Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s famous lines “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways” are not likely to come out of the mouths of foodservice executives trying to convey their feelings about technology. However, comments by some suggest they might be willing to substitute “appreciate” for the “L word” when addressing Web-based back-office software or related hybrids that use small, specialized desktop programs known as “smart clients.”
Among other traits, Fresh Concepts Inc. chief executive officer Larry J. Reinstein values the vendor-pricing accuracy ensured by the back-office software from CrunchTime! Information Systems Inc. of Boston, he says.
Reinstein credits CrunchTime’s centralized applications and databases, accessed using Web browsers, for “making life simple” by all but eliminating back-office software maintenance and configuration issues for managers in the nine Fresh City and five Souper Salad buffet restaurants owned by his Needham Heights, Mass.-based company.
David Lehn, vice president of information technology for the Noodles & Company chain of Broomfield, Colo., appreciates the “far greater control around food variances” afforded by the Web-based eRestaurant food-management module from Altametrics Inc. of Los Alamitos, Calif. That software is used at all of the 150 company-operated Noodles & Company fast-casual restaurants and at 25 of 36 franchised sites, he indicated.
Officials of Concord Hospitality Inc. of Lincoln, Neb., said they are sold on numerous aspects of their back-office software from Decision Logic, also of Lincoln. Concord operates more than 50 franchised Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, Village Inn and Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que restaurants in nine states. Its vice president and chief financial officer, John Gabel, said that among other benefits, Decision Logic forces unit managers to enter critical job candidate and personnel data and guarantees that “the employee information they have in their restaurant is the same information we have” at headquarters.
The Web-based invoice management support provided by I.Q. Back-Office LLC of Encino, Calif., to Grill Concepts Inc. of Woodland Hills, Calif., has reduced product costs and enabled the full-service restaurant operator to eliminate accounts-payable positions at headquarters and reduce book-keeper hours in restaurants. That result was reported by Philip Gay, chief executive of the publicly traded company, which owns, manages and licenses five Grill on the Alley fine-dining venues and 25 Daily Grill units.
Church’s Chicken of Atlanta uses Web-based OnDemand purchasing and invoice management software from ArrowStream of Chicago at all 260 company-operated quick-service restaurants, said chief information officer Alan Stukalsky. He said OnDemand has streamlined unit-level purchasing processes through electronic invoicing and automation of certain previously manual tasks, including data entry, resulting in improved order accuracy and delivery management, while cutting the time individual store managers spend on such functions between 1.5 hours and 3 hours weekly, depending on their unit volume and skill level.
Church’s, at company stores, also uses a Web-based profit-and-loss tool from its above-store reporting application service provider, Mirus Restaurant Solutions of Houston, Stukalsky said.
At Corpus Christi, Texas-based Hart Restaurant Management Inc., a 34-unit Burger King franchisee, RTIconnect software from Restaurant Technology Inc. of Atlanta has helped managers get a better handle on waste and reduce food costs by 2 percent to 2.5 percent, managing director Gary Hodge said.
Other chains are testing or using Web-centric back-office software. Among them are T.G.I. Friday’s of Carrollton, Texas, which is reviewing
Fresh Concepts was an early adopter of Web-based back-office tools and began using CrunchTime technology in 1999. The technology is integrated with the company’s point-of-sale system and accessed by restaurants by way of a DSL or cable broadband connection, officials said.
Reinstein said that among other functions his company uses the technology for ordering, receiving, waste tracking, production planning, labor management and scheduling, enterprise reporting, creating theoretical food and labor costs for comparison with actual costs, and monitoring vendor contract compliance.
“This lets us set up and enforce best [management] practices at our restaurants,” he said of CrunchTime’s system, which he added has produced a “significant” return on investment through food-cost savings and reduced IT department staffing.
Noodles & Company’s Lehn said his chain discontinued using a conventional desktop back-office program in favor of Altametric’s food-management module about two years ago, noting that Altametric’s Web-based architecture was a key selling point. He said that his group relies on the software for electronic ordering and receiving, inventory management, sales forecasting, and creation of prep schedule and product pull information sheets.
eRestaurant uses POS system sales and product mix data, as well as recipe details, historic and recent product usage trends, on-hand inventory, and pending delivery information to suggest order amounts and quickly compile actual food usage numbers to compare with theoretical costs for noting variances, Lehn said. He indicated that the time-saving automation permits store leaders to have a “laser focus” on managing key food items, such as proteins and costly sauces, and spend more time with guests and employees.
Stukalsky of Church’s Chicken said OnDemand’s integration with the electronic systems of the five distributors used by corporate stores saves money by streamlining the reconciliation process.
“We get discounts if we pay [suppliers] within a certain number of days,” he said. “In the past, managers held invoices too long, but we’re now able to manage that from here.”
Concord Hospitality’s Gabel said Decision Logic integrates with his company’s HotSchedules software, giving headquarters an unimpeded view of how unit managers are handling all aspects of labor and payroll.
“With new hires and rehires, we know instantly if a store tries to hire someone we let go [somewhere else],” he said, “and [the software] feeds information into the IRS verification system so we know if an individual is eligible to work for us within 48 hours.”
Gable said the electronic invoicing supported by Decision Logic makes it possible for unit managers to quickly adjust invoices to reflect spoiled or undelivered items. Automatically notified of such adjustments, the accounts-payable team can “short” the supplier’s payment accordingly, he said.
Grill Concepts’ CEO Gay said the amount saved on payroll using I.Q. BackOffice to help process invoices “is a wash to positive” compared to the cost of the service. The more important consideration is having the ability to cut product waste and costs through more consistent application of good invoicing and accounting practices, he said.
“Whomever you choose, be aware it’s really a relationship,” Gay said of the way operators should view back-office software and service providers. “If someone is entering into this just to save costs, they’re missing the big picture. The key thing is to focus on what you do well and outsource and get rid of the things that are not your core competencies.”