Scala Gets Beyond Just Populating Menu Displays With New Quintet QSR Automation Solution

May 20, 2025 by Dave Haynes

It seems obvious, but I remain surprised how many CMS software companies continue down the path of developing and marketing general solutions, when in most cases they should really be trying to zero in on solution and sector, and go deep with it.

If your solution meets every or most needs, it’s probably broad but not all that deep.

So I was intrigued to see Scala – one of the oldest solutions on the market – develop and announce a new offer called Scala Quintet that is precision-targeted to quick service restaurants and related sectors that use self-service.

Quintet was debuted the last few days at the National Restaurant Association Show, in Chicago.

I can’t speak for how good it is (haven’t seen it), but just know companies chasing this business – particularly deals with the larger operators – need to do a lot more than show they can drive menu displays at counters. There are other companies, of course, with robust solutions, but Scala and particularly parent company STRATACACHE have some of the largest ones.

It’s slightly puzzling positioning, as I think of STRATACACHE for QSR and Scala for retail, but the lines between the two tend to be a bit blurry.

Here’s the PR:

Scala today announced a new all-in-one solution, Scala Quintet, which delivers improved speed of service, order accuracy, back-of-house efficiency, and significantly improved uplift and sales conversion for the QSR sector. Scala Quintet launches with a focus on quick service restaurants and will expand to additional sectors who have a need for self-service applications that optimize consumer service times, labor efficiency, and personalized guest experiences that help improve the bottom line.

The Quintet platform was built leveraging Scala’s extensive visual display and guided sales experience, AI optimization and best-in-class intuitive user experience methodology, giving restaurant operators, and managers direct control over the creation, scheduling, and real-time updates of digital menu boards. Quintet includes outward-facing attract window screens, self-order kiosks, kitchen order-management tablets, and order-ready screens/pickup systems. A built-in AI layer personalizes content and order experience updates for digital menu boards and displays, including product descriptions for new and existing items, category tags, labels and bundles, limited-time offers (LTOs), and premium features.

“Scala Quintet pairs the Scala heritage of using visual displays to convert sales for our customers with our ordering workflow and self-service capabilities to automate and enhance the efficiency of restaurant operations and drive greater profitability,” said Chris Riegel, Chairman of Scala.

The five components of Scala Quintet introduce fully integrated digital signs and solutions at key points of automation and efficiency for guests and crew:

• Street-facing digital displays: Attract attention and drive restaurant visits with attention-grabbing content on large-format digital displays, all powered by updates made in Quintet.
• Indoor and Outdoor Digital menu boards: Clear, compelling content on digital displays at the ordering counter and in the digital drive thru is easily updated in real time. Make full use of dynamic dayparting and AI automation options to drive more sales using Quintet’s intuitive UI, regardless of technical design or content management skills.
• Self-order kiosk: Kiosks are fully integrated with Quintet’s kitchen management application, ensuring that both guests and crew receive real-time order updates. Once an order is placed, it immediately appears on a kitchen-facing screen for processing, while guests can follow order progress on the menu board.
• Kitchen order management displays: Quintet allows you to optimize your fast-paced kitchen workflow, tailored to your QSR’s specific operational needs. Your crew has complete control over every step of the preparation process. Additionally, Quintet lets you set up different task-preparation zones throughout the kitchen, streamlining task distribution to the right crew.
• Order-ready screen/order pickup solution: Customer-facing displays and fixtures, tailored to your restaurant pickup needs. Order-ready screens help the crew drive order accuracy, speed, and high value service experience that brings the customer back. Replacing cluttered, disorganized static fixtures, digital displays provide clarity and order status updates in real time – all customizable and seamlessly organized through Quintet’s interface.

“There is a need to streamline the disparate technology solutions that QSRs have been introducing to the customer experience since the opportunity with digital menu boards was realized,” said Harry Horn, Vice President Marketing Global at Scala. “Quintet keeps the user experience at the core of its value for both the QSR customer and the kitchen crew. While integrating complex systems, Quintet remains easy to use, easy to update, and fully automated. The solution will benefit many industries looking to optimize efficiency and personalization.”