"Food and Beverage Cost Control in the Palm of your Hand!" was written by SCI's CEO Bill Schwartz and featured in The Boardroom Magazine. Mobile technology has become a way of life and the trend actually bodes well for any operation trying to manage and control their food and beverage costs. Introducing handheld technology for data collection in an organization can actually encourage proper execution of tasks such as inventory, receiving and transfers and make the work enjoyable at the same time. Clients are using technology to turn a control weakness into a strength.Read more...
Development News
To further support single site, multi-Profit Center configurations where the Profit Centers are separate facilities (stand-alone units); our Development team has introduced Profit Center isolation in version 5.1 which was released in March. A Profit Center's activity may now be "isolated" to prevent the system from calculating the implied movement of goods between Profit Centers. Setting a Profit Center as isolated is treated by the system as building a wall around it, where only through purchases or transfers can goods move between Profit Centers. Read more...
FOOD-TRAK Boot Camp is heading to tropical Ft. Lauderdale, Florida this summer! Join us June 20 - 23 for this exciting 4-day course focused on how to become a proficient FOOD-TRAK user and drive cost savings to your organization's bottom line. This comprehensive course covers everything from recipe building to variance tracking and report analysis. Read more...
Tech Corner
The Inventory Template Manager function offers a convenient way to create and maintain inventory templates allowing you to set up different templates in any item sequence (shelf order) for any type of inventory you would like to take. To use this function, browse Data Entry, click on Inventories and then click Inventory Template Manager. Read more...
CEO Article Spotlight
F&B Cost Control in the Palm of Your Hand?
Cell phones, iPods and other hand-held devices have become a way of life. This was not the case five years ago, but today most people won't leave home without their cell phones or portable music devices. They are a comfortable and increasingly necessary part of everyday life, and have reached nearly universal acceptance. Actually, acceptance is too weak a term. People now demand access to them and use them all day, every day.
This trend actually bodes well for clubs trying to manage and control their food and beverage costs. Desire for handheld technology and willingness to use it can result in significant improvements in F&B control, simply as a result of providing a tool people actually enjoy using. According to David Martin, General Manager and COO at the Summit Golf and Country Club near Toronto, Canada, “The leap to handheld technology seemed to be a big decision for our Club, but the staff members using it asked me what took us so long the day after I put the technology in place. It got to the point where they were fighting over our one handheld unit and coming in at ridiculous hours to get the unit before the other department got it. We knew were going to need a second unit for receiving and backup, but I ended up buying it sooner than I thought!"
Consider two key F&B control tasks traditionally handled manually:
1) Physical Inventory: Forms are prepared using spreadsheets and the printed forms are taken into the various storage areas as counting commences. Items are identified on the shelf, located on the form and counted - preferably in the unit on the form. Items not on the form are written in and counted in some unit. Once all the inventory forms are completed, they are typed into the spreadsheet of inventory system. Inventory extension reports are then printed which typically reflect errors in counting or in units, and must be corrected prior to finalization. Finally, new items are added to blank forms in preparation for the next inventory.
2) Receiving: A critical control point, since every dollar of food and beverage cost comes through this function. Most operations lose 2-3% of sales as a result of poor performance here. Assuming they exist, purchase orders are typically provided for check-in purposes. Goods must be counted to see if the correct amount was received based on the purchase order, and then compared to the invoice to see if it reflects the same amount. The price is typically also compared. Invoices must be distributed to various general ledger accounts. Finally, someone in the accounting department needs to enter the invoice manually into the accounts payable system for payment.
Consider the same two tasks with mobile devices:
1) Physical Inventory: The inventory data is automatically downloaded from the inventory system to the hand held. Staff has the option of simply scanning things as they see them, calling up items by name, or stepping through a previously sequenced list – or all of these at the same time. They can enter inventory quantities in more than one unit – for example 3 cases and 4 cans – as opposed to calculating the number of cans or cases if allowed to use only one unit. It takes less than half as long as the manual method used to take for most operations and comes with a couple other bonuses. The numbers are more accurate because the person counting is the person entering the data.
“The barcode scanning feature improves the speed and accuracy of our inventories and aids in the timely preparation of financial statements,” says Andrew Wilson, Purchasing Director for Cherokee Town & Country Club in Atlanta. “If you can operate a cell phone, then you and your staff should encounter few issues in using this technology. Initially we purchased 2 units, and we now own 6."
2) Receiving: Purchase orders are downloaded to the hand held devices. When the goods arrive, receivers simply call up the PO on the device and begin scanning (or looking up the item on the PO if no bar code exists) and counting. The devices can keep track of any changes that are made as well as any items that may have been missed. Items can be counted in any convenient unit, and automatically added together if multiple boxes of the same item exist, eliminating the need for calculators.
Once the goods are received, the device can print a reconciliation report identifying differences between the goods actually received, the PO and the invoice. This reconciliation report can be used to judge receiver performance, as well as instantly identify problems with orders. The PO is then used to automatically create an invoice. A transaction file is prepared with all that day's invoices and imported directly into the accounting system for payment. No muss - no fuss - and huge labor savings. But the best part is the receiver is forced to go through the orders and do their job properly. And the even better part is they may actually enjoy doing it, now that all the manual parts have been eliminated.
Making a job more fun helps get it done!
Some club managers have discovered that introducing handhelds for the F&B inventory, receiving and transfer processes actually encourages proper execution of these tasks, and makes the work enjoyable at the same time. They use technology to turn a control weakness into a strength. "Using the handhelds has made some of the normal disciplines such as inventory and receiving far more accurate and thorough than they had been with the manual approaches,” indicates David Voorhees, CCM, General Manager of Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, California. “The scanners helped reinforce and enhance these critical disciplines, saving valuable time in the process."
Thanks to cell phones and iPods, the introduction of hand-held scanners in the workplace is now seen as natural and enjoyable. In many clubs, these scanners have become indispensible. “Inventory has never been as accurate or as timely,” says Summit’s Martin. “I save many hours previously required to reconcile inventory, and the payroll cost associated with the time required for taking inventory is substantially lower. On top of that, I now have staff that is happy doing something which has been arduous to them for years."
Let the Fun Begin!
The examples in this article are only two ways these devices can be used. In some cases, they can also be used for ordering, requisitioning, transfers, waste tracking and many other data-entry tasks previously performed on terminals. Keep in mind they do not operate as stand-alone products. It is not possible to simply buy a hand-held scanner and start taking advantage.
The devices are part and parcel of food and beverage inventory systems. Most of the software resides on the server, while only the data collection tools reside on the hand-held devices. Each software manufacturer offers different capabilities with these devices, and some don't offer them at all. Be sure to evaluate the hand-held options as you consider F&B inventory systems, because you just might find the handhelds are the most important component of your entire F&B control system. After all, if data entry is accurate and fast, and the folks doing the work enjoy using the tool, F&B control can truly be within reach!
To further support single site, multi-Profit Center configurations where the Profit Centers are separate facilities (stand-alone units); our Development team has introduced Profit Center isolation in version 5.1 which was released in March. A Profit Center's activity may now be "isolated" to prevent the system from calculating the implied movement of goods between Profit Centers. Setting a Profit Center as isolated is treated by the system as building a wall around it, where only through purchases or transfers can goods move between Profit Centers.
FOOD-TRAK Boot Camp is heading to tropical Ft. Lauderdale, Florida this summer! Join us June 20 - 23 for this exciting 4-day course focused on how to become a proficient FOOD-TRAK user and drive cost savings to your organization's bottom line. This comprehensive course covers everything from recipe building to variance tracking and report analysis. Sign up here!
The Inventory Template Manager function offers a convenient way to create and maintain inventory templates allowing you to set up different templates in any item sequence (shelf order) for any type of inventory you would like to take. To use this function, browse Data Entry, click on Inventories and then click Inventory Template Manager.
Introducing a new training approach for FOOD-TRAK users. As you may know, training on specific aspects of the system are offered through the FOOD-TRAK University program. There are currently 29 web-based training courses led by a live instructor that range from 1-2 hours. Our new FOOD-TRAK University course program will offer one featured course monthly at a number of set times. Each paid attendee will receive a training guide for the course along with access information for the web seminar.
The first featured course will be ACCT 201: Taking Manual Inventory. This course covers printing physical inventory form templates, entering inventory counts, editing an existing inventory, printing an inventory extension report, linking inventory forms, etc. Students encouraged to attend this course are warehouse/inventory staff, outlet staff and anyone in accounting. Taking Manual Inventory is a 90-minute course that can be purchased for $150. See below for the available dates and times:
Our client support center website is available 24/7 and offers the ability to get questions answered, submit cases, communicate with other users and even submit suggestions for system improvement just to name a few. For many clients, the support center will help resolve issues without needing to contact the support department by phone.
The center is available directly from the technical support page on the client side of the FOOD-TRAK website or with the release of 5.0 clients also have access to the Support Portal directly from the Main Menu. Hosted clients can simply login to FOOD-TRAK and click the Support Portal icon to be directed to the Client Support Center. Please feel free to view the video below for a quick overview of its features.
Turn your 2017 business goals into tangible results by joining us this Spring for Boot Camp! This 4-day instructor led training seminar provides attendees with an interactive and engaging classroom experience, including lectures, demonstrations, hands-on workshops and valuable interaction with other users. We are still finalizing Boot Camp dates and locations for the remainder of the year, so if you’re interested in hosting the seminar let us know! Fill out the form below to submit your own location for one of our 2017 on the road dates.
Boot Camp on the Road - Florida
