Setting up and Maintaining Kitchen Printers can be a daunting task. The truth is, there are three different modules to program, so I wrote this article to try and make it easier to understand.
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Types of Printers
We can Identify 2 Types of Printers in Oracle Simphony:
- Local Printers
- Remote Printers
Local Printers are the ones attached directly to the workstations via an IDN or Serial Cable.
They are mainly used to print Guest Checks and are typically Thermal Printers.
They print fast and silently so that they don’t disturb the Bar or Restaurant operations.
Remote Printers are the ones we typically see in Kitchens and are IP Printers.
They are mainly used to print the Menu Item Tickets sent by the Servers and Bartenders.
They print slower than Thermal Printers and also make noise. This is because they use an impact head that strikes a ribbon onto the paper and also to alert the kitchen staff about the new Order.
The Local Printers are usually trouble-free, so we will focus on the Kitchen Printers since these are the ones that usually cause issues.
Kitchen Printer Network Communication
If you are reading this article, you are probably interested in adding or maintaining your kitchen printers, so why am I writing about Network Communication?
Well, these small printers are very different from large Office Printers, specifically in the fact that they don’t have an integrated print controller.
What does that mean? An Office printer, like the one you have at your Desk or Home, is a “smart printer”. When a computer or phone sends it a print job, it can intemperate this message and start printing.
A Kitchen Printer is a “dumb printer”, meaning that it cannot execute a print job by itself, it needs a Print Controller to tell it exactly what to do.
So what is a Print Controller? It is a service that runs on the workstations that interpret the message and “translates it” into a message the printer can understand in order to print.
I know this complicates things, and I wish they would have made this system simpler, so I made these graphics to help you understand.
This is a simple Network diagram with 2 Workstations and 2 Printers connected via the Network. Dining Room WS1 has an Integrated Print Controller that is used both for its Local Printer and the Kitchen Hot Printer.
If we send a Print Job: “Caesar Salad” from the Bar Workstation to the Kitchen Printer, the message (Red Line) first goes to the Print Controller (Dining Room WS1 in this case).
The Print Controller receives the messages, “translates them,” and then forwards them to the Kitchen Printer. (Blue Line)
Ok, that is all fine and well, but why did I have to explain all of that? Because it’s important to understand this communication in order to Program and Troubleshoot issues when they appear.
If a Kitchen Printer is not working properly, we will have to first check the printer (see if it has power, paper, and the network cable is connected and the light is blinking), and then also check its print controller (Dining Room WS 1 – in our example) and make sure it is on and it can communicate to the kitchen printer and other workstations as well.
For more Free Content on other Simphony Hardware, also check out this Article.
A Typical Kitchen Printer Setup
That Simple Diagram helped us understand the basic communication between workstations and printers, and now we can go a step further and take a look at a typical Network setup with 2 Kitchen Printers and 2 Workstations.
In this example, we have 2 Kitchen Printers: one for Hot Food and one for Salads, and two workstations, each one controlling one of the printers. We also set up the printers to back up to each other in case one of them stops working for any reason.
Let’s say that Dining Room WS1 loses power and goes offline, the local printer and the Hot Printer in the kitchen will also stop working due to the lack of a print controller.
So what happens when the Bar Workstation attempts to Print a Hamburger Ticket in the Hot Printer? It will attempt to contact the controller at Dining Room WS1 and notice that it’s not responding. (Green Line)
After that, it will try to contact the backup controller (Dining Room WS2), which will route the message to the backup Salad Kitchen Printer. (Yellow Line)
Now that we Have a better understanding of Print Controllers, network Communication, and the Importance of Backups, let’s dive into Programming our Kitchen Printers in EMC.
Kitchen Printers - EMC
We can find the Printers Module in EMC only at the Property Level, under the Setup Tab, in the Hardware/Interfaces Area.
Here we will find Both our Local Printer as well as Kitchen and Bar Printers.
To Add a New Kitchen Printer, simply Click the Insert Key at the top of the Screen. (Green Circle with White Plus Sign in it).
Printer Options:
- Number (#): Any number you want.
- Name: A descriptive name for the Printer. (Example: Pizza Printer).
- Type: Ethernet Printer (IP Printers).
- IP: The IP address assigned by your network manager.
- Port: Default is 9100.
After Assigning the IP address in EMC, you will need to configure the printer to use that IP. The easiest way to do this is by using the Epson Net Configure Utility. Detailed instructions and Download Link Here.
Order Devices - EMC
The Second Step in configuring our Kitchen Printer is to Program our Order Devices.
Order Devices can be found at the RVC Level Only, under the Setup Tab, Hardware/Interfaces Area.
There are a total of 32 Order Devices that can be added in Simphony, to add a new one, simply locate an empty field and type the name of your new printer. (Pizza Printer).
Order Devise Options:
- Number (#): Any number you want.
- Name: A descriptive Name (Pizza Printer).
- Device Type: Remote
- Primary device Type: Printer
- Device Number: Click on the ellipsis next to that field (…) and select the printer we just added in the previous module.
- Backup Device: Select a Printer that is physically the closest to it (Grill Printer). If the printer goes offline, the backup will print a ticket in its place.
- Save Your setting and refresh the Page. (Blue arrows on the top left of your screen). – This is important, do not skip it!
- Order Device Redirect: Select itself from the dropdown list. This sounds strange, but the default option is No Output. If you do not Redirect to itself, the printer will not work.
- Sort/Consolidation: Do Not Sort. If you want to combine menu items on the tickets, experiment with the other options.
- Options Bits: I selected: 1, 6, 7, and 10.
Important: Order Devices are an RVC Level setting, which means that you have to repeat the programming to all the other RVCs that will use this Order Device.
Print Classes - EMC
The Third Step in Configuring our Kitchen Printer is to Configure our Print Classes. These classes group the Order devices and link them to the Menu Items.
You can open Print Classes at any Level in Simphony (Enterprise, Property, or RVC), under the Configuration Tab, in the Menu Items Section.
I have mine defined at the Enterprise Level, so make sure to check what level you have yours set up.
To Add a new Print Class, use the Insert Button at the top of the Page.
Print Class Options:
- Number (#): Any number you want.
- Name: A Descriptive Name (Expo/Pizza).
- Options: I have selected 1,2, and 3.
- Output: Check the boxes for the Order Devices Number that you want to use: I use
- #1 (Expo)
- #6 (Pizza)
You can find the number of the device in the previous Module: Order Devices.
Important: If you are adding a new Order Device, make sure to check all the order Print Classes and add it when necessary.
Example: All Kitchen, Kitchen Only, Mods, $Mods.
If you are adding Order Device #6 – Pizza and the “Mods” Print Class does not have #6 checked, the modifiers (condiments) will not be allowed to print at the Pizza Printer, and all the special requests will be ignored.
Linking to Menu Items
Now that we have our new Kitchen Printer added, we can link it to our Menu Items using the Print Class that we created.
You can link the new Print Class in 2 locations:
- Menu Item Classes
- Menu Item Print Class Override.
Menu Item Classes can be found at all level Levels in Simphony under the Configuration Tab, Menu Items Area.
Open the module, create a new Class using an existing template, and change the Print Class to the one we just created. (General Tab, lower bottom section).
We can also control where a menu item is printed using Print Class Overrides.
- Open the Menu Item Maintenance Module. Configuration Tab, Menu Items Area.
- Click Search to Populate the Menu Item Database.
- Open the Definitions Records (Bottom of the screen).
- Find the menu item and change it’s Print Class Override.
Pro Tip: Choose a Method and stick to it. Either use Multiple Menu Item Classes, or use Print Class Overrides, but not both in order to keep the database clean.
When testing, remember to update the database on the workstations by manually pressing the Update button or wait 5 minutes for its auto-update.
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Now It's Your Turn
So that’s my guide on how to add Kitchen Printers in Oracle Micros Simphony.
Now, I’d like to hear what you have to say:
- Are you having a Printer issue that you are trying to fix?
- Or do you need to add new Printers to your system?
- Let me know by leaving a comment below right now.
42 thoughts on “How to Setup Kitchen Printers in Oracle Micros Simhpony”
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hi all
i am having a problem with my bar printer it does not print orders to the kitchen hot printer but prints to the pastry and cold section printer , so for every menu item class that uses the cordinator printer ( kitchen hot ) it does not print anything but prints a local order instead at the bar
Can you check which order devices are allowed for the bar workstation? Make sure it can use all the kitchen printer.
Property level-> Workstations -> select the bar terminal -> make sure the kitchen order devices are checked.
i have checked them they are all checked out , compared them to the restaurant workstation they seem to be similar .. but what is different are the rvc classes on order devices can these affect printing
I think we can help better if we see some screenshots.can you please join SimSupport Facebook Group and start a thread there?
Post as many details and screenshots as you can. Thank you!
all order devices are all checked out for the cordinator printer, pastry, bar and cold kitchen .. can print classes on the revenue center be a factor ?
Yes,
Please check for overrides at the RVC level
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your website and videos. A huge help!
I’m currently having an issue that if I send multiple items (of the same dish) to the kitchen, it prints as:
1 pasta
1 pasta
1 pasta
1 pizza
1 pizza
How do I get this to group to print as:
3 pasta
2 pizza
Many thanks!
Hey Nick,
You can enable consolidation in the Menu Item Classes and in the Order Devices Option.
Hi Michael, in my property we have the issue that all tickets regarding food are coming out on the pastry printer. Before was not like that. Pastry was only getting the dessert order
You should check the printers tab in EMC, the order devices and the print classes.
Something changed somewhere.
Hie mike
quick one my local order checks have suddenly stopped printing at the bar , for example when the barman rings up a coke it should print the local order check at the bar from the workstation printer that a coke was rang , all other checks and reports are printing fine .. if you order from the restaurant it prints a local order check at the restaurant workstation and also sends one to the bar
how are local order checks , receipts and chits controlled ?
Are you seeing an error about the printer being offline? Did you make any changes recently?
Hello-
I have a kitchen printer that was already set up. During Covid it was unplugged and we have moved our POS stations around due to them not working. How can I locate the IP address to the kitchen printer to make sure the POS stations are routing correctly?
Thank you!
You should change dipswitch 1 to on and restart the printer. It should print the curent settings.
Don’t forget to switch it back off when you are done.
thank you for your great topic
I’m glad it was useful.
Hello, I hope you can help me. One day our drink tickets stopped printing to the remoter printer. Instead they print to the local printer. It used to send one to the remote and one to the local. Now they all just go to the local. I was on the phone with tech support for a long time, and through a lot of trial and error he was able to get the drink tickets to go to the remote printer, but also the reports, guest checks, and cc printouts. at one point only the drinks were going to the remote printer, but it was printing two copies, one with the condiments and one without. Any idea what we are doing wrong?
Hey Craig,
It sounds like you have a setup where you use both a remote and a local printer. These setups can be configured in multiple ways, so it’s difficult to tell without looking at EMC. To fix the reports, go to the workstation tab and adjust the printers to be the local one. You can also check the bar order devices and see how the remote printer is programmed.
Can you post some screen shots of the printers tab and order devices tab for us to take a look at in the group?
https://www.facebook.com/groups/simphonysupport/
Hello Michael,
Is it any solution of stopping the Micros Printer from printing a check on all the other Micros Printers in the outlet when an order is sent through in Micros?
Essentially printing only on one another station for back up purposes would be ideal.
Thanks
Hey Bogdan,
I don’t think I understand the questions correctly. The printers have one backup each, what do you mean by “all other Printers in the outlet”?
If one printer runs out of paper, it should print to just one other printer, which is set as the backup in the printers tab.
Hi Michael,
We have had this issue for a while now. Our KDS screen would like this
Burger (Ketchup) modifier
Burger (Mustard)
Burger (Ketchup)
Burger (Ketchup)
Burger (Mustard)
But it would print out of order like this
Burger (ketchup)
Burger (ketchup)
Burger (ketchup)
Burger (mustard)
Burger (mustard)
We have 0 Do not sort as the sort/consolidation in order devices for this specific printer. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Hey Sean,
What is the order in which you add the item to the POS? First version or the second?
hey my micros kitchen printer is acting up. it prints bills then keeps printing blank paper then prints a bunch of random stuff. i already tried resetting the printer and still no luck.
Sounds like there is an issue with the controller. Can you try to restart the workstation that is controlling it?
Have an issue with a kitchen printer not cutting after print orders. I have configured the printer as described above. Any ideas why?
It is a TM U220 epson printer
Most likely its a hardware issue with the printer itself. Can you switch it with another one and test? Or is this an IP printer?
You can also try to test by turning it off, hold the feed button, turn it back on while holding it. It should print a test paper and cut.
Thank you for putting this together Michael. I’m having a strange issue where I send an order to our kitchen, all of the printers in the kitchen receive their appropriate ticket items like normal. But a few minutes later the Kitchen Expo printer receives backup prints for all of the other kitchen printers. Error appears on the Workstation with “Timeout, Printer workstation may not be able to communicate with this workstation. Sent to Backup XXX” repeating for all kitchen printers. Despite everything functioning normally when the ticket is first sent, it seems to think there is an communication error even though there is not an evident issue. It is only affecting that one Workstation
This kind of intermittent printer issues usually means a network error. Can you check if the print controller is the same for all the other printers? We usually spread the load of print controllers to multiple workstations (unless you have a server). It might a network issue with the print controller, not the printer itself.