ALOHA Table Service POS and Inventory help

[azian112]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone of you guys knew how I could use an Inventory manager with ALOHA POS. I was told by Aloha themselves that I would have to purchase the Inventory software itself from them and I was totally confused by this. We currently have ALOHA Table-Service ver. 5.2.5.154. Does anyone know a way I can use Inventory 'control' or manager with the POS?

Again thanks for any help you can provide me.

 

[AdamDR]

It's a module that you HAVE to buy. Honestly, I hate it. I think it's a horrible program. Just my two cents.

If you want a really good program for inventory, look at Compeat. It's expensive, but the clients that I have that use it love it.

Adam

 

[AkamaiAloha]

I have never heard a good thing about Aloha's inventory program. It's the kind of stuff lawsuits are made of, and I couldn't agree more with Adam, and give him credit for admitting that, since he is an Aloha dude.

But I will give you one piece of advice that I tell all of my customers interested in inventory. Inventory is a lot like a really hot girl. Everyone thinks they want it--but with all the maintenance, the head aches, and the upkeep, they soon find out it isn't all it's cracked up to be! (Ok, I don't tell of my customers that, but it's true )

The truth is, the ability of a restaurant owner to pull all kinds of reports on his inventory appeals to just about any business owner. The harsh reality is, trying to track everything is a dauting task for any program. And hands-on owners often find gaps in how they perceive it should be done, and how the software actually handles it. It's a total pain to setup, and the upkeep is usually high. Like any accounting procedure, if you fall behind, it's tough to catch up and get the information back to where it's usable.

Our inventory module is actually decent, and I still try not to sell it. But as POS users become more sophisticated and our moving on to the "next level", some (not many) are actually demanding it. My advice is to look into it thoroughly--check out different products, and get some demo software and play around with it extensively. And make sure you're committed to tweaking it regularly.

 

[awbbar]

Depends what you want to track and how often.
Item availablitiy gets you to the stadium
ProductMix setup can track categories/items to
put you in the ball park
quick count with enhanced ver. gets you on the feild.

Inventory (the latest)is good and can be as detail as you want it.
Also depends when and how often you get stock.
You don't have to do all items.
Prob takes 15min-1 hour a day depending on what items
you put in inventory.
But you can not skip a beat.

 

[AkamaiAloha]

But you can not skip a beat."

Probably the most important thing to keep in mind, IMHO.

 

[AdamDR]

But I will give you one piece of advice that I tell all of my customers interested in inventory. Inventory is a lot like a really hot girl. Everyone thinks they want it--but with all the maintenance, the head aches, and the upkeep, they soon find out it isn't all it's cracked up to be! (Ok, I don't tell of my customers that, but it's true )"

LOL.... That's so funny!! I quoted you and forwarded it to a bunch of ppl. Hope you don't mind!!

Adam

 

[AkamaiAloha]

LOL. No, I don't mind--I was just trying to think of analogy, and although it's a probably a little sexist, it just kind popped into my head. Kind of like people who think they want a job with a lot a prestige and power--then once they've done it for a while, they wish they could crawl back into the woodwork to something a little easier.

I know a lot of the techs cringe when they hear someone is interested in it. But I haven't seen Aloha's in a while, so maybe there was improved.

 

[ezcrane]

Another option is using Quick Count. Quick Count is limited to 500 items, but usually enough for most restaurants. To use Quick Count on TS they must be keyed for 5.3 and Quick Count. Support for Quick Count in TS was added in 5.3.26e.