System and method for monitoring beverage dispenser

1. A system for controlling beverage quality comprising:

a beverage dispenser monitoring unit comprising:

a plurality of weight sensors each positioned below one of a plurality of syrup containers connected to a beverage dispenser; and

a first network adapter configured to turn on in response to a detection of a low syrup level by a weight sensor of the plurality of weight sensors and communicate with a control unit; and

the control unit comprising:

a second network adapter configured to communicate with the beverage dispenser monitoring unit via the first network adapter and a plurality of user interface devices; and

a control circuit coupled to the second network adapter and configured to:

detect a low weight reading from a weight sensor of the plurality of weight sensors of the beverage dispenser monitoring unit via the second network adapter;

determine a syrup container of the plurality of syrup containers associated with the weight sensor; and

provide a notification of low syrup level indicating the syrup container to at least one of the plurality of user interface devices.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of syrup containers comprises bag in box containers stored on shelves apart from the beverage dispenser.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the beverage dispenser monitoring unit is configured to determine whether weight sensor readings are above or below a weight threshold and communicate with the control unit in response to one of the weight sensor readings falling below the weight threshold.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of user interface devices comprises a wall-mounted display panel comprising light indicators each associated with one of the plurality of syrup containers connected to the beverage dispenser.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to cause a low syrup indicator to be displayed on or near the beverage dispenser.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of user interface devices comprises portable devices associated with store associates.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to select the at least one of the plurality of user interface devices to provide the notification based on one or more of: store associate roles, shift schedules, and task assignments of store associates associated with each of the plurality of user interface devices.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the notification comprises a task for replacing the syrup container in a store associate task management user interface; and

wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

detect a replacement of the syrup container via the weight sensor of the beverage dispenser monitoring unit; and

close the task in the store associate task management user interface in response to detecting the replacement.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

store historical weight sensor readings from the plurality of weight sensors;

determine an estimated future demand for each of the plurality of syrup containers based on the historical weight sensor readings; and

automatically generate an order for one or more of the plurality of syrup containers based on the estimated future demand.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further in communication with a plurality of beverage dispenser monitoring units associated with a plurality of beverage dispensers; and wherein the notification further comprises a beverage dispenser identifier.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein one of the plurality of user interface devices comprises a point of sale system configured to display the notification.

12. A method of controlling beverage quality comprising:

detecting, with a beverage dispenser monitoring unit comprising a plurality of weight sensors each positioned below one of a plurality of syrup containers connected to a beverage dispenser, a low weight reading from a weight sensor of the plurality of weight sensors;

turning on a first network adapter of the beverage dispenser monitoring unit and communicatively coupling with a second network adapter of a control unit in response to the low weight reading;

determining, with a control circuit of the control unit, a syrup container of the plurality of syrup containers associated with the weight sensor;

providing, from the control unit, a notification of low syrup level indicating the syrup container to at least one of a plurality of user interface devices via the second network adapter.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of syrup containers comprises bag in box containers stored on shelves apart from the beverage dispenser.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the beverage dispenser monitoring unit is configured to determine whether weight sensor readings are above or below a weight threshold and communicate with the control unit in response to one of the weight sensor readings falling below the weight threshold.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of user interface devices comprises a wall-mounted display panel comprising light indicators each associated with one of the plurality of syrup containers connected to the beverage dispenser.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

causing a low syrup indicator to be displayed on or near the beverage dispenser.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of user interface devices comprises portable devices associated with store associates.

18. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

selecting at least one of the plurality of user interface devices to provide the notification based on one or more of: store associate roles, shift schedules, and task assignments of store associates associated with each of the plurality of user interface devices.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein the notification comprises a task for replacing the syrup container in a store associate task management user interface; and

wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

detect a replacement of the syrup container via the weight sensor of the beverage dispenser monitoring unit; and

close the task in the store associate task management user interface in response to detecting the replacement.

20. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

storing historical weight sensor readings from the plurality of weight sensors;

determining an estimated future demand for each of the plurality of syrup containers based on the historical weight sensor readings; and

automatically generating an order for one or more of the plurality of syrup containers based on the estimated future demand.

21. An apparatus for controlling beverage quality comprising:

a non-transitory storage medium storing a set of computer readable instructions; and

a control circuit configured to execute the set of computer readable instructions which cause to the control circuit to:

communicatively couple, via a second network adapter, with a first network adapter a beverage dispenser monitoring unit comprising a plurality of weight sensors each positioned below one of a plurality of syrup containers connected to a beverage dispenser, wherein the first network adapter is configured to turn on in response to a detection of a low weight reading from at least one of the plurality of weight sensors;

detect, with the control circuit, a low weight reading from a weight sensor of the plurality of weight sensors of the beverage dispenser monitoring unit via the second network adapter;

determine a syrup container of the plurality of syrup containers associated with the weight sensor; and

provide a notification of low syrup level indicating the syrup container to at least one of a plurality of user interface devices via the second network adapter.