Global restaurant chain TGI Fridays protect their digital investment with robust accessories

During the coronavirus pandemic, the demand for digital transformation accelerated exponentially. And TGI Fridays decided to introduce iPads into all their restaurants across the UK and Jersey. Although the stand-alone device seamlessly integrated with their systems and applications, the consumer-grade iPad required exterior protection to prevent the devices from being damaged.

To find an appropriate rugged case, Fridays Head of Infrastructure and security, Neil Read was tasked with finding a case that met every objective. They went on to test over 20 different cases from a variety of companies. The devices would be used to manage Fridays digital recipe cards and online training to improve operations and maintain food quality and consistency.

Working in a busy restaurant environment creates significant risk that the iPad’s would be dropped and knocked around, especially when be used constantly throughout each day. Using the iPad without protection would ultimately result in the iPad being broken. Therefore, using a protective case was paramount before providing each restaurant with iPad’s.

Additionally, the iPad’s would be used in the kitchen area which proposed even higher risk. Aside from this being the most active space in a restaurant, the iPad’s would likely be splattered and smudged with cooking ingredients. To maintain health and safety standards, the iPad’s would then require regular cleaning, this is especially important when working with food for consumption. Not being able to adequately clean the device would result in huge hygiene risk. Therefore, TGI Fridays needed a casing that would be robust enough to withstand potential damage and harsh chemicals used for cleaning.
Another key objective was that the case required flexible integrations with other solutions. TGI Fridays had a mounting solution in each of their restaurants which they wanted to utilise with the iPad. This mounting solution was used with another tablet that had been made redundant, due to no longer meeting the restaurant’s requirements. This created limitations when finding a new case that would be compatible with the iPad and the mounting solution.

Fridays Head of Infrastructure and Security, Neil Read made a comment about the project, explaining “After careful consideration, we decided to install iPads into the kitchen area of all our restaurants across the UK and Jersey. Given the busy kitchen environment, we needed a case that was rugged enough to withstand potential damages. We also had a requirement to attach a magnetic bracket to the back of the case, so the team had a secure place to charge the device but also to make the device removable if required. This gave the team the flexibility if they needed to train or prep in another area of the kitchen. The MobileWorxs cases offered everything we needed.”