The Challenge

When the Academy opened its new centre for 11-14 year olds in 2005 it operated three different stand-alone systems across its two sites – its own MIS, an access security system and a cashless catering scheme. This caused a huge administrative burden for Djanogly necessitating duplicate student entries onto each of the different systems. In addition, the catering and access control systems used different types of smart card so dual-interface cards were required increasing running costs. The decision was taken to search for a fully integrated single card solution that could provide a seamless link between the MIS, cashless catering and access control.

The Solution

Djanogly City Academy sought the advice of Toshiba – its existing CTC technology partner, who had been supplying laptops, notebooks, tablets and more recently the latest state-of-the-art networked data projectors, for over 10 years. Toshiba was able to recommend M H Systems, a specialist in supplying cashless catering and cashless vending software management solutions. The first phase was to install the incredibly flexible M H Systems “Chips” cashless catering system running on the stable Toshiba POS hardware. M H Systems created a link between the “Chips” software and The Academy’s own CMIS database so all record changes and new pupil’s data was automatically transferred to the cashless catering database, thus removing the problem of dual entry. Phase 2 involved M H Systems introducing a door access control system already linked with the “Chips” catering system achieving the final goal of complete integration between the school’s MIS, cashless catering and access control systems. The whole process was quick, painless and cost the school nothing in development fees. Students and staff now use a single interface Mifare smart card to gain entry to the site and purchase items in the restaurant. Further cost savings come from the “Chips” system’s ability to allow the academy to purchase blank cards and encrypt them as needed, reducing card costs to a minimum.

The Benefits

Djanogly now has a fully integrated seamless information system enabling it to control its catering function whilst controlling access to both its sites. The system is simple and easy to operate and has removed the previous requirement for manual entry onto different systems, greatly reducing duplication of administrative effort. The system also has the functionality for parents to limit their child’s lunch spend per day, which can be child-specific, according to individual parent’s requirements. Free school meal allowances can be automatically timed on the system, ensuring that children only use their meal allowance at lunch and not break times. A staff duty meal facility also ensures that the correct number of meals is allocated to duty staff and all issues regarding the VAT charged on adult meals are handled automatically. The college has taken the decision to make the restaurant totally cash-less, even though the Toshiba terminals do offer the facility for either cash or card transactions, encouraging students to take responsibility for taking care of their cards. Speed of service has increased as there is no longer a need to handle cash and give change; queues have reduced noticeably in a very short time. A huge range of reports are available such as sales, free school meals, top-up money and management can also interrogate the system for menu analysis and stock control, issues becoming ever more important for menu planning and wastage as the cost of meals continues to increase. As Djanogly operates a wireless network, the Academy is able to use one of the Toshiba ST-60 tills as a mobile unit. The versatility of the system means that it is possible to run a Toshiba Tablet PC (connected to a reader) as a till – extremely useful for events such as Sports Day. Commenting on the Academies latest technological implementation, Darren Frearson, Djanogly Academy, Assistant Head, ICT Development, said, “Our collaboration with M H Systems and Toshiba has helped the Academy in its continual drive to exploit ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) to develop intellectual capability, and to enhance teaching, learning and management through the Academy’s operations.”

Latest Development

The “Chips” system provides a complete reward program for healthy eating, attendance, learning and sports achievements. The system will allow the school to link with local municipal or private sports clubs to encourage pupils to attend coaching classes and participate in training programs as part of school activities or extra-curricular interests. This combination of a healthy eating reward program with a sports incentive scheme addresses the problems of both poor diet and low activity levels in one go.

For more information about how this integrated technology can benefit your school please contact the sales team at M H Systems on 01732 367227 or Toshiba TEC Europe on 0870 890 7200.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend