topic Re: Configuring Prep time across stations in Restaurant Operations

Configuring Prep time across stations

lchatzipetrakos — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 21:38:12 GMT

Has anyone figure out a good way to setting up prep times for items across multiple stations?

Currently, if a server wants to add a protein to a dish, we've set up req'd or forced shown mods to allow them to add it to a dish and it's routed to the respective stations.

For example, Salads take about 3 minutes to prep, but Chicken off the grill for the salad takes 8 minutes, but if the prep time of the modifier is greater than the menu item, Toast's programming goes all wonky, so it either fires it too early, sets up a negative prep time, or doesn't fire it at all. In a perfect world the Chicken fires on Grill and then 5 minutes later, the salad fires off Pantry, without needing to make 2 different items for it.

Same goes with our pastas:

Pasta takes 4 minutes to cook, salmon takes 12, so instead of a pasta dying in the window for 8 minutes, the saute cook could be doing other things and then at 8 minutes, the pasta pops up on their screen. But the timing thru Toast is wonky because of the overriding prep time issues.

Anyone have a work around for this or found a better process to help streamline this a bit better while still working around some of Toast's KDS' programming flaws?

Re: Configuring Prep time across stations

rcmck — Sat, 30 Dec 2023 16:01:36 GMT

Review the documentation on modifier prep times, specifically integral vs independent modifiers. https://doc.toasttab.com/doc/platformguide/adminFireByPrepTime.html#adminUsePrepTimesModifiers This seems like a case for independent modifiers, which has some requirements for it to work correctly like assigning courses to modifiers and settings under meal pacing to fire modifiers to their configured courses.

Re: Configuring Prep time across stations

lchatzipetrakos — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 22:15:48 GMT

So the issue we're having now, is when a server needs to change the course of the item, the modifier is staying at the assigned course and firing as 2 different courses, rather than mirroring the course of the item it's linked with, in order to stay as a independant modifier.
How do we modify the course of a modifier in order to keep those items course together?

Re: Configuring Prep time across stations

lchatzipetrakos — Sat, 06 Jan 2024 17:35:20 GMT

Another issue (whether anyone knows it or not), the independent modifiers are now counted as "additional entrees" on the course/fire screen, so every guest that gets an item with an independent modifier now has "2" items on the respective course instead of 1, so keeping track of # of items per course now goes out the window.

Re: Configuring Prep time across stations

lchatzipetrakos — Sun, 07 Jan 2024 02:48:45 GMT

Another issue:

When changing the course of the item that the independent modifier is linked to, it does not change the course of the modifier, so the chicken on the salad that is generally an entree, but the guest wants as an app, is now firing as 2 different courses.

Also, because online ordering/grub hub/etc. ignores coursing, the timings don't work either (unless there's a workaround for this).

Moral of the story, Toast item fire by prep time still has a lot of kinks and needs a lot of work. If someone on the KDS development team would like to reach out to me separately and we can discuss, I think that would be beneficial.

Re: Configuring Prep time across stations

lchatzipetrakos — Sun, 07 Jan 2024 02:49:40 GMT

Another issue, the modifier does not take the same dining option of the menu item, when changing under modifiers (changing the dining option within an item, rather than the entire check), so the salad will show take out, but the chicken shows nothing.

Re: Configuring Prep time across stations

rcmck — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 00:10:36 GMT

Sorry for the late reply, I don't use the automated firing personally, just remembered seeing the documentation on modifier prep times when considering using it. I don't think it's a automated firing issue though more of the course and firing modifiers to the configured courses (which is unfortunately required). I can't think of any solution outside of creating your own course modifiers and takeout modifiers nested under those modifiers. Maybe someone else who uses these features more extensively can chime in or @Rob can find out more.

Re: Configuring Prep time across stations

lchatzipetrakos — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 02:44:02 GMT

All good, I've been on the horn with a few of my people at Toast and it doesn't seem like there are solutions for these yet. The fire by prep time isn't a fully flush we'd out feature yet, so still missing many small details.

Re: Configuring Prep time across stations

ashleyhodge — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:35:05 GMT

Literally all of these issue still exist in 2026...

Did you discover any solutions I might be missing?

Re: Configuring Prep time across stations

SOWPlatedlch — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:10:05 GMT

Ha no. The KDS team pretty much said this is dead in the water and isn't on the list of problems to solve at the moment (presumably because there's no incremental revenue potential in the KDS module to support the time needed to fix this).