Why is inventory management in hospitality so complex?
Hospitality is probably one of the most challenging industries when it comes to inventory management. Unlike many other sectors, where production follows planned orders and repetitive processes, food production in restaurants takes place on demand.
This means that raw material consumption and inventory deductions do not occur during a previous manufacturing process, but afterwards, at the exact moment when a dish is sold through the point of sale. Every recipe automatically triggers the consumption of its related ingredients, creating an extremely dynamic and difficult inventory environment.
Adding to this complexity is another key factor: recipes can never be reproduced exactly the same every single time. Natural variations during food preparation, especially with fresh products, mean that cost control and inventory accuracy require much greater precision and flexibility than in most industries.
Purchasing receipt: one of hospitality’s biggest operational challenges
One of the processes where we have historically identified the greatest complexity is the receipt and reconciliation of supplier deliveries.
For many years we have developed solutions such as IM Warehouse and IM E-Procurement to simplify goods receipt in both industrial environments and hospitality and retail chains. Our objective has always been to make receiving products as simple as possible while reconciling purchase orders, delivery notes and actual inventory.
The operational reality of hotels and restaurants
Hospitality operates very differently from a traditional logistics warehouse.
In industrial or logistics companies, inventory is managed by dedicated warehouse staff responsible for receiving, picking, put-away and inventory control, supported by advanced Warehouse Management Systems.
Hotels and restaurants work in a completely different way. Goods receipt must be carried out within the establishment itself and with far fewer resources. These responsibilities fall on chefs, waiters, restaurant managers or hotel staff whose primary role is customer service rather than logistics.
As a result, supplier deliveries are not always recorded with the desired speed and level of detail. Temporary stock discrepancies, cost differences or timing issues may appear until delivery notes are registered, making margin analysis, consumption tracking and profitability reporting much more difficult.
Although we have continuously simplified these processes through our software solutions, they are still perceived as administrative tasks that distract staff from delivering an outstanding customer experience.
Smart Document Reception: AI-powered Goods Receipt for Hospitality
This is precisely where Artificial Intelligence changes everything.
Our new AI-based solution allows hospitality businesses to receive supplier delivery notes simply by taking a photo with a mobile device. Artificial Intelligence automatically understands the document, validates its information and creates the Goods Receipt directly inside the ERP.
The result is a dramatic reduction in administrative work, permanently updated inventory and a much better experience for restaurant and hotel staff by eliminating repetitive low-value activities.
Artificial Intelligence built for the real complexity of hospitality
Developing this solution has not been easy. After more than twenty years of experience in the hospitality industry, we had to adapt the platform to the real complexity of food service operations, particularly for fresh products.
Price variations, different packaging formats, changing units of measure—such as ordering fish by piece but receiving it by weight or by box—promotions, free-of-charge items and constantly changing supplier prices are everyday situations that Artificial Intelligence must interpret correctly. Achieving reliable automation required deep functional expertise and the implementation of numerous business-specific scenarios.
The result is a solution capable of significantly reducing receiving times, improving inventory accuracy and increasing purchasing cost control. Because supplier prices are captured directly from the delivery note, profitability, margin and consumption analyses become considerably more accurate.
In addition, the ERP includes multiple validation and control mechanisms that automatically detect price deviations, discrepancies between purchase orders and deliveries, or supplier costs above agreed prices, maintaining the right balance between operational flexibility and business control that hospitality companies require.
