AGU
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Leveraging AR Technology, UHW Perbanas Faculty Members Support the Advancement of Catering Businesses in Surabaya
Friday, 22 August 2025
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Faculty members of Universitas Hayam Wuruk Perbanas continue to demonstrate their commitment to supporting Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). According to the 2023 survey by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) on Food and Beverage Service Enterprises, East Java Province ranked first with a total of 52,794 catering businesses. Based on this data, the UHW Perbanas faculty team selected Dian Catering as their partner in implementing a community service program.The Head of the UHW Perbanas Faculty Team, Ellen Theresia Sihotang, S.E., M.BA., explained that the primary challenges faced by Dian Catering are related to marketing and management. “The marketing strategy has not yet utilized digital technology, both in packaging and promotional activities. As a result, revenue has not reached its maximum potential,” she stated during the training session held on Friday afternoon (August 22) at the UHW Perbanas Library.
Ellen further elaborated that, in terms of management, the company still records product orders manually, which often leads to miscommunication. “To address this, we introduced visualization technology through Augmented Reality (AR). With images and visualizations, communication becomes easier as products can be directly shown and explained, ultimately creating time efficiency,” she added.
As an innovation in packaging, the Dian Catering logo can be scanned with a smartphone equipped with an AR application. This feature allows prospective customers to instantly access information about the available menu items. “In addition, since their financial records were previously maintained manually, we also introduced a simple, integrated application called Excel for Accounting (EFA). This system helps accelerate the preparation of financial reports, which can in turn facilitate loan applications or tax reporting,” she explained.
It should be noted that this community service program is supported by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemenditisaintek) in 2025. The UHW Perbanas faculty team members involved include: Ellen Theresia Sihotang, S.E., M.M.; Dr. Putri Wulanditya, S.E., M.Ak., CPSAK; and Haekal Ridho Afandi, S.ST., M.Sn. The series of activities began with a variety of training programs, such as Digital Education, Digital Marketing, Packaging Innovation, EFA Application Training, Visual Design for Menu Cards, and the provision of cooking equipment.
The owner of Dian Catering, Dian Rachmawati, admitted that the materials provided were entirely new to her. She also noted that digital marketing activities can now be applied to her business to increase visibility through social media content. “We received so many new ideas for our business. Moving forward, we hope that more training sessions will be held so that our catering enterprise can further grow and develop,” she expressed. (eko/pr)
