What Is A KDS & How Do They Work?

A kitchen display system (KDS) connects to your POS system, replaces paper tickets, increases order efficiency, and reduces errors. Keep reading to learn what a kitchen display system is, how it works, and whether to incorporate one in your restaurant.

What Is A Kitchen Display System?

A kitchen display system (KDS) is software that routes orders from your restaurant POS system and online ordering sources to digital display screens set up in your kitchen. These screens are often iPads or Android devices. Cooks can view orders and close them out on-screen in real-time, eliminating the need for printed kitchen tickets or verbal instructions.

Most KDS screens are touchscreen devices. If your staff prefers not to use touchscreens, you can add a kitchen bump bar to your KDS screens. A bump bar is a control panel that looks like a keyboard. It is used to navigate between and close out orders.

Related: Learn how to set up online ordering in your restaurant and connect your online ordering platform to your KDS.

How Do Kitchen Display Systems Work?

Kitchen Display System Features

These are basic features you can expect with a standard KDS:

• Meal Coursing/Coursing Manager: Group items in a course together to be prepared and sent out at the same time.
• Meal Pacing: The meal pacing feature allows the KDS to know the cook times of each item; it will alert the correct cook station when that particular item needs to be prepared.
• Cook Times: A KDS can manage cook times and help ensure that food is sent out at the optimum temperature and freshness.
• Recipes/Ingredients: Staff can double-check recipes and preparation procedures and even manage quality control.
• Order Routing: This feature sends each food item to the correct kitchen station.

Several smaller restaurant businesses can use one or two KDS screens that integrate with a tablet restaurant POS system. Larger businesses should consider getting a KDS screen for every restaurant station to make it easier for cooks in different sections to manage their order load.

Benefits Of A KDS

A KDS may be a more expensive upfront or monthly investment that seems unnecessary. However, there are many financial and practical benefits of a KDS, including:

• Increased Order Accuracy: Increased accuracy reduces the need for comping orders and reduces food waste from incorrect orders, saving you money.
• Increased Efficiency: Orders are sent directly back to the appropriate kitchen stations so staff can get started immediately. They can also see when a server has updated an order and notify servers when orders are ready to be picked up.
• Accept Third-Party Platform Orders: Most of the best POS systems integrate with third-party delivery platforms and automatically send orders from these sources directly back to the kitchen.
• Meal Coursing & Delay Routing: Full-service establishments can use kitchen display systems to automatically pace item prep. This helps ensure that all items come out at the same time and to the right seat number. Servers can also manually fire orders to KDS screens when needed.
• Create Custom Order Sources: The best kitchen display systems allow you to create custom ordering sources, such as curbside and drive-thru orders. That way, servers know where to take completed orders without having to ask kitchen staff.
• Customer Communication: Keep customers in the loop about estimated order pickup and delivery times through text messages or order status display updates.
• Order Fulfillment Insights: Kitchen display systems allow you to monitor how quickly and accurately staff finish and send out orders.
• Go Paperless: A paperless system costs less in the long run since you don’t have to keep buying rolls of printer paper. Going paperless is also more environmentally friendly and declutters your back-of-house.

Related: These are our best drive-thru ordering systems.

What Does A KDS Cost?

A KDS costs $19-$109+/month in software fees and a one-time KDS screen hardware fee of $329-$1,400.

Do You Need A KDS In Your Restaurant?

You may need a KDS in your restaurant if you offer multiple ordering methods (at the counter or the table, drive-thru order window, online, etc.), currently run into order errors and slow turnaround time because kitchen staff has a hard time deciphering order tickets, have a restaurant with more than one prep station, or want to cut down on your physical paper usage.

We don’t recommend a KDS if you don’t have room for digital display screens in your kitchen or can’t afford the additional monthly software fees.

If you decide to incorporate kitchen display systems into your restaurant, consider the size of your restaurant, your ordering types (at the counter, from the table, at a drive-thru ordering window, etc), your monthly budget, and how well your KDS integrates with the best restaurant POS systems when shopping around for one.

You can also read up on our best kitchen display systems to help you decide which one is right for your restaurant.