April 2002

Total Control - If knowledge is power, then distributed data delivered instantly is knowledge squared
By Rick Bruns, Editor

Other food-service companies with multiple locations are also seeing their investments in enterprise systems cut costs and improve performance. This is especially true as corporate managers learn to use special applications and create unique reports that get at the root of why one location under performs while another mints money. They also are now able to put their finger on what menu items cost, what customers want, and how to optimally manage the labor force for better service and profits.

Keeping a tight rein on purchasing is one of the most easily measured ways for cutting costs. At Spago in Las Vegas, for example, which is one of the elite eateries in the Wolfgang Puck organization, a server in the corporate headquarters is rustling up huge helpings of data for Brent Anderson, director of purchasing for the upscale restaurateur.

So far, six locations in the small chain have been equipped with internet-enabled PCs and software to communicate information on inventory levels and purchases from suppliers.

Each location uses Eatec's Purchase Order application and its e-client software to link to a SQL Server database of inventory items, prices and vendors, which is housed at the Las Vegas office. Interestingly, the database was originally built using Microsoft Excel and dumped as a batch file into the new system by Eatec (www.eatec.com), Anderson notes. Now, only certain authorized people can get access to add or change it.

Shopping lists
The software creates more accurate and consistent "shopping lists" from which managers generate better purchase orders. The efficiencies begin to grow, not only from automation but by simply holding vendors to prices agreed upon in the initial buying contract or in the current process order when the goods are delivered. Some report-creating capabilities are powered by Seagate's Crystal Reports application and others by Eatec's standard-issue reports. "We're saving at least one percent on purchases across the board," says Anderson, "which is pretty significant for a group of restaurants with $35 to $40 million a year in sales."

With transaction data integrated from the point-of-sale app, the EatecNetX system can also match customer purchases with food purchases and identify waste and losses that may be due to theft, Anderson adds. The enterprise software paid for itself in savings in a few months, he notes, even though the company is not yet using all its features.

This was excerpted from the April 2002 issue of Hospitality Technology and may differ in content or context from the originally published article. To see the full text visit www.htmagazine.com.

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