DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN AUTOMATED CANTEEN ORDERING SYSTEM

ABSTRACT

Nowadays people do not have much time to spend in canteen by just waiting for the waiter to take their order. Many customers visit the canteen in their lunch break and recess, so they have limited time to eat and return to their respective offices and colleges. So, this software helps them to save time and order food whenever they want without calling the waiter again and again.

Manual system involves paperwork in the form of maintaining various files and manuals. Maintaining critical information in the files and manuals is full of risks and tedious process. Including a framework showing how to apply internet technology progressively as skills and confidence grow, the project demonstrates the routes from adapting materials to developing an online environment.

This canteen automation system enables the end users to register online, read and select the food from the e-menu card and order food online by just selecting the food that the user want to have. The results after selecting the food from the E-menu card will directly appear in the screen near the chef who is going to cook the food for you. The system is the combination of android, iOS, as well as web application.

The tools used in developing this system includes PHP, CSS, JavaScript. HTML, MySQL. HP laptop.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1     Overview

 

Computers have become a part of the life for accessing almost any kind of information. Life in the 21^st century is full of technological advancement and this technological age it is very difficult for any organization to survive without utilizing technology. The world wide web contributes greatly to the creation of an ever-increasing global information database. It could also be used as a mechanism to share information within an enterprise.

In today’s age of fast food and takeout, many canteens have chosen to focus on quick preparation and speedy delivery of orders rather than offering a rich dining experience. Until very recently, all these delivery orders were placed to the waiters 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 of the canteen to have an employee answering the phone and taking orders. What, I propose is a canteen automation system, which is a technique of ordering foods online applicable in any food delivery industry. The main advantage of this system is that it greatly simplifies the ordering process for both the customer and the canteen.

1.2     Background and Motivation

 

The automated canteen ordering system is one of the latest servicers most fast food restaurants and canteens in the western world are adopting. With this method, food is ordered online and delivered to the customer. This is made possible through the use of electronic payment system. Customers pay with their credit cards, although credit cards customers can be served even before they make payment either through cash or cheque. So, the system designed in this project will enable customers go online and place order for their food.

Due to the great increase in the awareness of internet and the technologies associated with it, several opportunities are coming up on the web. So many business and companies now venture into their business with ease because of the internet. One of such business that the internet is an automated canteen ordering system. In today’s age of fast food and take out, many restaurants and canteens have chosen to focus on quick preparation and speedy delivery of orders rather than offering a rich dining experience. Until recently, most of the delivery orders were placed over the phone, but there are many disadvantages to this system.

It is possible for anybody to order any goods via the internet and have the goods delivered at his/her doorsteps. But while trying to discuss the transfer method of the good and services, attention is focused on the payment mode. In other words, how possible is it to pay for goods and services via the internet? This then leads to a discussion of the economic consequences of digital cash. What are the implementations from the viewpoint of economics? Since the world is fast and becoming a global village, it is necessary too; for this process is communication of which telecommunication is a key player. A major breakthrough is the wireless telephone system which comes in either fixed wireless headphone Lines or the global system of mobile communication (GSM).

The main advantage of this system is that it greatly simplifies the ordering process for both the customer and the canteen. The system also lightens the load on the canteens’ end, as the entire process of taking orders is automated. Once an order is placed on the webpage or the app that will be designed, it is placed into the database and then retrieved, in pretty much real time by a desktop application on the canteens’ end. In 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 the canteen employees to quickly go through the orders as they are placed and produce the necessary items with minimal delay and confusion. The greatest advantage of this system is FLEXIBILITY.

1.3     Statement of the Problem

 

The most common problem of the manual system of canteen is that the efficiency of the management along with customer satisfaction could not be fulfilled. Customers have to wait in long queues, for placing orders and they have to also wait for their order to be ready on the counters.

Another problem that is faced in canteen is the verbal communication on between the cashier and the customer. Many times, it happens, customer or cashier have problem in understanding what the other individual is saying, mostly during the busy hours of canteen. And during these busy hours, the noise and crowd is too much, that miscommunication is common, which results in wrong orders or errors on bill.

One more problem faced by the customer is food customization. Many at times it happens that a customer wants to give some direction regarding their food, or they are allergic to some ingredients, which is often forgotten or is miscommunicated to the chef, resulting in unsatisfied customers.

One bigger problem for canteen is updating their menu. Most of the canteen wants to introduce new dishes and items on their menu. However, as most of the canteens have their menu either attached to the wall or on pamphlet which is very difficult to update frequently. Resulting, the customer is not able to know about the new items and sale of such dishes or items is low. The canteen manager also might change prices of the specific dishes, for what they either need to change the whole menu or overwrite on menu chart, after which the menu is not readable clearly to the customers.

However, as industries are fast expanding, people are seeking for more ways to purchase products with much ease and still maintain cost effectiveness. The proposed system will help to solve these problems.

 

1.4     Aim and Objectives

The aim of this project is to develop an automated canteen ordering system.

And it is achieved based on the following objectives:

• To design and develop a web application for rapid food ordering to be used by the canteen customers.
• To implement and test the web application for food ordering in a canteen.

 

1.5     Significance of the Project

 

The automated canteen ordering system management is an application that will allow the users to get an automated way of ordering food easily. But in today’s fast-moving world, people find it difficult to go to the canteen to eat because of their busy work schedules. What if there is an automated way of ordering from canteen? Yes, it is possible through the use of automated canteen ordering system. This application will provide an easy way of ordering the food required through the online mode.

Following are the advantages of this application:

• The automated canteen ordering system can help in saving time of the customers since they do not have to wait in queues to get the food.
• The interface will be user-friendly and easy to use by any user.
• The user can order food from anywhere and at any time without any difficulty.
• The details of the orders placed by a customer got easily through the use of this application.
• Fault free management is achievable through the use of this application.

 

1.6     Project Risks Assessment

These are some of the areas where the researcher cannot fully control and the steps to be taken to curb these risks.

RISKS

Inability to cope with volume.	Risk of losing customer’s data.
Chances of technical problem in the system.	Data security.
Mismatch        data     of             orders, customers, and drivers.	Bugs or errors from 3rd party API’s
Limited           access to             store hardware.	Inadequate hardware to test app.

 

 

1.7     Scope/Project Organization

 

This project is presented in five chapters:

• Chapter 1: This chapter provides the whole project with an introduction and history. An exploration of the current and prevailing situation, the issues and an outline of the proposed solution have been recorded in this section.
• Chapter 2: A summary of the previous literary works, paper, and documentation on automated canteen ordering system.
• Chapter 3: The third chapter records the study process of systems, specifications of requirements and the design phase of systems for this project.
• Chapter 4: This chapter documents the final results of this project. These findings include: The full and implemented framework, screenshots of the interface, different test cases and test results, and other required system-related documents, such as hardware and software specifications.
• Chapter 5: This chapter outlines the overview of this project, with relevant and critical recommendations.

References and appendices are included in the concluding part of this documentation.

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN AUTOMATED CANTEEN ORDERING SYSTEM

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