Manchester City Football Club is seeking to become a champion in hospitality as well as on the pitch after installing a smart kitchen automation solution from Call Systems Technology (CST).

The company’s ‘ConnectSmart Kitchen’ system has been installed across six hospitality areas at Etihad Stadium, with the football club seeking a dramatic improvement in service delivery times as well as in communication between front and back of house and order delivery in the kitchen.

The installation of the system, which replaced the existing manual and printer paper operation, was part of a major renovation of the front and back of house facilities at the stadium, in a project managed by hospitality technology solutions provider Verteda. It also included the installation of the ‘InfoGenesis’ POS solution and mobile ordering devices, with the aim of incorporating technology to streamline back of house processes, such as supplier orders, inventory control, cash management and business intelligence reporting.

Indeed, CST’s system also provides operational data to help the stadium’s business managers learn about the kitchen operation and make decisions to improve service delivery in the future.

“The catering facilities at the stadium were in real need of modernisation and to be operationally efficient,” said Neil Worcester, venue director at Fabulous FanFayre, contract caterers at Etihad Stadium. “The kitchen automation system is ideal for when the team are juggling lots of orders, something which is sure to increase with the recent approval for an extra 14,000 seats at the stadium.”