Lunch Lesson Three - Operations management

Pulling a pint used to be a simple business, but no longer.

Computers, infra-red monitors and mobile phone technology are being used to ensure that you get a perfect pint every time.

Harlequins Rugby Club based at The Stoop near Twickenham has installed new gizmos at its bars, which serve as much beer as four pubs combined.

Electronic monitors show the temperature of the beer, the time it takes to pull a pint, the amount of beer that they're selling and, of course, various measures of quality.

"You can't be seen to serve a bad pint in a rugby club," points out the general manager at Harlequins, John McBride, "so the quality is obviously important."

No waste

There are several bars in the club and John can monitor all of them from his office or from anywhere in the country, courtesy of a phone link provided by Orange.

Sensors monitor customers

And when the lines to the pumps are flushed clean, the system tells him as soon as pure, unsullied beer is running through again.

"I can be sure that there's no wastage going through the bars, on a daily basis," says John.

The temperature of the drink is a key part of its appeal - if it's right, the customer might order another one.

In a pub run in the traditional way, you'd only be able to sense it by using your fingers," jokes Jim Dickson from Brulines, the company which provides the system.

"Obviously, you can't do that with every pint and you can't wander up with a thermometer and put it in someone's glass."

Keeping tabs

Jim used to run Heineken in the UK and he reckons that without proper monitoring, only one in five pints is served in perfect condition.

So the beer is monitored, but so too are the drinkers.

Brulines has installed infra-red sensors in the drinking areas to count the number of people coming in and to keep tabs on where they cluster.

Traditional temperature fingers test

The "people counters" have been developed by a Norhamptonshire company called Irisys.

If John McBride knows how many people are arriving on a busy match day, he can put the right number of staff on station.

Also, he can prove that the club is following fire safety regulations.

Profit

But it's not just a question of measuring "footfall", as the business describes it - knowing where customers are can be just as important.

"You'll want to know if people are having to wait too long to be served," explains Jim.

"The more people you can serve, the higher the profitability of the unit."

Installing both systems would cost at least £3,500 plus a weekly fee, but Brulines expects bars to earn back their investment within the first year.

Measuring, quality control and keeping an eye on customers used to be part of the experienced bartender's art.

But now they have been developed into a science, and studied by big business in the interests of making an even frothier profit.

---

Student Guide

---

Harlequins Rugby Club runs a very busy bar.

It sells more beer in the four months of the rugby season than most pubs do in a whole year.

But it's hard to keep everything perfect and know exactly what's going on, so it's brought in a little help.

Orange and its partners, BruLines and Box Telematics have combined to keep Harlequins in the picture.

Just think...

Why do you think it's hard for Harlequins to know exactly what is going on in the bar?

Under control?

Customers expect certain standards to be maintained; They want:

The beer to be in perfect condition.

Any bar has to manage the way the beer is kept and dispensed. It must be the right temperature and flow at the right speed to be perfect in the glass.

The bar to be comfortable.

On a cold winter's day people want to be warm after the game but as people crowd in it gets hot and muggy. The environment of the room must be managed carefully.

The owners have expections of their own too; They want:

to keep costs down and revenue up.

Bar staff can be tempted to give their friends a free pint so it's important to control the stock carefully. What's been sold should match the takings. This can take a while and means employing people for longer.

The science of a perfect pint

Pubs need to know when the customers come in so they can employ the right number of staff. Too many employees cost too much. Too few leads to unhappy customers who can't buy a drink.

When it's quiet, pubs need to think of strategies to attract more customers to keep revenue rising.

Just think...

What happens if each of these things goes wrong?

How will the owners react?

Managing operations

Any business has to manage operations if it is to function efficiently.

Making sure that everything happens on time and that resources are not being wasted can be a difficult task.

A pub will not want to order larger stocks of beer than it needs because while unsold, they are costing money.

It won't want to employ more people than it needs or the wages bill will be higher than necessary.

Orange and its partners, BruLines and Box Telematics have been brought in to help Harlequins keep all these things under control.

The system works by telemetry, so machines and computers talk to each other.

The manager can even receive text messages to tell him what's changing so he can respond.

Just think...

What do the following businesses need to do to manage operations - a car manufacturer, a hairdresser, a newsagent, an airline?

How can computers help a business to manage operations?