Running a restaurant successfully isn’t just about great food and service—it’s also about staying on top of your inventory. Without an efficient inventory system, you may end up with wasted ingredients, stockouts, or unaccounted losses, all of which eat into your profits.

If you're just getting started or looking to streamline your restaurant operations in 2025, this guide will walk you through how to set up a reliable inventory system—and how Orderna POS makes the process easier, faster, and more accurate.

Why Inventory Management Matters for Restaurants

Every peso counts in the food and beverage business. Without proper inventory tracking, you could be:

• Overordering ingredients you don’t need

• Running out of key items during peak hours

• Losing money due to spoilage, theft, or mismanagement

• Making pricing decisions without knowing your real costs

A restaurant with good food and poor inventory management will always struggle to grow.

That’s why setting up a structured, POS-connected inventory system is essential for sustainable success.

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Step-by-Step: How to Set Up a Restaurant Inventory System with Orderna

1. List All Inventory Items

Start by listing everything your restaurant uses:

• Ingredients (meat, vegetables, condiments)

• Beverages

• Packaging materials (cups, lids, boxes)

• Cleaning supplies

• Consumables (napkins, straws, plasticware)

With Orderna, you can create your entire inventory list digitally—categorized and easy to search.

2. Assign Units of Measurement

Consistency is key. Make sure each item has a clear unit:

• Kilograms or grams

• Liters or milliliters

• Pieces, packs, bottles, etc.

This ensures accurate tracking and helps avoid confusion when calculating usage per menu item.

Orderna allows you to set and customize measurement units for every item in your system.

3. Track Ingredient Usage Per Dish

Want to know how much chicken or cheese you're using daily? Link your ingredients to your menu items using Orderna's recipe feature.

For example:

Chicken Sandwich =

• 1 bun

• 100g chicken

• 1 lettuce leaf

• 20g mayo

Each time a sandwich is sold, these ingredients are automatically deducted from your stock.

4. Set Up Inventory Counts

Decide how often you'll conduct inventory counts—daily, weekly, or monthly.

With Orderna, you can:

• Input physical counts directly into the system

• Reconcile any discrepancies

• Identify missing or wasted stock quickly

No more guessing or relying on memory. Everything is logged and accessible in real time.

5. Enable Low-Stock Alerts

Running out of an item during lunch rush? That's a no-go.

Orderna allows you to set low-stock thresholds for each item. Once inventory hits the minimum level, you'll get a notification so you can reorder before it's too late.

This feature helps you:

• Avoid lost sales

• Plan supplier orders in advance

• Keep customer satisfaction high

6. Use Real-Time Reports

Inventory isn’t just about counting—it’s about analyzing.

Orderna provides reports that show:

• Daily/weekly/monthly stock usage

• Waste tracking

• Cost of goods sold (COGS)

• Fast-moving vs. slow-moving items

These insights help you reduce waste, lower costs, and boost profitability.

7. Train Your Staff

A system is only as effective as the people using it.

Make sure your team knows:

• How to input stock deliveries

• How to report spillage or wastage

• How to follow FIFO (First In, First Out) inventory rotation

With Orderna’s user-friendly interface, training your team takes just minutes—not days.

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Here’s what makes Orderna different:

✅ Real-time inventory tracking linked to sales

✅ Ingredient-level tracking with recipes

✅ Low-stock alerts and restock reminders

✅ Multi-branch inventory support

✅ Simple setup and easy training

✅ Local support when you need it

Whether you run a single kiosk or a multi-branch restaurant group, Orderna helps you manage your stock like a pro—without the need for bulky software or extra hardware.

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Final Thoughts

A well-organized inventory system is the foundation of any successful restaurant. It helps you cut costs, serve consistently, and make smarter business decisions.

By integrating your inventory management with your POS system, you simplify the entire process—from ordering supplies to analyzing sales.

With Orderna, you don’t just get a POS—you get a powerful inventory management tool that works with you, not against you.