Digital menu board with cash register and kitchen interface

Abstract

A product management and sales system for managing product preparation and sales. The system includes a kitchen display and input device displaying a plurality of perishable food items to be produced and receiving a production indication signal indicating production of at least one of the plurality of perishable food items. The system further includes a digital menu board displaying the plurality of perishable food items available for sale, a sales counter terminal for completing a sale of at least one of the plurality of perishable food items and outputting a sold indication signal; and a controller receiving the sold indication signal. The controller compares the sold indication signal to a predetermined inventory level for the at least one perishable food item and outputs an item-to-be-produced signal to the kitchen display and input.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A product management and sales system for managing product preparation and sales, said system comprising:
 a kitchen display and input device displaying a plurality of perishable food items to be produced and receiving a production indication signal indicating production of at least one of said plurality of perishable food items;   a digital menu board displaying said plurality of perishable food items available for sale;   a sales counter terminal for completing a sale of at least one of said plurality of perishable food items and outputting a sold indication signal of said at least one perishable food item; and   a controller receiving said sold indication signal, said controller comparing said sold indication signal to a predetermined saleable product inventory level for said at least one perishable food item and outputting an item-to-be-produced signal to said kitchen display and input device.   
     
     
         2 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said controller outputs a pricing change to said digital menu board for each of said plurality of perishable food items in response to a predetermined time each of said plurality of perishable food items has been available for sale. 
     
     
         3 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said controller maintains historic information relating to sale of said plurality of perishable food items in connection with a predetermined time frame, said historic information being used to predict future sale needs for said plurality of perishable food items. 
     
     
         4 . The system according to  claim 3 , wherein said controller determines a quantity of said plurality of perishable food items that remains unsold at the conclusion of said predetermined time frame and updates said historic information to indicate overproduction of said plurality of perishable food items. 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said controller defines a user-configurable quantity value for each of said plurality of perishable food items and outputs said item-to-be-produced signal to said kitchen display and input device when a quantity of each of said plurality of perishable food items is less than said user-configurable quantity value. 
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said controller monitors a time between said production indication signal and current time to determine non-saleable quality of each of said plurality of perishable food items. 
     
     
         7 . The system according to  claim 6 , wherein said controller outputs a non-saleable quality signal to said kitchen display and input device when non-saleable quality is determined. 
     
     
         8 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said controller further determines a current inventory of said plurality of perishable food items based on said sold indication signal and said production indication signal and, when said current inventory drops to a predetermined level, outputs a display signal to said digital menu board to remove said plurality of perishable food items from said digital menu board. 
     
     
         9 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said controller further outputs advertisement programming to said digital menu board when available inventory of said plurality of perishable food items is detected based on said sold indication signal and said production indication signal. 
     
     
         10 . The system according to  claim 1 , further comprising: marking indicia associated with said at least one perishable food item, said marking indicia uniquely identifying said at least one perishable food item from the remaining of said plurality of perishable foot items. 
     
     
         11 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said controller further determines an age of at least one of said plurality of perishable food items, when said age of said at least one perishable food item is greater than a predetermined level, outputs a display signal to said digital menu board to promote sale of said at least one perishable food item. 
     
     
         12 . The system according to  claim 11 , wherein said display signal causes said digital menu board to display a promotional advertising relating to said at least one perishable food item.