THE PROVEN BENEFITS OF A KITCHEN MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
THE PROVEN BENEFITS OF KMS
Shouting, extreme heat, and high stress: these are all things commonly associated with commercial kitchens. Finding a way to reduce these factors is essential for operators and F&B teams: a way to organise and simplify your kitchen processes and remove some of that stress.
Investing in a Kitchen Management System can not only streamline your operations but also offer a substantial return on investment. Can you afford to disregard these systems, especially considering the industry’s emphasis on efficiency, customer satisfaction, and cost control?
As leaders in hospitality technology, Tevalis continually invests in its solutions and collaborates with clients to solve industry challenges. This report covers the key information you need to decide whether KMS is right for your business.
KITCHEN MANAGEMENT:
TYPICAL ROI
Undoubtedly, the initial cost and change to operations can stop businesses from investing in KMS. However, the benefits to overheads, operations, and organisation are worthwhile.
Here's an overview of the typical ROI and the factors influencing it:
Order Accuracy Improvement
Hospitality brands have reported up to an 83% reduction in order errors after implementing KMS, leading to fewer refunds and enhanced customer satisfaction.
Operational Efficiency Gains
KMS solutions have demonstrated up to a 20% increase in operational efficiency, for our client Paragon Group, for example, and a 15% reduction in costs, contributing to improved profitability.
Service Time Reduction
Utilising KMS can decrease ticket times by an average of 69%, allowing establishments to serve more customers during peak hours.
average 3x more
Cost Savings
Over a four-year period, printed orders can cost up to three times more than digital orders, highlighting the long-term cost-effectiveness of KMS.
KITCHEN MANAGEMENT: A DEEP DIVE INTO OPERATIONAL BENEFITS
Most operators will only recognise the initial immediate benefit of a KMS, switching from paper receipts to digital orders. For some, the upfront costs and adjustment period will put them off. Here’s a more indepth review with real-world examples of Tevalis KMS benefiting big hospitality operations.
Key Benefits Driving ROI:
Enhance Communication: KMS systems streamline communication between front-of-house and kitchen staff, reducing misunderstandings and ensuring timely order preparation.
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All orders, whether done on the till or at the kiosk, are processed, payments are made, and then the information is passed through a kitchen management system so that colleagues know what coffees to make and what food to prepare in the kitchen and then present it to the order on the collection screen.
Westmorland Family successfully utilises KMS across its multi-site motorway services. With enhanced communication and streamlined operations, they’ve saved 100’s of hours on manual tasks every year.
Faster Service: By organising orders efficiently and prioritising tasks, KMS helps in reducing wait times, leading to quicker table turnovers and increased revenue.
Reduced Food Waste: Accurate order tracking minimises over-preparation and spoilage, contributing to cost savings.
Mollie’s Motel and Diner have a unified digital guest-focused solution, including KMS, that ultimately accomplished a 40% reduction in their operational costs and resulted in them winning Best Use of Technology with Tevalis at the 2022 Cateys.
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Data-Driven Insights: Advanced KMS solutions offer analytics that assist inventory management, staff scheduling, and performance monitoring.
Improved Customer Experience: Faster and more accurate service enhances customer satisfaction, leading to positive reviews and repeat business.
Parogon Group, a multi-site pub brand, has improved their customer journey and seen significant benefits from its KMS: a +5 point NPS increase, +10% happier guests, and -25% unhappy guests in that same year.
We completely changed: we got rid of the tickets. We’ve found that the KMS was one of the biggest changes that we made that the teams were concerned about, but it was really easy. In terms of our whole system, it completely changed during that period when we first put in all the new technology across the board: the team took to it straight away. It’s intuitive.
Watch our video case study with Parogon Group here!
Parogon Group, a multi-site pub brand, has improved their customer journey and seen significant benefits from KMS: a +5 point NPS increase, +10% happier guests, and -25% unhappy guests in that year.
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KITCHEN MANAGEMENT:
COST COMPARISONS
Let’s get to the information that you’re actually looking for: costs. Typically, there are two ways for order management: either KMS or traditional kitchen printers and paper tickets.
Here’s a breakdown of average industry costs within a medium-sized multi-site hospitality business for each option…
Cost Comparison: Printers vs. KMS
Printers
Hardware cost: £150–£500 per printer (one-off)
Paper rolls: ~£3–£5 each (can use 8-10+ per week per printer)
Ink/maintenance: Periodic servicing/ replacement
Lifespan: ~2–4 years
Kitchen Screens
Hardware cost: £500–£1,200 per screen (one-off)
No need for paper rolls (View & bump orders digitally!)
Maintenance: Low (no consumables, fewer moving parts)
Lifespan: ~5-8 years
Upfront costs may be higher for screens, but ongoing costs are significantly lower.
Operational Efficiency Gains
Faster service:
No waiting for printed tickets means you turn tables faster.
Real-time updates: Reduce errors when orders change, lowering labour costs.
Clearer communication: Reduces the confusion over handwriting or missing tickets.
Better reporting: Integration with EPOS for data on prep times, peak hours, etc.
Reduce food waste with average savings of £200–£500/month (depending on volume).
KITCHEN MANAGEMENT: EXAMPLE
ROI CALCULATION
To give you more of an idea of cost savings with KMS, here’s an example calculation on ROI. Remember, you can have as many or as few screens in your kitchens, so you could only need the one to improve your order management!
Let’s assume that three printers are replaced with three digital screens. Each printer costs £400 and incurs an additional £40 per month in consumables. In contrast, each screen costs £1,000 and requires no ongoing consumable expenses. By making this switch, businesses can achieve efficiency savings of
Cost Comparison: Printers Vs. Screens (3 units)
£1,200
£120/month (£4,320 over 3 yrs)
£5,520
£3,000
£3,000
£400/month = £14,400 over 3 yrs Net 3-Year Savings
£16,920
Summary of Key Benefits
Total ROI: ~£16,920 over 3 years on a £3,000 investment Payback Period: Typically within 6–12 months
KITCHEN MANAGEMENT:
Kitchen Management Systems are versatile and customisable to the needs of your brand. You can have multiple screens for individual stations, a complete order flow with kitchen, preparation, and order collection screens, and as many or as few screens as you require.
Before you commit, there are some additional variables you should consider:
Subscription Fees: Some suppliers offer KMS at £30 per month per venue, with no additional charges per device, making it accessible for various business sizes. Tevalis has various options, including HaaS.
Hardware Costs: Depending on the chosen system, hardware expenses can vary. The newer the model, the more longevity in the system.
Integration Expenses: Some systems may require integration with existing EPOS systems, which could incur additional cost. At Tevalis, the KMS syncs and communicates seamlessly with all areas of your tech stack as standard, so no hidden fees there!
KITCHEN MANAGEMENT: REAL-WORLD SUCCESS
Developed alongside teams of leading FOH operators and award-winning chefs, our KMS solution provides the flexibility and functionality required to meet the requirements of any unique kitchen setups through automated ticket management.
Here are some examples from our client community on their experience with Tevalis and their intuitive KMS…
Westmorland Family
Westmorland is a family business that runs unique motorway service areas, with their farmshops and kitchens across Tebay, Gloucester, and Cairn Lodge. They also run a cafe, gallery and cinema in Rheged, and the Westmorland Hotel in the Lake District.
With sustained growth as a key objective, the various teams needed to update their old EPOS system, and they needed comprehensive analytics and reporting, powerful integrations, and technology that is fast, adaptable, and flexible.
“EG Group
Tevalis offered a fast, efficient and capable ecosystem. On top of that, the added benefits of a kitchen management system and kiosks were a real bonus for us, as well as the integrations with partners.
Watch our video case study with Westmorland Family here!
“EG On The Move is a leading petrol forecourt, food service, and convenience retailer across the UK, successfully operating with Tevalis as their longstanding EPOS, Enterprise, and Integrations partner.
They work with well-known brands such as Starbucks, Popeyes, Subway, Greggs, Cinnabon, Sbarro, and Chaiiwala.
With their optimised Tevalis hospitality technology, including KMS, implemented across 80 sites, their nationwide In-Store, Click and Collect, Drive Thrus, and Delivery operations are streamlined.
This tech helps EG achieve:
• Over 16,000 drive-thru orders
• Chaiiwala's drive thru total in transactions over £1.5 million
• Cinnabon's kiosks total revenue of over £189,000 in 2024
• Sbarro's 2024 online orders totalling over £334,000 in revenue
• Total revenue from transactions through Tevalis technology in 2024 of over £12.8 million
In summary, implementing a KMS can significantly improve efficiency, cost savings, and customer satisfaction, resulting in a strong return on investment.
READY TO TRANSFORM YOUR HOSPITALITY OPERATIONS? Click
Whether you’re managing a single site or a multivenue group, the right technology partner makes all the difference. At Tevalis, our comprehensive ecosystem supports the three key operational pillars every hospitality venue needs: powerful on-premise tools, intelligent cloudbased management, and seamless integrations.
Let’s build a future-proof tech stack together, one that streamlines service, empowers teams, and drives growth.
