In the fast-paced world of quick-service restaurants (QSRs), maintaining accurate inventory is essential to smooth operations and customer satisfaction. Traditionally, this process relied on a manual method known as “shelf-to-sheet.” In this process, staff walk through aisles, often during off-peak hours, recording the items and quantities on a paper sheet or digital tablet. This process is highly structured and assumes that items are on specific shelves. While necessary, shelf-to-sheet inventory counting is time-consuming, error-prone, and requires constant manual effort to maintain accuracy.
The Traditional Shelf-to-Sheet Process
A typical shelf-to-sheet inventory process involves the following steps:
- Preparation: Print or set up digital sheets with item lists and corresponding columns for quantity counts. It assigns specific items to specific shelves, which is extremely inflexible for times when there is overflow or the addition of LTOs and new products.
- Manual Counting: Staff go to each inventory location and count items on shelves, row by row.
- Record-Keeping: Counts are entered onto the sheet or tablet.
- Verification: Management may need to verify counts, especially for high-value items.
- Data Entry: If done on paper, the data is then entered into a digital system for further analysis.
- Review: Management or inventory specialists review reports to detect any discrepancies.
This workflow often results in inaccuracies, missed items, or redundant efforts as employees manually record and re-enter data.
Enter NomadGo’s Spatial AI Solution
NomadGo’s Spatial AI technology is revolutionizing inventory counting in QSRs by eliminating many of the manual steps associated with shelf-to-sheet. With a few simple scans, employees can collect all the necessary inventory information, including counts per row, with accuracy and efficiency that was previously unachievable with traditional methods. In addition, there’s much greater flexibility for the realities of inventory – overflow, new products, etc. – because items do not need to be assigned to specific locations. Spatial AI uses camera technology to recognize, count, and categorize items in real-time – no matter where they are located - automatically updating inventory data.
Here’s how the new process with NomadGo’s Spatial AI works:
1. Simple Scan: Staff scan the shelf using a phone or tablet with NomadGo’s Spatial AI.
2. Automatic Count: Spatial AI analyzes and counts items in real-time (thanks to the on-device AI) by row and updates inventory data instantly.
3. Real-Time Synchronization: Data is synced automatically to the inventory system, providing real-time insights. NomadGo also integrates with back-office platforms for automated ordering.
Steps Eliminated with NomadGo
- Preparation and sheet printing
- Highly structured assignment of items to locations
- Manual item counting
- Manual data entry from paper
- Verification and error-checking steps
Benefits of NomadGo’s Spatial AI
– Increased Efficiency: Cuts down inventory time drastically.– Higher Accuracy: Eliminates human error in counting and data entry.
– Real-Time Data: Inventory data is updated instantly for better decision-making.
– Cost Savings Reduces labor and time costs associated with manual processes.
– Enhanced Scalability: Easier to implement across multiple locations without extensive staff training.
– Fun to use: Instead of manually recording inventory, NomadGo is fun to use. Many employees compare it to a video game, leading to increased employee sentiment.
By replacing shelf-to-sheet with NomadGo’s Spatial AI, QSRs can now focus on optimizing their inventory management with accurate, real-time data, ultimately improving customer satisfaction and reducing operational costs.
