It is hard to believe that something as simple as paper could change the way that restaurants around the world do business. The invention of thermal paper completely changed the restaurant industry in a number of ways, altering not only the way that orders are taken and sent back to the kitchen but also how guest checks and receipts are printed. The widespread use of thermal paper even managed to change the way that a number of restaurants handle their time clocks and inventory systems, switching to multi-function point-of-sale (POS) systems instead of having a number of different manual devices and intensive inventory counts. The changes brought about by thermal paper also led to a surge in restaurant-related technology, with different companies competing to produce better papers and printers so that restaurants would purchase their products. Even the paper itself has changed with time †you can now buy thermal paper rolls in a number of different sizes, and colored thermal paper is even available so that you can load your printers with blue, green, yellow, and even pink rolls. The same thermal paper industry which originally fueled advancements and change in the restaurant industry is counted on to continue advancing itself in order to better meet restaurants’ needs. In the beginning, thermal paper did not seem like a big deal to many restaurant owners. Thermal paper technology was adapted from thermal paper rolls used in early fax machines, though obviously scaled down to the size of a receipt printer. Many owners gladly switched to the new printers because they eliminated problems with running out of ink or ribbons. All that had to be done to keep the receipt printers in good working order was to change the roll of paper when a colored stripe appeared and the printer was once again ready to make easily-readable receipts. When POS systems were first integrated into the daily operations of bars and restaurants, thermal paper was a natural choice. Early POS systems enabled servers and cashiers to not only print customer receipts but also to print order tickets directly from a computer system. With this system in place, the kitchen could now get an easily-readable order slip, and the use of thermal printers with these systems meant that there would never be a worry of running out of ink or having to change out messy ribbon cartridges in the middle of a busy period. These systems would have been perfect if not for the fact that many restaurants use heat lamps in their kitchen windows to keep food from getting cold. The heat lamps used by restaurants meant that thermal paper order slips could not be passed through the window to the kitchen; the heat from the lamps would cause the entire paper surface to darken and render it unreadable. This led to further expansions of POS systems, allowing these systems to send orders to different printers so that a copy would be available not only to the cashier but also to the kitchen. A second printer would print out a copy of the order in the kitchen itself, letting the cooks find out what was needed for the order as soon as it was finalized. The real change began once POS systems began sending orders to more than one printer. Items which were not prepared in the kitchen but were instead made by a salad station or in another part of the restaurant were soon being separated from the main order, letting multiple parts of the same order be automatically sent to where they were needed. When the POS systems were analyzing and separating the different parts of the order, inventory tallies were added so that the store could keep track of food inventory automatically. The inventory on the network’s central computer would be updated automatically, while the POS interface used by cashiers and servers would let them know when the kitchen ran out of certain items. Anything that the kitchen ran out of could not be sold until the inventory was updated, making sure that orders were not being sent back for items that the kitchen did not have. As POS systems began taking on a more important role in restaurants, more restaurants started to switch over to these advanced systems with thermal printers. Customized messages and advanced graphics for customer receipts were soon being added to the POS capabilities, a major change from the old block lettering that was possible before thermal printers were introduced. The more restaurants have developed a need for advanced printing solutions, the more important thermal paper has become to the process; thermal printers are some of the only restaurant printers that can easily do high-resolution printing without the need for expensive ink cartridges. These printers and papers will continue to adapt to the needs of POS systems and restaurants as the restaurant industry continues to evolve.
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