Stations and station screens

A station is a place where food or drinks are made or handed over: the kitchen, the tandoor, the bar, a coffee counter, a packing table. Every menu item is sent to one station. The station decides which screen shows the item and which KOT printer prints it.

Each outlet has its own list of stations in Settings → Stations. A new business starts with stations that suit its type:

What are the four kinds of screen?

Each station works from one kind of screen. Pick it under Screen for that station.

• Kitchen screen: the kitchen display, with New, Preparing and Ready columns, live timers, tap-to-tick items, all-day counts and the Updated and Cancelled markers. Use it for the kitchen, a tandoor, a grill or desserts: each station gets its own screen showing only its items, with its own name and icon in the header. See Using the kitchen display.
• Bar screen: a drinks-first screen (dark by default) for a dim bar. See The bar screen.
• Pickup counter: orders by token, with a big token block, a live timer and each station's progress. Staff tap their own items when done, call the token and hand the order over. Ready to collect is a separate green column. Good for cafés and quick service.
• Expo / packing: the same order-by-order view for assembling and packing, for example the packing table in a cloud kitchen or room service in a hotel.

How do I open a station's screen on a tablet?

Open Kitchen display in the sidebar and tap the station at the top. The address changes to something like /dashboard/kitchen?station=bar, so you can bookmark it on that tablet. /dashboard/stations/bar works too and opens the same screen.

All stations shows everything on the kitchen screen. Every screen updates live, chimes for new orders, and keeps printing KOTs the way your outlet is set up. All station screens share one look, with a sun / moon button to switch between a dark and a light screen on each device.

How do I add, rename or reorder stations?

Go to Settings → Stations.

1. Add a station: type a name (for example "Pizza oven"), choose its screen and press Add.
2. Rename: change the name in the box. Items and printers keep working, because they use the station's key (shown in grey), which never changes.
3. Reorder: use the up and down arrows. The first station that makes things (not expo or packing) is the primary station.
4. Pick an icon and a colour. They show on the station buttons and screens.
5. Optionally set a Target time in minutes: the station's tickets turn amber at that time and red at twice that. Leave it empty for the standard times (10 and 20 minutes on a kitchen screen, 6 and 12 on a bar screen, 10 and 15 on a pickup counter or expo screen).
6. Press Save stations.

Removing a station: press the bin icon. If items or open tickets still use it, choose where they go (for example "move to Kitchen") before you can save. Items are shared by all your outlets, so moving them changes them at every outlet.

What does "Set up for my business type" do?

If your outlet doesn't have all the stations its business type usually needs, Settings → Stations offers Set up for (your type). Apply here adds those stations with the right screens to this outlet; check them and press Save stations. Owners with several outlets can press All outlets to add them everywhere at once. Stations you already have are never removed.

How do items reach a station?

In Menu builder, open an item and choose Send to station. The list shows the stations of all your outlets. To move a whole category at once (for example all drinks to the bar), open the category's … menu and choose Send all dishes to station…, or edit the category and choose Send every item to a station.

When you import a menu, each section gets a Prepared at station: drinks go to the bar, desserts and coffee to a matching counter if you have one, everything else to the kitchen. If the file has drinks and the outlet has no bar station, the review screen offers Add a Bar station. See Import your menu.

If an item's station doesn't exist at an outlet (for example "Tandoor" at a small branch without one), that outlet sends it to its primary station, so it still shows on a screen and prints.

How do I choose which printer prints a station's KOTs?

Each station in Settings → Stations has a Prints on row with your KOT printers. Tap a printer to switch it on or off for that station. A printer that takes every station shows as on for all of them. You can also set this on the printer itself in Settings → Printing under Kitchen stations. See How printing works.

Troubleshooting stations

Still stuck? Call or WhatsApp +91 96573 22724, or email support@airqr.in.