Engineering Manager

Star Micronics integrates labeling and printing solutions with Crunchtime Kitchen to improve Order Accuracy and fulfillment. Star Micronics America Mar 06, 2026, 13:36 ET The integration connects kitchen workflows with reliable labeling and printing to support faster, more accurate order fulfillment across modern restaurant environments. SOMERSET, N.J., March 6, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ - Star Micronics, a global leader in POS hardware, labeling, and cloud printing technology, today announced the integration of its printing and labeling solutions with Crunchtime Kitchen, a popular kitchen display system (KDS) by Crunchtime Information Systems. The integration extends digital kitchen workflows beyond the screen, helping restaurants improve order accuracy, accountability, and fulfillment across dine-in, takeout, and delivery channels, with particular impact for quick-service restaurants (QSRs), fast-casual brands, large casual-dining chains, and other hospitality venues. Kitchen display systems play a critical role in organizing and prioritizing orders, but accuracy challenges often arise once orders move from preparation to packaging and handoff. By integrating Star Micronics' labeling and printing solutions with Crunchtime Kitchen, restaurants gain a reliable physical verification layer that supports accurate assembly, clear identification, and confident delivery of every order. Extending Order Accuracy Beyond the Screen Through the integration, orders displayed within Crunchtime Kitchen workflows trigger printed labels and receipts at key points in the kitchen process. Item-level and order-level labels help teams verify contents, eliminate missed items, and minimize confusion during packaging and pickup. Star's mC-Label multifunction printer series supports a wide range of restaurant labeling needs, including item labels, bag seals, and order identification, using linerless, die-cut, or receipt media, all from a single model. Available in 2-inch and 3-inch options, the series also features user-friendly maintenance that reduces downtime and simplifies upkeep for kitchen teams. Star's TSP143IV SK supports sticky linerless labels and receipt printing, giving restaurants flexible options for labeling and order verification. When paired with Crunchtime Kitchen, labeling helps ensure that digital orders are accurately reflected in the final order handed to the customer. Orchestrating Complex, Multi-Channel Kitchen Operations Crunchtime Kitchen is purpose-built to help restaurants manage complex, high-volume kitchen operations where speed, accuracy, and coordination are critical. Rather than simply displaying orders, the system orchestrates how orders move through the kitchen by pacing tickets, routing items to the right stations, and adjusting workflows based on real-time demand. "When kitchens are under pressure, teams need systems they can trust," said Jennifer Karpinsky, Vice President of Business Development at Crunchtime. "Bringing Crunchtime Kitchen together with Star Micronics' labeling and printing solutions gives restaurants greater confidence that orders are executed accurately for the guest." Features such as delayed routing, customizable prep stations, and dynamic capacity management help balance workloads, reduce bottlenecks, and keep multi-item orders finishing together. This approach supports consistent execution across dine-in, takeout, and delivery channels, even during peak periods. Paired with Star Micronics' labeling and printing solutions, these orchestrated workflows extend beyond the screen, giving kitchen teams a clear, physical way to verify, assemble, and fulfill orders accurately. Reliable Printing for Real-World Kitchen Execution The integration also supports Star's mC-Print3 thermal receipt printer, delivering fast, dependable receipt and order printing in high-volume kitchen environments. Built for the demands of busy kitchens, the mC-Print3 provides consistent output at prep, expo, and fulfillment stations during peak service. Together, Star's printing and labeling hardware provides restaurants with flexible options to support prep stations, expo lines, and fulfillment areas, while maintaining clarity and reliability across workflows. Supporting Modern Restaurant Operations As restaurants manage increasing order complexity driven by kiosks, online ordering, and third-party delivery, accuracy at handoff has become a critical factor in customer satisfaction and loyalty. Clear labeling and reliable printing help reduce costly remakes, refunds, and delivery issues, while improving the overall guest experience. The integration between Star Micronics and Crunchtime Kitchen enables restaurant operators to unify digital order management with consistent, real-world execution across every service channel. Designed for multi-channel, enterprise restaurant environments, Crunchtime Kitchen helps operators maintain service consistency and throughput by intelligently managing order flow across stations, channels, and peak demand periods. A Trusted Partner for KDS Labeling Solutions With decades of experience supporting restaurant technology ecosystems, Star Micronics continues to work closely with leading software providers to deliver dependable hardware solutions. The integration with Crunchtime Kitchen reinforces Star's role as a go-to provider of labeling and printing technology for KDS environments. About Star Micronics Star Micronics is a world leader in point-of-sale (POS) hardware, offering a portfolio of printing, secure cash management, self-service, and customer engagement solutions for retail and hospitality environments. Star's technologies support Android, iOS, Windows, and web-based platforms, as well as cloud printing solutions such as CloudPRNT Next and StarIO.Online. About Crunchtime With Crunchtime, the world's top restaurant brands achieve ops excellence in every location. Crunchtime software is used in over 150,000 locations in 100+ countries to manage inventory, staff scheduling, learning and development, food safety, operational tasks, and audits. Through its recent merger with QSR Automations, Crunchtime has expanded its offerings to include kitchen automation and guest management solutions. Crunchtime enables customers, including Chipotle, Culver's, Domino's, Dunkin', Five Guys, and P.F. Chang's to control food and labor costs and deliver great guest experiences by providing the real-time data and tools essential for profitable, scalable growth. Media Contact Christin Trilone, Star Micronics America, 1 848-216-3318, [email protected], https://starmicronics.com SOURCE Star Micronics America

Smoothie King selects Crunchtime to improve profitability and efficiency Across franchise network. New Technology to Enhance Data Visibility Across 1,200+ Locations BOSTON, Nov. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - Smoothie King, the world's largest smoothie brand, is partnering with Crunchtime, a leading operations platform provider for the restaurant industry, to enhance its inventory management, labor scheduling, operations execution, and data analytics capabilities. This strategic collaboration aims to help Smoothie King franchisees increase profitability and operational efficiency and provide the organization with trustworthy, timely data to fuel the brand's growth. "At Smoothie King, we're committed to empowering our franchisees with the tools and technology that drive smarter, more efficient operations," said Camille Hymes, Chief Operating Officer at Smoothie King. "Our partnership with Crunchtime represents a meaningful step forward in delivering data-driven insights that improve profitability, strengthen operational excellence, and ultimately help our franchisees focus more on what matters most, our guests." The Crunchtime platform will give Smoothie King a "single source of truth" for its back-office operations, providing managers with real-time data and business intelligence to help them make better decisions. The partnership is expected to result in significant cost savings for the Smoothie King system, with reductions anticipated in both labor costs and cost of goods sold (COGS). "The Crunchtime solution allows us to simplify our back-office operations and give our franchisees the tools they need to gain better control over their costs in a competitive market," said Jyoti Lynch, Chief Information Officer at Smoothie King. "Crunchtime's proven track record and their robust platform with AI forecasting and real-time data capabilities make them an ideal partner in this next phase of growth for Smoothie King." * Improved Forecasting: Leveraging AI forecasting with real-time data from the POS will automate ordering and staff scheduling and enable operators to adapt effectively to labor and food cost targets. * Simplified Operations: With a robust operations execution platform, operators will have better control of brand standards, task management, store audits, food safety, and labeling. * Company-Wide Visibility: Native platform reporting plus advanced business analytics will provide unparalleled access to store, regional, and corporate-level insights that will help managers make immediate, informed decisions and help above-store leaders uncover operational challenges. Smoothie King expects its Crunchtime implementation to be complete by the end of 2025, setting the business up to support its aggressive growth trajectory in 2026. A total of 138 pilot and early adopter locations have been deployed so far. According to Jason Luther, Smoothie King Franchisee and President of Smoothie King's Franchise Advisory Council, "Crunchtime has been a smooth transition for us. The scheduling system is straightforward, and the dashboard snapshots make it easy to stay on top of our operations. The phone app's inventory integration is a meaningful improvement from a convenience and efficiency standpoint. We also appreciate the auto invoicing, order recommendations, and the ability to upload invoices by picture. Having inventory and auto ordering right from the phone will definitely save us time and streamline our day-to-day processes." Smoothie King, the original U.S. smoothie franchise - founded in 1973 - is a Dallas-based company with over 1,200 stores nationwide. The brand is committed to its mission to inspire a healthy and active lifestyle through its Clean Blends initiative, which focuses on providing great-tasting smoothies with more whole fruits and vegetables while removing artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives and added sugars in many of its blends. In April 2023, Smoothie King launched Smoothie Bowls, topped with whole fresh fruit and premium Purely Elizabeth(TM) granola, made with wholesome ingredients, non-GMO fruits, and packed with flavor and nutrients. Smoothie King also offers retail products that include sports beverages, energy bars, vitamins, supplements, and more. Repeatedly recognized as a top franchise opportunity, Smoothie King was recently ranked #19 in Entrepreneur's 2025 Franchise 500, #11 in Entrepreneur's 2025 Top Brands for Multi-Unit Owners, and #90 in Fast Casual's Top 100 Movers & Shakers. The brand was also featured in the top 100 of Technomic's annual America's Favorite Chains data, which resulted in ranking #8 in Nation's Restaurant News' "America's Favorite Chains" list earlier this year. About Crunchtime With Crunchtime, the world's top restaurant brands achieve ops excellence in every location. Crunchtime software is used in over 150,000 locations in 100+ countries to manage inventory, staff scheduling, learning and development, food safety, operational tasks, and audits. Through its recent merger with QSR Automations, Crunchtime has expanded its offerings to include kitchen automation and guest management solutions. Crunchtime enables customers, including Chipotle, Culver's, Domino's, Dunkin', Five Guys, and P.F. Chang's to control food and labor costs and deliver great guest experiences by providing the real-time data and tools essential for profitable, scalable growth. Learn more at www.crunchtime.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smoothie-king-selects-crunchtime-to-improve-profitability-and-efficiency-across-franchise-network-302613110.html SOURCE Crunchtime