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Alicart Concepts Streamlines Operations and Cuts 3% in Costs

Pain

After 15 years of growth with stand-alone systems, Alicart struggled with a large back office team to input and verify the data produced by various technologies. Moreover, it was difficult and time-consuming to generate accurate reports that could guide operations.

Outcome

Since implementing a restaurant-specific system that integrates with hundreds of suppliers, Alicart leveraged labor alerts, structured recipes, and an accurate, up-to-day profit-and-loss statement to analyze any challenges and reap a consistent 2 to 3% cost savings.

Alicart

Challenge

Opening their original location, Carmine’s in New York City in 1990, spreadsheets and simple software were enough to run the successful family-style restaurant. But as the years passed and they started to open more locations and new concepts, they knew it was time to invest in better systems. “After 15 years of successful growth, we had an army of people in both the restaurant and in the corporate office processing the same information at all different levels because the systems we were using were stand-alone products that did not integrate well with each other,” stated Jeffrey Bank, the CEO of Alicart Restaurant Group. “We knew it was time to invest in a robust, restaurant specific software.”

Alicart hired Drew Kuruc in the position of CFO to take reign of the company’s financials. He was also tasked to help find the perfect comprehensive software to consolidate their many disparate systems.“I began researching different software options to increase the speed and efficiency of Alicart’s operations,” said Drew Kuruc, CFO of Alicart. “We wanted something that was very powerful, yet also easy to use. After all, the data is being used daily by restaurant professionals who want to get to specific reports without wading through details that they don’t need at that time. I came across Compeat which was created by restaurant veterans to solve real restaurant issues and found many glowing references right here in our city.”

Alicart is able to keep operations running smoothly with the adoption of Compeat’s (now R365) fully integrated technology. “We feel confident now that we are all looking at the same information,” says Bank. “We have the detailed reporting with strong metrics needed for the corporate office that is presented in an easy-to-use format so that everyone at the store level can find quick snapshots of just the information that they need at any given time.”

Solution

Alicart has been using Compeat (now R365) products since 2011 and it has changed the way the company operates. They are using Accounting, Inventory, Labor, and Schedule and were thrilled to recently gained access to Compeat Radar with over 200+ POS Centric reports, alerts and dashboards all available on via desktop or in the On the Fly mobile app. Having real-time data available at their fingertips has transformed the back office from “processors” to “analysts”, allowing everyone to serve a more value-added role in the company’s overall success.

“After 35 years in the restaurant business, I can genuinely tell you, our industry has changed. Running a restaurant used to be solely about great food and hospitality,” states Bank. “Now, the competition is so fierce, margins are so thin, and federal, state, and local labor laws are constantly changing. It’s just not logical to run a business without a restaurant management software as strong as Compeat.”

Results

Since implementing Compeat software (now R365), Alicart has seen a consistent 2-3% cost savings, dependent on the individual concept. “The more you commit to the software, the more benefits you reap,” says Kuruc. “Once you have it all set up and running properly, it becomes ingrained into your processes. Everyone is consistently adhering to recipes and portioning so if there is shrinkage or shortages, we know where and why. We also receive labor alerts before any issues arise. We are confident in our data and there are no surprises in our P&L at the end of the month.” Both Bank and Kuruc are looking forward to implementing Compeat Onboarding next so that they can automate the hiring process and get to their goal of going completely paperless. Payroll is also on their implementation list to bring payroll in-house and cut their own employee checks.