News

QA Graphics drawn into digital menu board space

June 28, 2011

Iowa-based QA Graphics has announced that it has expanded its capabilities to provide digital menu boards for restaurants, convenience stores, grocery stores and retail outlets.

QA Graphics already provides a variety of interactive design solutions for the restaurant industry, so expanding capabilities to offer digital menu boards was a natural progression, the company said in a release. Past projects include providing its award-winning Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard for the third and fourth LEED-certified McDonald's restaurants in the United States.

The Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard is a 3-D display used to help educate customers at the franchised restaurants about energy efficiency and a building's sustainable efforts.

QA Graphics can now provide static digital signage, drive-thru displays and interactive applications for use on kiosks in high-traffic areas. The company's digital menu boards are easy to maintain, and can ensure brand continuity across multiple locations, it said. This allows companies to reduce printing costs, schedule commercials and specials, and change dayparting menus throughout the day.

Also, with the FDA's impending legislation requiring the display of nutritional information, QA Graphics said it can help restaurants comply with menu labeling laws.

"For companies who haven't switched to digital signage yet, now is an opportune time with the pending menu labeling laws," said Dan McCarty, president of QA Graphics. "Our solutions allow for updates to easily be made to menu items or nutritional information, reducing the waiting time and costs that would be associated with traditional print signage."

QA Graphics' digital menu display boards can include:

• Menu items/prices
• Promotions/specials
• Nutritional information
• Dayparting capabilities
• Advertisements
• Entertainment
• News feeds
• Weather forecast
• Company information
• Sustainable initiatives

The menu boards are developed with an easy-to-use content management system (CMS), so items, nutrition details, prices and specials can be updated from one central location ? with the updates quickly reflected at multiple locations.

QA Graphics offers its digital menu boards as a product that the customer can fully control with no recurring fees; the company will also host the solution and perform content updates if preferred. The company also offers a variety of commercial LCDs, touchscreens and interactive kiosks to provide a turnkey solution.