Individual Project Proposal
Song Tang(stang34@fordham.edu) 1. System Introduction & System Type
In today’s age of fast food and take-out, many restaurants have chosen to focus on quick preparation and speedy delivery of orders rather than offering a rich dining experience. Until very recently, all of these delivery orders were placed over the phone, but there are many disadvantages to this system, including the inconvenience of the customer needing to have a physical copy of the menu, lack of a visual confirmation that the order was placed correctly, and the necessity for the restaurant to have an employee answering the phone and taking orders.
What I propose is an online ordering system, which is a technique of ordering foods online applicable in any food delivery industry. The main advantage of my system is that it greatly simplifies the ordering process for both the customer and the restaurant. When the customer visits the ordering webpage, they are presented with an interactive and up-to-date menu, complete with all available options and dynamically adjusting prices based on the selected options. After making a selection, the item is then added to their order, which the customer can review the details of at any time before checking out. This provides instant visual confirmation of what was selected and ensures that items in the order are, in fact, what was intended.
This system also greatly lightens the load on the restaurant’s end, as the entire process of taking orders is automated. Once an order is placed on the webpage, it is entered into the database and then retrieved, in pretty much real-time, by a desktop application on the restaurant’s end. Within this application, all items in the order are displayed, along with their corresponding options and delivery details, in a concise and easy to read manner. This allows restaurant employees to quickly go through the orders as they are placed and produce the necessary items with minimal delay and confusion. 2. Business Problem
The challenges encountered by the existing system serve as a major drawback to the realization of efficiency and customer satisfaction. The experience of ordering in most fast food restaurants is not pleasant for the customers. Customers will have to make long queues before placing their orders especially during peak hours and then the ordering staff will record customer orders. Having placed their order, the customer must then wait near the counter until their order is ready for collection. The other problem in the food service industry is that restaurants are not realizing the efficiencies that would result from better application of technology in their daily operations. Fast food business in a very competitive business and one way to stand out from competitors is through improving the business process where business process automation can assist business improvement. The other problem with the current system is that the customers are not able to see the ingredients of the meals before they place their order and also they only have to pay for an order online. 3. System Benefits * To increase efficiency and improve services provided to the customers through better application of technology in daily operations. * To be able to stand out from competitors in the food service industry * To enable customers to order custom meals that aren’t in the menu * To enable customers to have a visual confirmation that the order was placed correctly * To enable customers to know food ingredients before ordering * To reduce restaurant’s food wastage * To ensure correct placement of orders through visual confirmation * Improve efficiency of restaurant’s staff * Increase speed of service, sales volume and customer satisfaction 4. System Goal
Online ordering system is a web based application whose main language of programming will be PHP. Its main aim is to simplify and improve the efficiency of the ordering process for both customer and restaurant, minimize manual data entry and ensure data accuracy and security during order placement process. Customers will also be able to view product menus and there ingredients and be able to have a visual confirmation that the order was place correctly.