Adding an order or kitchen printer to your establishment is not always essential, but does provide many benefits.
By adding a printer to your kitchen (or any area where you need to prepare goods or services) can help reduce errors and increase productivity.
With order details being sent straight to your preparation area, not only do staff no longer need to manually ‘run’ the order through, but the exact order with notes and modifications are printed directly resulting in fewer errors and a speedier service.
There are a few things to consider when adding a printer to your kitchen or preparation area, these are:
- Environment
- Budget
- Communication Method
The vast majority of receipt printers come in two types, Thermal and Impact / Dot Matrix printers. Both types of printers do exactly the same thing but in different ways.
Thermal printers apply heat to the receipt paper causing a chemical reaction which results in your printed receipt. These printers are typically faster, quieter and print in a higher quality than impact printers, however they are not as effective in hot environments (black marks) and are typically more expensive.
Impact printers are a more traditional type of printer where a print head physically contacts an ink ribbon printing the receipt. Impact printers are reliable, low cost and able to operate in hot environments, some of which are rugged and splash proof. They do however print slower than a thermal printer and do require replacement ink ribbons but are generally cheaper.
Deciding on an impact or thermal printer primarily comes down to location. If the printer will be in a hot environment, an impact printer would be better suited, if operating in a cooler (room temperature) environment then a thermal printer might be more cost effective in the long run.
When looking at either Impact or Thermal printers, budget will be a consideration however both types will have extra options providing speed and ease of use. Spending that little extra on a printer with a ‘drop in’ paper roll and ‘auto cutter’ will prevent paper jams and reduce the time it takes to change the receipt roll.
The final consideration when choosing a printer is how Register will communicate with it, again this is largely dependent on the environment and location of the printer.
Both impact and thermal printers are available with either a LAN (network), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB interface. A cabled interface such as LAN or USB provide the most stability whereas a wireless interface such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth can provide more convenience as no cables are needed. Register can operate with any of the above with most customers opting for either a LAN or Wi-Fi printer.
Register is integrated with a number of printers from leading manufacturers such as Epson and Star Micronics and will operate with any printer that supports the ESC-POS protocol.