October 2005

Thrifty shifts into a smoother gear with EatecNetX

By Allison Hearn

Quality and freshness are the hallmarks of successful readymade meal operators, and for Thrifty Foods, which prides itself on consistently providing the freshest food at the highest possible quality and variety, those hallmarks aren’t only a goal, they are a guarantee. Thrifty Foods operates “Thrifty Kitchens”, a commissary production center that supplies fresh foods, readymade home replacement products and packaged products for distribution through in-store deli, meat and bakery departments. Utilizing a central facility, Thrifty Kitchens maintains consistency in product quality, safety, and handling across all Thrifty Foods stores. 

     In 2003, Thrifty implemented a technology solution that further ensured the company’s ongoing purpose: Eatec Corp.’s EatecNetX, an enterprise foodservice management solution. With this solution in place, Thrifty has integrated its sales and inventory systems, which has reduced errors, increased production, and enhanced overall day-to-day operations.

Tuning Up

     In order to maintain the high standards that Thrifty has set for itself, it’s important that the operation runs like a well-oiled machine. But the company’s complicated previous inventory and sales system clogged the gears and frustrated Thrifty Kitchen’s staff.  According to Dale Jones, project analyst for Thrifty, “We were using four different software solutions for ordering, production, and sales, and information had to be entered multiple times to make them all work together. Errors were being made, and that was causing shrink and production delays.”

     With the goals of unifying ordering, production and sales, streamlining administrative tasks, maintaining a perpetual inventory, and tracking shrink, Thrifty issued a request for proposal from vendors and even considered modifying the current software. At the end of the process, Eatec won the contract. Says Jones, “Eatec provided us with the best functional fit to our operation.”

     Thrifty and Eatec began implementation of EatecNetX in the commissary and 20 stores in December 2003. It took several months to build the inventory and recipe databases and establish best practices, in order for the system to go live in June.

     Now each of the stores inputs its commissary order on-line, real-time. EatecNetX consolidates the order quantities and generates the appropriate production, packaging and labeling information, and manages the transfer of the products to the stores.

Better than ever

     Since it’s installation, Eatec has made great strides in helping Thrifty achieve its goals. Says Jones, “EatecNetX has helped us manage our shrink and has given us the confidence to rely on the production reports that Eatec produces from the stores’ orders.” He adds, “Production staff are able to spend less time checking the accuracy of the information.” The reduction in shrink has been attributed to accurate production and using the “just-in-time” inventory approach, which has reduced Thrifty’s inventory turnover from 25 to 10 days.

     Sales, purchases, shrink and production reports, and confirmations of ingredient tracking have also been greatly improved. “Now, the reports are at our finger tips,” attests Jones. “When we need information for negotiating with a supplier, records are easily accessible.”

Additionally, Jones reports improvements such as:

• A reduction in order entry errors to very few or none. These errors at times created considerable production problems and shrink, causing production staff to over-produce.
• More accurate recipe reporting enabling more precise production.
• Increased access to valuable information. Recall reporting is now available in minutes instead of hours and is more reliable.
• Visibility into waste. Shrink posting quantifies the waste in each production area allowing the work done in each module to be measured on a daily basis.
• Real time inventory management. Visibility into inventory is possible with accurate posting of transfers and production. This will enable precise purchasing along with tracking item usage to tell where, what, and by whom product was used.
• Increased sales report options. Sales reports can be run for any period of time and range of products or product types by profit or sales. Top 20, 50, or 100 item reports are also available.
• Increased purchasing report options. Purchasing reports can be grouped by date, supplier, inventory types (i.e. spice, cooler), and by price variation. The program is also capable of giving suggested orders based on usage and par levels.
• Reports for production planning, assembly, packing, and labeling.

     “Eatec has far exceeded Thrifty Kitchens’ expectations in cost savings,” praises Jones. “It has also made the work environment at Thrifty Kitchens less stressful.” He adds that the administrative hours used in managing the office are down by 44 hours per week on average and sales per hour are up by 4.6 percent.

     And Thrifty also has high hopes for continued success with EatecNetX. With the purchasing of a license for each store, in-store Deli & HMR departments will be able to better manage shrink and inventory. Per store Purchase, sales, and shrink information will be compiled in a single enterprise database, for instant profit analysis and comparison. Stores will also be able to utilize POS sales history to create forecasts from which commissary orders will be automatically generated. “As order history builds, EatecNetX will be more and more valuable,” concludes Jones.

Back to Media Coverage

Archived Media Coverage
1998 - 2004

To receive more information on our products please email us at sales@eatec.com
or call 510-594-9011 ext #2 to speak with a representative in your area.