One of the most transformative changes in the history of the restaurant industry was the invention of the POS System. Replacing the siloed cash register and giving brands real-time access to sales data did more to drive multi-unit operation expansion than any other technology. Prior to wide adoption of POS systems restaurants had only changed by a fraction since the time Jesus ate in restaurants.
The next big transformation in the restaurant industry is going to be operations management systems, like OpsAnalitica, and how the data they generate can be used to run more efficient restaurant operations with less employees.
There has been a ton of buzz around all these other types of apps or management systems: mobile ordering, delivery, inventory, and LMS’ etc.. That is because they have huge marketing and sales budgets. These systems generate efficiencies for their users and can reduce waste and time. That is what we are all battling for, to do more with less.
I don’t think anyone would say that Crunchtime with their inventory management is truly transformative. That mobile ordering is transformative, its just another form of call in ordering. I’m not saying that those technologies don’t deliver value, they do, I’m saying that they aren’t transformative, changing how you operate your entire business and the financials associated.
Ops Mgt Systems, you know them as Digital Checklist systems like OpsAnalitica, can be truly transformative to the restaurant industry. Because they, like POS Systems, provide you with real-time visibility, employee accountability, and the ability to change behavior.
I know that most of you think of these systems as just a way to replace your ineffective paper checklists with a digital version. I will admit that we have been guilty of perpetuating this stereotype as well with our marketing. We flat out compare ourselves to paper and the Red Book. If I’m honest, we shouted from the rooftops for years how OpsAnalitica could transform your businesses and that messaging fell on def ears. The restaurant industry just isn’t there yet but you will be. Data is like a drug, very addictive and once you get a taste you will want more.
All software should be implemented in a crawl, walk, run approach to ensure that it gets used and generates a ROI. If we think about OpsAnalitica in that way, your crawl period is getting off your ineffective paper checklists and getting digital checklists deployed at your restaurants. This is actually surprisingly easy with OpsAnalitica and wow’s most of our customers who are used to ineffective partners and botched roll-outs.
If you never go beyond replacing your paper checklists with digital checklists then you will be happy but in all honesty you won’t see a transformation. The transformation comes from leveraging the technology across your organization, reassessing how you operate, challenging the status quo and norms of your business, then leveraging the technology to drive increased efficiency and change.
At their root, platforms like OpsAnalitica drive behavior and facilitate human data collection. Collecting data from human process and controlling behavior across multiple locations before OpsAnalitica was nearly impossible. In that respect OpsAnalitica structures human process and provides data just like your POS does.
To truly transform the industry, companies need to move beyond just doing the normal checklists that they did on paper and managing the same way they always have but without paper. Push beyond what they know and leverage the technology to run their restaurants differently.
Here are some walk and run ideas:
- Create a ROC (Restaurant Operations Center) that is managing OpsAnalitica for all restaurants simultaneously following up on critical notifications and late checklists. Having a few dedicated people driving system wide compliance and follow-up in real-time could ensure operations compliance across the chain.
- Great Area Managers are hard to find. It is such a complex skill set and with patch size and time in restaurant, it is nearly impossible to be effective. Instead of paying a premium to find these Jack of all Trades multi-unit operations professionals. Wouldn’t it be easier to find cheaper specialized field team members that focus on very specific job functions: local store marketing, training, ops mgt, hiring, etc.. Leveraging a platform like OpsAnalitica to provide better visibility and accountability than an area manager ever could.
- Training and On-boarding: our training and on-boarding systems are antiquated and based on employee memorization. This is the best job market in 50 years and restaurant turnover percentage is at 100%. The average tenure of an employee is around 50 days, you can’t afford to pay people to memorize how to do stuff. You need to get every set-up and breakdown checklist into OpsAnalitica and have your people follow the checklist vs. memorize how to do stuff. The great thing about using the checklists vs. memorization is that procedure changes are much easier because you simply change the checklist. Gone are the days of having to update the ops manual, print all new materials, do a road show and train all employees at an all hands meeting.
- Manage data collection from the field for all your other needs, from shift logs, maintenance requests, health inspection scores, food recalls, training tests, etc.
- These are just some of the use cases that could transform your business, the people who are best at figuring these use cases are you. You guys know what you need done, what you are being tasked to do and everyday we are suprised at how our clients are using the platform to make their jobs easier.
To truly transform your business, you can’t bend the technology to meet your current needs. You need to understand how the technology works, then look for opportunities to expand the software within your organization and use it to change how you operate. This is the number one reason why OpsAnalitica has the potential to be truly transformative, because it is so easily adapted and customized to meet the needs of our clients.
We are a human data collection and task management platform. An inventory platform is just an inventory platform and online ordering is just online ordering.
You will always need to collect data from your locations, you will always have some amount of humans working there for the foreseeable future. You need a system that can drive their behavior, collect data, provide visibility, and accountability in real-time.
I urge you to get off your paper checklists and start using OpsAnalitica. Get comfortable with the software, and then start looking for ways to change how you operate. To not continue to operate like we did in 1980, or 1880 for that matter, but to embrace what real-time visibility can do for your business. If you want to talk about your ideas, then go to OpsAnalitica.com and chat us. I would love to discuss your vision with you and how OpsAnalitica could help you fulfill those dreams.