Do not fall into the trap of “setting” these to match your restaurant.
|
|
VLH Starting Points
|
|
|
Daypart
|
Avg. Items/Order
|
Drive-Thru %
|
Effect of 1% chg./DT %
|
|
|
Breakfast
|
3.2
|
55%
|
.46
|
|
|
Regular Menu
|
4.5
|
55%
|
.46
|
q
Crew Ability by Daypart
·
These ratings determine how the VLH guide will be used
for each daypart and for each day of the week.
This is an “overall” setting to rate your crew based on their ability.
·
When was the last time these were reviewed and
adjusted?
Personnel
q Crew
Minimum Hours
·
Is there a good distribution of scheduling preference
groups (1-4)? Ideally, each group would
contain 25% of the crew.
·
Are total manager assigned minimum hours a small
number? If not, why?
·
Are total adjusted minimum hours under total VLH hours
available to distribute to remaining crew?
q
Abbreviated Personnel Report
·
Are employees mostly “Yes” for System Set Minimum
Hours? If not, why?
·
Are most crew (with the exception of fixed hours
employees, i.e. maintenance) set for “Auto”, automatically scheduled by the
ISP? If not, why?
·
How is the scheduling preference (1-4) determined for
each crew person?
·
How are station ratings (1-5) determined for each crew
person? Remember you should have as few
“5’s” as possible. If they could do the
basic minimums for that style of shift set them to a “4”.
Monitoring
q Actual
LAB Report compared to Projected LAB for same date ranges:
·
What is the transaction/sales projection process?
·
Are transactions within 2% of projection?
·
Are Hours Needed vs. Actual Hours as close to zero as
possible?
·
Are Contract hours within -5 to +15 hours from
scheduled fixed hours?
q
Projected LAB Report:
·
Page 1 - Are Over/Under Net Hours under 40 per week?
·
Page 1 - Are Fixed Hours scheduled within 30-35% of
total hours?
·
Page 2 - Are total Salaried Floor Hours close to the
actual number of Salaried Hours available?
(45 hours per salaried manager)
·
Page 2 - Are Fixed Hours properly scheduled?
·
Page 3 - Are Variance Hours under 100?
·
Page 3 - What are the large variances in Fixed Hours?
q
Daily Activity Report
·
How is labor monitored/adjusted on a hour by hour
basis?
·
What columns are the restaurant focused to look at and
why?
·
Is a manual tracking tool being used? If so, why?
·
How are managers held accountable for shift labor?
B.
Analyze the problem(s) by determining “Why
is this happening”?
q
Does this labor problem reflect a poor projection?
q
Does this labor problem reflect a lack of follow-up “on
the floor”?
q
Does this labor problem reflect poor planning prior to
the schedule?
C. Make
a Plan to improve the Labor Scheduling Process. Consider the following Labor Optimization Routines when
determining your plan.
Plan a good Manager’s
Schedule.
·
Plan important Management activities before assigning shifts to the team.
·
Follow the 12 principles of Management Scheduling. Use the Manager’s Violation Report to
identify compliance.
·
Use Salaried Management for as many management fixed
hours and floor hours as possible.
Store manager reviews preliminary scheduling steps
before generating the crew schedule.
·
Review/update Table Maintenance, re-project sales, if
necessary, for changes to take effect.
·
Review weekly Transactions/Sales Projections.
·
Review/update the Abbreviated Personnel Report.
Store manager reviews the weekly
crew schedule before posting.
·
Review update the three page Projected LAB Report.
·
Review Daily and Weekly Violations.
Pull the Daily Activity Report as
often as possible.
·
Review trend -
scheduled transactions vs. actual transactions.
·
+/- Hours should be as close to zero as possible.
D. Execute
and Evaluate your plan on a consistent basis.
E. Look at the Big Picture
Delivering Fast, Accurate and Friendly
(FAF) Service is the best approach to increasing customer satisfaction and
building long term sales. One of the
key elements of delivering FAF is a sound, well written Labor Schedule.
The Schedule should be well planned,
utilizing labor hours efficiently. The
better the plan, the better the result.
Execution of the schedule is what happens on a day by day, hour by hour
basis. The shift manager is challenged
to control labor without losing focus on the customer’s needs.
Put enough people on the floor, use
effective positioning practices and strive to exceed operational standards.
To update the VLH Guide in the ISP, complete
the following:
1.
Logon
to the ISP. From the Main Menu, select
option B. Labor Scheduling (a supervisor’s password or higher must
be used in order to make changes).
2.
Select option B. Table Maintenance
3.
Select option A. VLH Guide and Station Requirements
4.
Highlight
one of the displayed dayparts to
review/edit this daypart and press <F8>.
5.
Select
“S” to adjust Starting Point Ranges
(you cannot adjust Adjusted Ranges).
6.
This
is where you would input the restaurant’s starting points. These starting point transaction ranges
should be based on a crew rated “good”.
This is the screen where you would also make Floor manager and crew
positioning adjustments. Press the ESCAPE key when finished. In some cases you might have to go to the
bottom of the list and work your way up to make changes without getting an
“overlapping ranges” error.
7.
Repeat
steps 4, 5, and 6 for ALL dayparts.
Once you have completed your VLH adjustments, select
START NEW WEEK to complete the
weekly Labor Schedule.
BREAKFAST
DAYPART
------- STARTING POINT TRANSACTION RATES
-------- --- VLH BREAKDOWN
---
TRANS RATE
RANGE
OUT- EXCEL- NEEDS
PROD HASH DRIVE WIN-
BK TOTAL
GOOD
STANDING LENT IMPROV FLOOR CALL*BRNS* THRU
DOW GRILL VLH
FROM
TO 15% 10%
-10% (F) (D) (W)
(B) ----
0
25 29 28
23 1 0
0 1 1
1 3
26
40 46 44
36 1 0
0 1 1
2 4
41
55 63 61
50 1 0
0 2 1
2 5
56
70 81 77
63 1 0
0 2 1
3 6
71
80 92 88
72 1 0
0 2 2
3 7
81
95 109 105
86 1 0 0 2 2 4
8
96
115 132 127
104 2 0
0 3 2
4 9
116
130 150 143
117 2 0
0 3 2
5 10
131
140 161 154
126 2 0
1 3 3
5 11
141
150 173 165
135 2 0
1 4 3
5 12
151
160 184 176
144 2 0
1 4 3
6 13
161
180 207 198
162 2 0
1 4 4
6 14
181
200 230 220
180 3 0
1 5 4
6 15
116
220 253 242
198 3 0
1 5 4
7 16
221
240 276 264
216 3 0
1 5
4 8 17
241
280 299 286
234 3 0
1 5 5
8 18
281
300 322 308
252 3 0
1 6 5
8 19
301
320 345 330
270 3 0
1 6 5 9
20
319
340 368 352
288 3 0
1 7 5
9 21
341
9999 9999 9999
8999 3 0
1 7 6
9 22
RANGES
BASED ON 3.20 AVERAGE ITEMS/ORDER AND
55.00% DRIVE THRU TRANSACTIONS
LUNCH DAYPART
------- STARTING POINT TRANSACTION RATES
-------- --- VLH BREAKDOWN
---
TRANS RATE
RANGE
OUT- EXCEL- NEEDS
PROD DRIVE WIN- TOTAL
GOOD
STANDING LENT IMPROV FLOOR CALL* FRIES* THRU
DOW GRILL VLH
FROM
TO 15% 10%
-10% (F) (D) (W)
(G) ----
0
25 29 28
23 1 0
0 1 1
1 3
26
45 52 50
41 1 0
0 1 1
2 4
46
55 63 61
50 1 0
0 2 1
2 5
56
70 81 77
63 1 0 0 2 1 3 6
71
75 92 88
72 1 0
1 2 2
3 7
76
90 104 99
81 1 0
1 2 3
3 8
91
105 121 116
95 2 0
1 2 3 4
9
106
120 138 132
108 2 0
1 3 3
4 10
121
135 155 149
122 2 0
1 3 3
5 11
136
150 173 165
135 2 0
1 4 3
5 12
151
160 184 176
144 2 0
1 4 3
6 13
161
180 207 198
162 2 0
1 4 4
6 14
181
200 230 220
180 3 0
1 4 4
7 15
201
220 253 242
198 3 0
1 5 4
7 16
221
240 276 264
216 3 0
2 5 5
7 17
241
280 322 308
252 3 0
2 5 6
7 18
281
300 345 330
270 3 0
2 6 5
8 19
301
320 368 352
288 3 0
2 6 6
8 20
321
340 391 374
306 3 0
2 7 6
8 21
341
9999 9999 9999
8999 3 0
2 7 7
8 22
RANGES BASED ON 4.50
AVERAGE ITEMS/ORDER AND 55.00% DRIVE THRU TRANSACTIONS
*Fry/Hash Brown is included
in the Window Breakdown
For Split Function the Window
Breakdown includes a Window Back-up person
Second manager is managing the Grill Area
