Functional decomposition refers to a set of steps used by engineers when they break down the overall function of a system or a process into clear parts. This is achieved by a thoughtful analysis of project information resulting into a chart that describes the problems or solutions in a detailed way. Decomposition has several uses. It helps in the process of analysis by breaking down components into smaller parts which are easily documented as sub-processes, analysed for decisions and dependencies. It also helps in defining the scope by permitting the project team toclearly specify from the flow diagram which function are in scopes well as their relations into the larger feature sets. ‘In a fast food restaurant, a simple decomposing flow diagram such as the one in figure 1 can be used.
The flow diagram outlines some of the processes that happen from when a customer enters a restaurant to the time he leaves. Below is a simple outline, outlining the process in a simplified way. ‘This method is used to capture anecdotal information about a function. Such a system helps the operations of various parts of the fast food restaurant.
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Outline
Take Order
Take Order from Customer
Input Order to Register
Prepare Order
Prepare Hot Foods
Prepare Drinks
Place in Bag
Make Payment
Inform Customer of Amount Owed
Receive Payment
Log Transaction into Register
Deliver Change (if appropriate)
Deliver Order
Hand Customer their Order
Thank Customer
Order taking: As explained by (Tanpure et al 2013), the order takers are positioned behind the counter and enter the orders that the customers give. The menu items are normally selected by pressing the buttons which are on the screen. After selection of the items, they are further added to the current order. The subtotals together with any included tax are displayed. If the order is completed, payment must be made, and then the order is prepared, assembled and delivered to the customer. The system is set in a way that it keeps the cash balance of each order taker. All the money transaction done are supervised by a manager and is the only one with authority to access the manager screen.
Food preparation: after setting an order in the system, the item is then distributed in different preparations stations which are required for preparing different items as of the hotel menu. The restaurant may have more than one station capable of making a certain item. Each station is also equipped with a screen and a keypad to ensure that the interactions with the system are reduced to the minimum. Items belonging to same orders are grouped. Considering the workload at a particular station, the system chooses which station does not have a long queue and sends the order there. An anticipatory demand denotes the total number of orders available in a chute before they form a queue. The demands are then sent to the manager who shortens the average time that customer has to wait for the food to be prepared.
When the system confirms that all the orders are available in a chute, the orders are then assembled to different stations. In case a station is not busy or finishes its orders before it’s assigned another one, it automatically picks an order displayed on the screen. After preparation, and if the order had been paid, the assembler person picks up the items from the chutes and delivers them to the customer. Then using the keypad informs the system that the order has been completed and delivered.
Inventory: According to (Sartipi 2015), this section is responsible for keeping track of all the process that goes on in the restaurant. It mainly deals with how materials are consumed. This materials range from packaging materials to the raw materials used in the preparation of restaurant foods. The unit is set in a way that it communicates with the preparation unit. It is also connected to the order taker section. It is fed on with stock and inventory of the raw materials, and it’s updated dynamically. Recipes of the menu items are also accessible by this unit. Any arrival of new materials to the storage area is entered into the system by the manager. How the raw materials are consumed is dictated by the recipes that are requested by the food preparation unit. In order to preserve the system integrity, it assumes a minimum threshold of the usage of each menu item, and by any chance if the number of certain menu items outweighs this limit, the system considers the item as unavailable with the system sending a message to the order taker stations to avoid taking any orders that require this raw material for preparation.
The manager: the role of the manager in the system is to authorize access and modify any system information. His authority covers the following activities. He is responsible for assigning the number of the activities each station is taking and in preparation and assembling units. The manager sets up the system tables such as the menu item table, the item recipes, the anticipated demand for the chutes, the item batch sizes and the minimum item threshold. He also assigns the preparation units to make each menu item. The manager also sets the system time and date. Each station comprises a secured button on the keypad which only used by the manager.
In fast food restaurant design, this presentation of how various units are connected gives an overall control mechanism with the highest level of abstraction. Such as state- hart system controls the entire operation process, functional decomposing of the activities, and the hierarchal decomposition of states in the system design.
- Sartipi, Kamran. “Design of a Fast-Food Restaurant System Using Statemate Tool.” (2015).
- Tanpure, Shweta Shashikant, Priyanka R. Shidankar, and Madhura M. Joshi. “Automatedfood ordering system with real-time customer feedback.”‘International Journal ofAdvanced Research in Computer Science and Software Engineering’3.2 (2013).
