September 2002

Eatec Corporation and Cattlemens Inc. - EatecNetX helps Cattlemens effectively track inventory, achieve food cost savings, and operate more efficiently.

Eatec Corporation's EatecNetX solution helps streamline operations at the Cattlemens chain of California steakhouses while beefing up the company's bottom line. Cattlemens utilizes EatecNetX for inventory management, purchasing and receiving, sales and profit analysis, and recipe and production management.

The Cattlemens restaurant chain takes its commitment to quality very seriously. Their motto, "The Best Steak in the West," is manifested in everything from the food they serve to the way in which they serve it. Exclusively serving Harris Ranch natural beef, each Cattlemens location ages their meat on the premises to ensure that each steak is as tender as possible and free of chemical agents. Professional meat cutters at each restaurant hand cut each steak. Portions are generous, the service is friendly, and the atmosphere relaxed.

So it's no surprise that the company's emphasis on quality extends to the technologies it uses to keep operations humming. When it was time to upgrade their foodservice management software to a true enterprise solution, they chose Eatec Corporation's EatecNetX, a web-centric enterprise back-office software solution targeted to multi-site and multi-outlet environments in the hospitality and foodservice industries.

A Strong Partnership
The Eatec-Cattlemens association actually began 11 years ago, when Cattlemens deployed an earlier Eatec product. Today, Eatec continues to be a trusted partner. "We looked at other packages," says Sharron Henry, Technology Systems Manager at Cattlemens, "but with our strong relationship with Eatec, and the ability to easily convert our data to the new system, it made sense for us to upgrade to EatecNetX. This product is very complete and feature-rich-it does everything we need it to do."

One of the selling points of the EatecNetX solution was its Microsoft SQL Server foundation. "The Microsoft platform is industry standard, and it was particularly important to us that the EatecNetX solution used the Microsoft engine," says Peter Mrozik, a consultant with Chouinard & Myhre Inc. who provides IT services to Cattlemens. "From an IT perspective, it is easier to understand, maintain, and get support for industry standard products. Using Microsoft products also facilitates the integration of other enterprise systems."

The EatecNetX solution, which interfaces with Cattlemens' point-of-sale and financial systems, tracks the company's entire foodservice operation. A single, centralized database located at the company's headquarters in Santa Rosa, California, is accessible by all of the chain's ten restaurants via the company's intranet. Restaurant managers and bookkeepers use the system to track inventory and run reports, and Henry administers the database.

EatecNetX is easier to maintain," notes Henry. "I don't have to maintain ten separate databases anymore, and now all locations have access to real-time data. In the past, I had to dial in to each location to input the same information about new items. If a PC wasn't on, I'd have to wait for someone to turn it on and then dial into it, and sometimes this took days. Now I can update the entire system from wherever I am. Sometimes I wonder, how did I do this before?"

Tracking the Beef
The EatecNetX solution is particularly useful in tracking Cattlemens most important inventory item, meat. Eatec created custom reports for Cattlemens to use in determining the company's meat purchasing needs. With EatecNetX, Cattlemens can now track inventory as it is received, transferred between locations, and depleted in production, sales, spoilage and loss. EatecNetX also provides reports regarding the theoretical usage versus actual usage of inventory so that variances and waste can be identified, tracked and corrected, resulting in food cost savings.
Each of Cattlemens' butcheries is able to track meat items and associated costs from the time the merchandise arrives until it is served to guests. Bulk butchery items (for example, beef short loins) are entered into the database as they are delivered, and production recipes are used as part of the butchery process to change bulk items into "finished goods" like steaks, cubes, and other items that are sold to guests. When the butchery process is complete, the bulk item inventory decreases while the finished good inventory increases. The finished goods inventory is depleted as items are sold. The ever-fluctuating inventories are tracked every step of the way. Purchase orders, invoices, and vendor performance are also managed using the system.

EatecNetX also helps Cattlemens allocate margin costs, which ensures that each finished good is charged at the appropriate market cost. Higher quality items, such as steak, carry a greater percentage of the per pound cost than do items like ground beef or beef cubes. This lets Cattlemens associate different per pound costs with the different cuts of meat from the same bulk item.

Training, Maintenance, and Support
Before installing EatecNetX, Cattlemens and Eatec worked together to create a detailed project plan. Eatec then installed, deployed, and rolled out EatecNetX. The integration began in February 2001, and the roll-out was complete by April 2001. Throughout the process, Eatec conducted onsite training, and now continues to provide Cattlemens with maintenance, consulting, and support.

Because the new system is a true enterprise system, internal training takes less time now. "Training restaurant managers and bookkeepers on using our system is much easier now," says Henry. When issues come up, Henry and the restaurant manager can resolve them over the phone, as Henry can immediately see what the manager is looking at and provide step-by-step instructions. "We are able to identify and troubleshoot any problems early on," she adds.

A True Enterprise System
"We decided to move toward enterprise solutions because it allows us to grow the business in a structured way," says Mrozik. "It's much better than trying to work with disparate systems, and we're very pleased with the EatecNetX solution. We expect to continue to use it, and to expand our use of its available features."

Now with a reliable, integrated enterprise solution in place, Cattlemens can focus on what it does best: providing quality dining experiences for its guests.

For more information:

About Microsoft Call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (800) 563-9048. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft office. For more information about Microsoft-based hospitality solutions, visit the Microsoft hospitality home page on the World Wide Web, at http://www.microsoft.com/hospitality.

About Eatec Corporation
Eatec Corporation
1350 Ocean Avenue
Emeryville, CA 94608
Phone: 510-594-9011
Fax: 510-594-9091
E-mail: sales@eatec.com
Web site: www.eatec.com

Eatec Corporation is a leading provider of enterprise back-office solutions for the hospitality and foodservice industries. EatecNetX, Eatec's web-centric software solution, helps organizations reduce costs and improve operational efficiencies, resulting in a quick return on investment. Eatec clients include Applebee's International, Wolfgang Puck Restaurants, Ark Las Vegas Restaurant Group, Orange Lake Resort, Westin-Diplomat Resort, Universal Studios Theme Parks, Loews Hotels, and Madison Square Garden.

Microsoft Software Used
Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5
Microsoft ODBC
Microsoft Office 2000 \
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition
Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation

Eatec Products and Services
EatecNetX 1.9.6

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