Fluid operations
Fluid operations
Beverage service innovations-in dispensing and business intelligence-help casinos make the most of their liquid assets
By Darby Harris
Casinos and alcoholic drinks have been a natural match from day one. And with properties expanding their food and beverage departments, it's a coupling that shows no sign of breaking up.
That relationship can be made even stronger, however, with the smart use of beverage service technologies that save time and product and produce a better, faster drink for their customers.
Dishing it out
Dispensing products provide food and beverage departments with tools to control their valuable stocks of liquor. And manufacturers of beverage management systems strive to offer the best features for a particular property's needs.
Easybar(r) Beverage Management Systems offer a host of beverage control devices. "We have controls for liquor, beer, and then we also do free-pour liquor" with control, said James Nicol, director of corporate accounts at Easybar(r).
The Freepour system is one of the newest the company offers, with radio signal controlled toppers for liquor bottles. The pour spout can be adjusted to measure liquids with varying viscosities, so a syrupy liquor could be measured just as easily as a dry gin.
Freepour records every drink by pour size, brand of liquor, and the date and time the drink was poured. The information is sent, via radio signal, to a receiver box, which interfaces with point- of-sale systems and can be checked at any point. The box also interfaces with PCs, which can then tap the data for review.
Freepour helps provide a compromise between total inventory control and a bartender's desire for flair. "This way you have the feel of free pour, which bartenders love, but also accountability," Nicol said. A built-in security switch alerts the receiver box if the pour spout is removed, while an LED light-which can be switched off-blinks with every half ounce of fluid, helping bartenders measure the drinks.
For greater control, speed and accuracy, and for the ideal in addressing high volume operations, Easybar(r) also offers its Computerized Liquor Control System II (CLCS II). "It's pretty much the standard for casinos, bars" and other establishments dealing with high volume, Nicols said. CLCS II can use any combination of dispensing guns and towers (with single- to four-bottle manifolds), distributing up to 128 brands of liquor and releasing up to five liquid ingredients with the press of a single button.
The guns have 24 brands and operate with tactile buttons, allowing bartenders to pour by touch more easily. They operate in real time with POS systems, automatically ringing up drinks. The system offers security as well, as bartenders must be signed in for the drinks to flow. "You couldn't do anything if someone isn't signed in," Nicols said.
One differentiator for this system, he added, is that CLCS II uses the only National Sanitary Foundation approved pumps-positive displacement pumps that avert leaks and prevent air from ever touching the liquid product. "We're the only ones with no air corrupting the taste," Nicols said.
That also goes for the company's portion-controlled cocktail station, which can dispense up to 48 liquors and 10 sodas or juices in any cocktail of up to five ingredients. The systems allow customizable programming for any drink offered, and the programming can be changed at any time. It tracks with the POS system, and everything operates with Windows-based electronics with data recorded online, so maintaining the systems can be done from anywhere.
Additionally, Nicols said, the system is easy to troubleshoot and is reliable. "Our systems last very long," he said. "It's just a matter of maintaining them."
Wisconsin-based Berg Company also manufactures liquor control systems, and lists many advantages of such a system on its Web site. Precise equipment controls portions, reduces spillage, prevents theft or overgenerous pouring, increases efficiency and increases consistency in drinks, which thereby increases customer satisfaction. "In most cases, Berg systems can pay for itself in six to twelve months," the company's Web site proclaims.
Berg's All-Bottle(tm) free pouring system offers attachments with a range of options, from the All-Bottle(tm) 703, with seven price codes and three sizes, to the Infinity All-Bottle ID(tm), which supports four price levels, four sizes and supports 200 brands using its advanced, Infinity(tm) software reporting.
The company's Infinity(tm) software is Windows-based and provides a system for managing all the aspects of beverage dispensing. The software can automatically turn equipment on or off, run reports at set times and days, and can automatically switch between price levels.
The Laser(tm) Remote pouring gun can also report through Infinity(tm), and comes in six, 12, 16 or 32 brands. For beer, the Tap 1(tm) System controls portions for up to eight taps, while the Draft Sentinel(tm) portions for up to 24 taps.
All the equipment interfaces with POS systems and can be set to automatically ring up drink orders. Berg's site maintains that the equipment is compact and can handle liquor, mixes, juice, wine and beer.
Keeping track
The process of managing and accounting for the valuable inventory of alcohol can be fraught with difficulties and complications. Liquor bottles vary in size and shape, so assessing the amount-especially when different people conduct the counts-can be subjective.
G4 Technologies' AccuBar inventory system, with handheld Pocket PC MC-50, aims to alleviate such complications and provide a standard measure for beverage inventory. "It's all about making it fast and easy, and eliminating a lot of the human errors inherent in the process," said Dan Grimm, president and one of the founders of G4 Technologies.
The system manages all types of food and beverage inventory, but especially comes in handy with liquor. The Pocket PC MC-50 scans a bar code, then illustrates, via the screen, an outline of that particular brand's bottle. The user then uses a pen to visually mark the liquid level, which the system uses to automatically calculate the level with precise accuracy. The unit sends the data to the Internet server, which within minutes can generate a spreadsheet report and e-mail it to users. And since the system also watches consumption and pour costs, it can help smaller operations set par levels for buying, Grimm said.
The speed of the system-which provides almost real-time reports that can recommend replenishment based on scanned empties-saves time, which means saving money. Grimm reported that customers have said that inventory with AccuBar takes less than a quarter of the time than the manual process, and results in fewer errors. This means inventory can be done more often, which is key, Grimm said. "Here's the message that we send to people-take inventory every week," he said. It proves to employees that operators are serious, increases accuracy, reduces theft and reduces costs. "It's our opinion that the system pays for itself within months," Grimm said.
G4 Technologies is also producing solutions for unique wine and beer inventory issues. "One of the areas we see a lot of growth in is the wine side of things," Grimm said of casino operations. Problems arise, though, when specialty wines lack bar codes, or different vintages of the same wine share a bar code. "Ultimately we've come up with tools to help with that," he said. Separate bar code tags that hang off the edge of the bottle allow scanning without disturbing the bottle. If the bottle must be moved, the tag goes with it, rather than being adhered to a shelf.
AccuBeer, which should be released sometime within the first half of 2007, will provide food and beverage managers with a way to look inside the keg, measuring the contents to within a pint. The system would manage and report as AccuBar does, allowing staff to track inventory levels and make assessments based on purchases.
Managing service
Using business intelligence software and systems can also enhance beverage service efficiency and customer service. Products like EatecNetX, InfoGenesis' Analytics, Agilysys' Hospitality Business Intelligence Solution and Avero LLC's Slingshot(r) can measure key server performance matrices that help food and beverage operators make better beverage service decisions.
Damian Mogavero, founder and CEO of Avero, cited cocktail server round time as a crucial factor in beverage service. "Cocktail server productivity is huge," he said. "One of the pieces of functionality that we've been able to develop for the gaming industry is really a way to help evaluate your cocktail servers in general. And there's a few key metrics-one is round time."
Mogavero pointed out that managers can look at differences in round time to evaluate which servers are exceeding averages and which are falling under-and why. "They're able to then coach those cocktail servers accordingly, and before that they really were flying blind without this information," he said.
In wine by the bottle sales, sometimes an unusual anomaly-like 90 percent lower sales by one server-can be easily explained, such as a case Mogavero cited where a server wasn't comfortable opening a wine bottle. After seeing the data and coaching the server, management was able to correct the situation. "Wine sales by the bottle doubled the next week," he said.
Such beverage service is important not just because it directly correlates to sales, but also because it correlates to customer service. "Beverage plays a huge, huge, huge role in (a property's) customer service score," said William Becker, vice president of food and beverage at the Rio All-Suite Casino Resort in Las Vegas. "We have an RFID system set up in our cocktail world, so to speak-every cocktail server carries an RFID chip, so we know that the efficiency that server is displayed in and out of the well."
Besides improving customer service, more downed drinks-and higher quality drinks-translates to more coin in on the casino floor. "Gamblers are more inclined to gamble if they have a drink and are having a good time," Mogavero said.
Beverage service innovations-in dispensing and business intelligence-help casinos make the most of their liquid assets
By Darby Harris
Casinos and alcoholic drinks have been a natural match from day one. And with properties expanding their food and beverage departments, it's a coupling that shows no sign of breaking up.
That relationship can be made even stronger, however, with the smart use of beverage service technologies that save time and product and produce a better, faster drink for their customers.
Dishing it out
Dispensing products provide food and beverage departments with tools to control their valuable stocks of liquor. And manufacturers of beverage management systems strive to offer the best features for a particular property's needs.
Easybar(r) Beverage Management Systems offer a host of beverage control devices. "We have controls for liquor, beer, and then we also do free-pour liquor" with control, said James Nicol, director of corporate accounts at Easybar(r).
The Freepour system is one of the newest the company offers, with radio signal controlled toppers for liquor bottles. The pour spout can be adjusted to measure liquids with varying viscosities, so a syrupy liquor could be measured just as easily as a dry gin.
Freepour records every drink by pour size, brand of liquor, and the date and time the drink was poured. The information is sent, via radio signal, to a receiver box, which interfaces with point- of-sale systems and can be checked at any point. The box also interfaces with PCs, which can then tap the data for review.
Freepour helps provide a compromise between total inventory control and a bartender's desire for flair. "This way you have the feel of free pour, which bartenders love, but also accountability," Nicol said. A built-in security switch alerts the receiver box if the pour spout is removed, while an LED light-which can be switched off-blinks with every half ounce of fluid, helping bartenders measure the drinks.
For greater control, speed and accuracy, and for the ideal in addressing high volume operations, Easybar(r) also offers its Computerized Liquor Control System II (CLCS II). "It's pretty much the standard for casinos, bars" and other establishments dealing with high volume, Nicols said. CLCS II can use any combination of dispensing guns and towers (with single- to four-bottle manifolds), distributing up to 128 brands of liquor and releasing up to five liquid ingredients with the press of a single button.
The guns have 24 brands and operate with tactile buttons, allowing bartenders to pour by touch more easily. They operate in real time with POS systems, automatically ringing up drinks. The system offers security as well, as bartenders must be signed in for the drinks to flow. "You couldn't do anything if someone isn't signed in," Nicols said.
One differentiator for this system, he added, is that CLCS II uses the only National Sanitary Foundation approved pumps-positive displacement pumps that avert leaks and prevent air from ever touching the liquid product. "We're the only ones with no air corrupting the taste," Nicols said.
That also goes for the company's portion-controlled cocktail station, which can dispense up to 48 liquors and 10 sodas or juices in any cocktail of up to five ingredients. The systems allow customizable programming for any drink offered, and the programming can be changed at any time. It tracks with the POS system, and everything operates with Windows-based electronics with data recorded online, so maintaining the systems can be done from anywhere.
Additionally, Nicols said, the system is easy to troubleshoot and is reliable. "Our systems last very long," he said. "It's just a matter of maintaining them."
Wisconsin-based Berg Company also manufactures liquor control systems, and lists many advantages of such a system on its Web site. Precise equipment controls portions, reduces spillage, prevents theft or overgenerous pouring, increases efficiency and increases consistency in drinks, which thereby increases customer satisfaction. "In most cases, Berg systems can pay for itself in six to twelve months," the company's Web site proclaims.
Berg's All-Bottle(tm) free pouring system offers attachments with a range of options, from the All-Bottle(tm) 703, with seven price codes and three sizes, to the Infinity All-Bottle ID(tm), which supports four price levels, four sizes and supports 200 brands using its advanced, Infinity(tm) software reporting.
The company's Infinity(tm) software is Windows-based and provides a system for managing all the aspects of beverage dispensing. The software can automatically turn equipment on or off, run reports at set times and days, and can automatically switch between price levels.
The Laser(tm) Remote pouring gun can also report through Infinity(tm), and comes in six, 12, 16 or 32 brands. For beer, the Tap 1(tm) System controls portions for up to eight taps, while the Draft Sentinel(tm) portions for up to 24 taps.
All the equipment interfaces with POS systems and can be set to automatically ring up drink orders. Berg's site maintains that the equipment is compact and can handle liquor, mixes, juice, wine and beer.
Keeping track
The process of managing and accounting for the valuable inventory of alcohol can be fraught with difficulties and complications. Liquor bottles vary in size and shape, so assessing the amount-especially when different people conduct the counts-can be subjective.
G4 Technologies' AccuBar inventory system, with handheld Pocket PC MC-50, aims to alleviate such complications and provide a standard measure for beverage inventory. "It's all about making it fast and easy, and eliminating a lot of the human errors inherent in the process," said Dan Grimm, president and one of the founders of G4 Technologies.
The system manages all types of food and beverage inventory, but especially comes in handy with liquor. The Pocket PC MC-50 scans a bar code, then illustrates, via the screen, an outline of that particular brand's bottle. The user then uses a pen to visually mark the liquid level, which the system uses to automatically calculate the level with precise accuracy. The unit sends the data to the Internet server, which within minutes can generate a spreadsheet report and e-mail it to users. And since the system also watches consumption and pour costs, it can help smaller operations set par levels for buying, Grimm said.
The speed of the system-which provides almost real-time reports that can recommend replenishment based on scanned empties-saves time, which means saving money. Grimm reported that customers have said that inventory with AccuBar takes less than a quarter of the time than the manual process, and results in fewer errors. This means inventory can be done more often, which is key, Grimm said. "Here's the message that we send to people-take inventory every week," he said. It proves to employees that operators are serious, increases accuracy, reduces theft and reduces costs. "It's our opinion that the system pays for itself within months," Grimm said.
G4 Technologies is also producing solutions for unique wine and beer inventory issues. "One of the areas we see a lot of growth in is the wine side of things," Grimm said of casino operations. Problems arise, though, when specialty wines lack bar codes, or different vintages of the same wine share a bar code. "Ultimately we've come up with tools to help with that," he said. Separate bar code tags that hang off the edge of the bottle allow scanning without disturbing the bottle. If the bottle must be moved, the tag goes with it, rather than being adhered to a shelf.
AccuBeer, which should be released sometime within the first half of 2007, will provide food and beverage managers with a way to look inside the keg, measuring the contents to within a pint. The system would manage and report as AccuBar does, allowing staff to track inventory levels and make assessments based on purchases.
Managing service
Using business intelligence software and systems can also enhance beverage service efficiency and customer service. Products like EatecNetX, InfoGenesis' Analytics, Agilysys' Hospitality Business Intelligence Solution and Avero LLC's Slingshot(r) can measure key server performance matrices that help food and beverage operators make better beverage service decisions.
Damian Mogavero, founder and CEO of Avero, cited cocktail server round time as a crucial factor in beverage service. "Cocktail server productivity is huge," he said. "One of the pieces of functionality that we've been able to develop for the gaming industry is really a way to help evaluate your cocktail servers in general. And there's a few key metrics-one is round time."
Mogavero pointed out that managers can look at differences in round time to evaluate which servers are exceeding averages and which are falling under-and why. "They're able to then coach those cocktail servers accordingly, and before that they really were flying blind without this information," he said.
In wine by the bottle sales, sometimes an unusual anomaly-like 90 percent lower sales by one server-can be easily explained, such as a case Mogavero cited where a server wasn't comfortable opening a wine bottle. After seeing the data and coaching the server, management was able to correct the situation. "Wine sales by the bottle doubled the next week," he said.
Such beverage service is important not just because it directly correlates to sales, but also because it correlates to customer service. "Beverage plays a huge, huge, huge role in (a property's) customer service score," said William Becker, vice president of food and beverage at the Rio All-Suite Casino Resort in Las Vegas. "We have an RFID system set up in our cocktail world, so to speak-every cocktail server carries an RFID chip, so we know that the efficiency that server is displayed in and out of the well."
Besides improving customer service, more downed drinks-and higher quality drinks-translates to more coin in on the casino floor. "Gamblers are more inclined to gamble if they have a drink and are having a good time," Mogavero said.
