ELANE - Bar inventory Control
 
 

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Bar Inventory Control Basics

There are many methods to assess the inventory in bars and liquor inventory in restaurants. Each supplier of such Bar Inventory claims his being the best and most sophisticated. What are the facts?

Bar Owners and Operators are basically interested in two points:
1.) Is enough stock available and what are the turnovers of certain brands?
2.) Is the quantity of poured liquor matching the revenue in the cash register?

To the lesser extend bar management is also concerned about:
a) Over- or under pouring of liquor
b) Dilution of liquor by staff
c) Removal of not empty bottles
d) Free drinks given to Bar Tender friends

A Bar Management system has to at least address these 2 points plus many other features for inventory management based on the measurements. Inventory control and Revenue control is basically based on the measurement of the quantity of either poured drinks or calculated by weighting the remaining liquor in the bottle.

The more correct and least time consuming the measurement result is reported on a notepad, a software generated list or consumption report or as sophisticated as a real time measurement of all liquor activities in the bar.

There are 2 basic methods of measurement:
1.) Assessing the "pouring" by a movement sensor on the bottle
2.) Weighing the bottle using a scale or several scales in case of a real time system

In the table below we compare 3 systems which are widely used in the market. I am not listing the scale only solutions as these are only applicable to bars with about 20 bottles and require only a sharp pencil and a notepad. Some scales offered here are often modified kitchen scales from China worth $15 selling at high prices at various bar control websites.

Comparison of 3 Bar Control Measurement Methods

 

Movement Sensor

Scale System

Real-time Scale

Recognizes the pouring action real time

Yes, but not the quantity

No, only at time of measurement

Yes, including the quantity

Bottle equipped with

RFID or other transmitter equipped Pourer

Work with the bottle barcode

RFID chip on bottle

Determines bottle Tare Weight

No

Yes

Yes

Knows when bottle is empty

No

Yes

Yes

Affected by interference from Cell Phones and similar

Possible, also RFID signal collision possibility with loss of data.

No

No

Determines the actual quantity sold

No

Yes

Yes

Can calculate revenue based on liquor volume

No

Yes

Yes

Detects dilution immediately

No

Possible

Yes

Determines specific gravity of liquor

No

Yes

Yes

Determines Tare weight of bottle

No

Yes

Yes

Total Bar Personnel tracking

No

No

Yes

Connects to any  existing POS System

Possible

Possible

Yes

Suitable for...

Approximate Revenue assessment.

Inventory Management of bars with less than 150 bottles and for inventory loss consultants to collect data.

Total inventory management and control

Used by...

Single Unit Operations

Single and Multiple Unit Operations.

Single operations with several bars on premise, Multiple Unit Operations, Chains and Hotel Chains.

Main Problem...

Every bottle must have a pourer - some customers dislike pourers.

Not real time

Extensive Installation

Pourer  / No Pourer

Must use pourer

Individually programmable for pourer or no pourer

Individually programmable for pourer or no pourer

Stock Room Management

No

Yes

Yes

Main Advantage...

Easy set-up

Low Cost - sophisticated software

Absolute real time and accurate control - professional software

 

Accuracy per measurement

Unknown ( see below in Conclusion)

0.01 oz

0.01oz

Cost of system for a bar with 150 bottles

$25,000

$1,500

$45,000

Priced based on quotes by:

Capton

Bar-Manager.com

Bar-Manager.com

Conclusion: Scale based systems give reliable and accurate data. Bottle movement systems pretend a 1/10 oz accuracy – but not stated is per drink or per bottle? In one movement a whole bottle can be emptied and it registers only as 1 drink. Drinks can be diluted anytime by removing the pourer and add another liquid. Drinks can be dispensed without detection by simply removing the pourer. Bar Personnel keen to cheat will surely find a way. Scale based system eliminate many of these problems. The real time scale system is so sophisticated that it basically detect any cheat attempt and wrong quantities within seconds and records every transaction in the database including the ID of the person using the system at that time.

If a system is purchased for loss-prevention only scale based systems can produce the required evidence and just by the mere presence of the system produce less cash loss – these system pay for themselves in a very short time by simply having more cash in the register, therefore the slightly higher price of the real time system is really worth it.


 


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