Kitchen Display System (KDS)

The Kitchen Display System (KDS) in Skyware is designed to allow you to view and manage orders from your Point of Sale (POS), on a screen in your kitchen area. The real-time screen display will help in reducing mistakes and ticket times (over paper tickets). The KDS screen tracks all entries (tickets) fired from your restaurant check screen, and displays the current orders that need fulfilling, ticket times, any modifications, and if any special requests has been made. Each ticket displayed is arranged with the information about the ticket at the top, and the order information for the ticket below. The top section includes how long it has been since the order was taken, by whom, the table number the order is associated with and the check number. The order information below shows the menu selection ordered (in black) with any variable items or adjustments in red. Tickets are arranged from left to right, with the first/oldest unfulfilled ticket positioned on the left.

The KDS is part of the POS system in Skyware (with the KDS command to open the KDS screen being on the POS Main Menu). If your Property does not currently have our POS System and you are interested in adding it, please contact us at  Sales@SkywareSystems.com.

Note: The KDS operates just as a printer does in your POS system, and will therefore need to be identified and set up as a printer station in Skyware (to which the system can send and print the desired specific menu item orders to) BEFORE it can be used by your staff. This is done using the POS/Printer Station Maintenance screen, reached via the POS/Printer Stations command in the Menu Items Set Up section of the POS Configuration Menu. Please see the help topic POS/Printer Stations - Menu Item Set Up for further information on setting up the KDS as a printer station.

 

 

 

a. Click the icon on the left for the Full menu.

Select Point of Sale (POS) => from the Quick Menu to open the POS Main Menu Screen.

Quick Menu with Point of Sale option selected OR Quick Menu with Point of Sale => command highlighted, NEW look for Skyware

Note: The exact arrangement of the options in your quick menu may differ from this example.

OR

Full menu

Full Menu Icon OR Full Menu option when viewed using the modern light look of Skyware

This will display the Full menu in a tabular form, with four sections, Registration, Status, Cashier and Other.

Full Menu Table OR Full Menu popup version seen in Modern Light look of Skyware

From the Other section, select Point of Sale (POS) =>.

Other Section of the Full Menu with Point of Sale (POS) => command selected or Other section of the Full Menu with Point of Sale => command selected, NEW look for Skyware

This will display the POS Main Menu Screen, which has four categories: Checks, Reports, Kitchen and Other; however the Other Category does not currently contain any commands.

Point of Sale (POS) Menu, NEW look for Skyware

From the Kitchen section, select Kitchen Display System (KDS).

 

When selected, the KDS screen will open.

Kitchen Display System (KDS) screen example

 

 

The KDS screen displays the tickets that have been fired using the restaurant check screen to the KDS, that have not yet been fulfilled (bumped). The tickets are shown from left to right, with the first ticket (usually oldest) on the left. By default, 10 tickets per page of the KDS will be displayed on the screen.

Kitchen Display System (KDS) screen example

The KDS screen indicates how many pages of incomplete tickets are available on the KDS (at the top); if more than one page of tickets is available, the << First, < Previous, Next > and Last >> buttons at the bottom of the screen will become live and available to use.

 

 

Each ticket is divided into two sections, with the top section being either green or red, and the bottom section white.

Ticket example from KDS screen.

Top section: This section contains the information ABOUT the ticket. It includes how long ago the ticket was fired, by whom, for which table and the check number the ticket is associated with.

Note: It will also have a position number in the center that indicates its relative position in the list of tickets. This number is subject to change and will ALTER whenever a PREVIOUS ticket has been fulfilled or bumped.

Bottom section: This section contains the information on the CONTENTS of the ticket. It shows the menu selection(s) ordered in black, with any variable items or adjustments in red.

 

When a ticket is first fired, the top section, where the details of when and where the ticket came from are displayed, will be shown in GREEN. After a set amount of time (specified using the Property Definition screen, Other tab, KDS threshold field, set as 15 minutes by default), the green section will become RED to indicate that more than the desired amount of time has passed for the ticket to have been handled.

Kitchen Display System (KDS) screen example after 15 minute has passed with the ticket not fulfilled

Note: The exact amount of time since the ticket was submitted is CONTINUALLY recorded in the top left of the ticket display. This will continue to increase for as long as the ticket is left on the KDS screen.

Kitchen Display System screen example with both red and green tickets, with elapsed time since the ticket was posted circled for each ticket

 

 

The KDS screen allows you to alter the display in a couple of ways, using the Configuration icon available in the top right corner.

KDS screen Configuration Icon

Clicking on the icon will open a pop up window over the top of the KDS screen.

1. Kitchen Station: Choose the Kitchen Station to display. If you have multiple KDS screens (set up on the POS/Printer Station Maintenance screen by ensuring the station has the "Kitchen Display Screen (cannot be both Remote Print and Kitchen Display Screen)" check box marked), you may select to view a different one at any time. Choose from the available stations in the drop-down list next to the Kitchen Station field. By default, the first KDS in the list of POS/Printer Stations will be shown.

 

2. Tickets per page: Choose how many tickets to display per page. This field allows you to choose how many tickets to display on the screen at any one time when using the KDS screen. By default 10 is selected, but you may choose any number between 1 and 20. Use the drop-down menu to select the desired value.

 

Use the "Apply" button at the bottom of the pop up window to apply any changes you have made to the KDS screen display.

 

 

Once the ticket has been fulfilled, it must be "bumped" from the KDS screen to allow Skyware to consider it as completed. (If the ticket is on the KDS screen it is not complete). Bumping a ticket removes the selected ticket from the KDS screen, and moves any tickets to the right of the removed ticket one position left.

 

The ticket currently selected on the KDS screen is marked by a thick black border around the ticket. By default the left-most ticket is selected, but ANY ticket may be selected simply by clicking on it.

Remove the selected ticket by clicking the "Bump" button at the bottom of the screen.

Kitchen Display System (KDS) screen with ticket selected and bump button highlighted

The selected ticket will be removed from the screen and the subsequent tickets will be moved along the ticket line to the left, with the position number updating to reflect the change.

Schematic showing movement of tickets (left) on the Kitchen Display System (KDS) when a ticket gets bumped off (completed and removed)

 

 

Completed, or bumped, tickets CAN be recalled to the KDS screen if necessary (for example, an accident happens and the dish has to be remade) by using the "Recall" button, also at the bottom of the screen.

Note: If the "Recall" button is grayed out, no tickets have yet been bumped, therefore there are no tickets that can be recalled.

Kitchen Display System (KDS) screen bottom section with button, with "Recall" button hihlighted

Bumped tickets will be recalled to the KDS screen in the order that they were bumped, meaning the tickets will appear in reverse order back on the screen, on the left (first) position, moving the tickets already on screen to the right once more. You may need to recall more than the intended ticket to reach the necessary one as the recall order is set as last out, first in.

Note: Tickets are considered completed when they have been bumped. Recalling any ticket brings it back to be completed again. Thus, any ticket recalled is considered incomplete until it is once more bumped from the KDS screen.

 

Date Updated October 16, 2024