Aim behind the project
While scrolling through thousands of food items available on some food ordering and delivery app, I always end up thinking that it would be great if the app could just tell me what to eat. It can do so based on what I order every other Tuesday night, or better yet, based on the nutrients I consumed in the previous week.
That and a simple interface to order food from the office cafeteria without standing in a queue would be a dream for time-crunch facing employees. This is the aim behind the proposed idea of the Cafeteria Management System in an office.
Users for the system
Using Akka Http, we propose to build Microservices which would allow some basic functionalities focused on two types of users. It would allow the coordinator or admin to:
- manage inventory by adding, removing, updating the current stock
- edit menu items for the day
- view all the placed orders and their estimated time of delivery
For the customer, it would allow him to:
- view items being served by the chef for the day
- place an order either with prepaid payment, or Cash-on-delivery
- receive notification from the system on the estimated time of order preparation
The interface would allow the coordinator or the Admin to log in using special credentials. On his dashboard, he can view all placed orders and their estimated time of delivery. Also, he can edit the menu for the day. The coordinator can also update inventory items, their available stock, and their price.
The consumer would have to register using his email ID and log in using the registered credentials. Through the dashboard, he can view menu of the day, place the order with the time he wants his food to be ready and make payment. Apart from these, he can view his eating habits recorded by the system and food suggestions made by it according to the former.
Cafeteria Management system is not only aimed to reduce the waiting time of the customer , but also to reduce the manual upkeep required from the coordinator.
Future Scope of the Project
Different from the traditional system of food ordering, our cafeteria management system aims to work as the Customer’s Personal Dietitian. The proposed system would
- learn each customer’s eating habits and routines
- suggest a food item to the customer based on his previous choices or his nutrients requirement
- record the consumption pattern of food items from the menu. This would allow the admin to prepare only demanded items.
With the customer’s ever increasing busy schedules, many times he may even forget to place an order on time. Our system would allow the customer to place order automatically with Cash on delivery, allowing him to not worry about it.
In a work environment with always a time crunch, people don’t even think about eating food, let alone consider their nutrition requirements. Our system tries to make the task from placing an order to receiving it comparatively easier, and eating the same healthier.
