Taco Bell’s New Helper Can Follow Orders Well : Technology: Inventory control is just the start of fast-food automation. Taco-making robots may be next.

When Taco Bell Corp. chief executive John Martin wants to know how many tacos were sold on a given day at a particular restaurant, all he has to do is punch a few keys on the computer in his office.

That same information is also available for the first time to managers at 2,000 company-owned Taco Bell outlets, thanks to a new computer system that the fast-food chain has installed.

Retailers have used computers for years to monitor inventory at stores, but the down-and-dirty fast-food industry has relied instead on the instincts of its experienced managers, said Donald Smith, a professor of restaurant management at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash.

“Companies like Taco Bell and McDonald’s are doing some incredible things these days,” Smith said. “They have always gathered information for top executives, but now they have data for managers too.”

Frank Compani, manager of a Taco Bell on Barranca Parkway in Irvine, says the new system emables him to do inventory in 10 minutes instead of six hours.

“It’s pretty much dummy-proof,” Compani said.

Ken Harris, vice president of operations, says the automated system has slashed paper work for restaurant managers by 30 to 40 hours a month.

“We were behind the times in the use of personal computers until now,” Harris said. “The system takes seat-of-the-pants management and makes it a science. It gives the manager more time to deal with things like customer service.”

The Hewlett-Packard computers, which are linked to the store’s cash registers, organize the sales data into a format that is easy for managers to understand.

A manager can use the computer data to quickly determine, for example, the number of tortillas in stock and how many he will need to order.

Managers can also use the computer to forecast the optimum number of workers to schedule during peak hours and send messages to headquarters.

“When you save so much time for each manager, you get a very positive reaction,” said Harris.

At Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine, the marketing department can easily access information on individual restaurant sales to see what customers in different geographic areas prefer.

For example, says Harris, “The percentage of tacos we sell in Los Angeles is a lot different from the percentage in Indianapolis.”

Taco Bell officials say the computerized inventory system is only the beginning. As more restaurant chains expand nationally, they are looking to technology for a competitive edge.

Already, Taco Bell is experimenting with taco-making robots and computers that allow customers to place orders by touching items on a monitor, said Elliot Bloom, a company spokesman.

“The direction we’re heading is ‘management by exception,’ ” Smith said. “That is, the computer will warn you when your sales start to slip, and the manager can respond.”