Smart order routing to kitchen sections

Purpose

1.1. Enables automatic routing of incoming customer food orders to specific kitchen sections (e.g., starters, mains, desserts, Andhra specialties) for optimized preparation and workflow.
1.2. Minimizes manual order handling errors, speeds up the order-to-kitchen process, and ensures meal synchronization, especially for items with varied prep times.
1.3. Supports kitchen load balancing by distributing orders based on capacity, dish type, and chef specialization.
1.4. Facilitates real-time communication between front-of-house and kitchen staff, reducing delays and miscommunication.
1.5. Can integrate with POS, online ordering, and third-party delivery platforms to centralize order management, track status, and log kitchen performance data.

Trigger Conditions

2.1. New order received from POS or online ordering system.
2.2. Update to an open table’s order (additions or removals).
2.3. Change in kitchen section status (e.g., section available/unavailable).
2.4. Scheduled menu changes (e.g., lunch-to-dinner transition).
2.5. Real-time kitchen alerts (e.g., dish unavailable, backlog detected).

Platform Variants

3.1. Square POS
• Function: Orders API — Configure webhook to send new orders to automation.
3.2. Toast POS
• Integration: Order Notifications — Enable event hooks for order placements and updates.
3.3. Revel Systems
• API: Order Management — Set up triggers for ‘new order’ and ‘order change’ events.
3.4. Lightspeed Restaurant
• API: Webhooks (Orders) — Route orders based on category to selected sections.
3.5. Upserve POS
• API: Orders — Use ‘Place Order’ webhooks to initiate routing logic.
3.6. Flipdish
• Endpoint: Orders Webhook — Send order info based on taxonomy (starters, mains).
3.7. Shopify
• Function: Order Create webhook — For online orders, segment items by kitchen section.
3.8. WooCommerce
• Hook: ‘woocommerce_order_status_processing’ — Trigger order parsing by item type.
3.9. ChowNow
• API: New Order Webhook — Filter and direct orders per menu category.
3.10. GloriaFood
• Feature: Order Notification API — Use for real-time routing to respective kitchen printers.
3.11. Zomato
• API: Restaurant Partner Order Notification — Parse incoming orders for routing.
3.12. Swiggy
• Integration: Restaurant Order API — Fetch and split orders for kitchen areas.
3.13. Uber Eats
• Feature: Orders Webhook — Assign dishes to kitchen sections using item tags/IDs.
3.14. Zapier
• App: Webhooks by Zapier — Catch order webhooks, split items, route to endpoints.
3.15. Microsoft Power Automate
• Trigger: HTTP Request Received — Process and segment orders for kitchen flows.
3.16. Google Sheets
• Setting: ‘On Form Submit’ — Parse spreadsheet entries and notify kitchen sections.
3.17. Slack
• API: Incoming Webhooks — Post order details to channel for a specific kitchen team.
3.18. Trello
• Power-Up: Card Creation — Add each kitchen section as a list, post orders as cards.
3.19. PagerDuty
• API: Events — Trigger incidents for bottlenecked kitchen sections on overload.
3.20. Email (Gmail/Outlook)
• Filter: ‘New Order’ Emails — Parse for section tags, auto-forward to section leads.
3.21. SMS Gateways (e.g., Twilio)
• SMS API: Send order summaries to kitchen phones by section assignment.
3.22. Google Cloud Functions
• Function: HTTP Trigger— Use serverless code to split and assign order payloads.

Benefits

4.1. Reduces human latency and error in forwarding orders to correct kitchen stations.
4.2. Improves preparation times, coordination, and meal delivery pacing.
4.3. Enables scalable order volume handling during rush periods.
4.4. Gives kitchen management analytics for bottlenecks and efficiency.
4.5. Allows rapid adaptation of order flows for menu and staff changes.