Web Hosting Provider AIT and Sandhills Community College Create Culinary Lab of the Future

If the best way to learn is by doing, students in the Hospitality and Culinary Arts programs at Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst are in the right environment. The College worked with AIT, a Fayetteville-based Internet services company, to find the software and applications that best fit the curriculum while keeping costs manageable.

The result has turned the Peggy Kirk Bell culinary lab into a setting that is as close to the real thing as possible, incorporating high-tech tools that address everything from recipes and menus to reservations and table assignments. "In today's competitive hospitality environment, the ability to sustain stringent cost controls while maintaining quality is often the difference between success and failure," according to Ted Oelfke, Chairman of the Hospitality and Culinary Arts Department at Sandhills. "The training in the use of the information systems will give Sandhills students experience in maintaining both costs and quality."

AIT provided a package that includes a touch-operated system that controls inventory management, tracks cooking cycles so multiple dishes can be managed simultaneously, lets the wait staff key in orders that are then displayed on a screen in the kitchen, and more. "The students at Sandhills are preparing for jobs in establishments that are using technology, and the system we provided helps to familiarize them with 'real-world' scenarios," said Kitti Jo Finch, AIT Product Manager.

The technology tools also manage reservations and waiting lists, track house accounts, facilitate the issuing of gift cards, and of course, process credit and debit card payments. "The kitchen, in fact the entire restaurant operation, has become a very technical operation," said Oelfke. "The human element is obviously still the key, but the right software and applications expand the individual's capability, and it's important for our students to be comfortable with this type system."

Founded in 1996, AIT provides web hosting and related services to 200,000 domains in 107 countries, and is a two-time Inc 500 Company. AIT customers benefit from a 93,000 square foot data and service center, 24/7 support, and industrial grade infrastructure. AIT also offers e-commerce, data storage, software development, IP telephony, application hosting, and a technology training center.