Taking Stock of Inventory Software

New technology helps operators cut costs and save time by better tracking supplies

By Shari Goldhagen, Special to R&I -- Restaurants & Institutions, 1/1/2003

Ordering food used to take William Menard hours. The executive chef and general manager of Evangeline Steakhouse & Seafood in Lafayette, La., would maneuver through his kitchen and walk-in coolers flipping through 12 pages of stained spreadsheets.

“It was an awful waste of time and not very cost-effective,” says Menard, whose restaurant turns about 250 covers a weeknight, double that on weekends. “But since we installed our new inventory program, the whole process takes less than 20 minutes, and we save money.”

Like other operators trying the newest advances in inventory software, Menard has done away with spreadsheets in favor of a handheld digital assistant, which offers instant calculations for purchasing control. He also uses a desktop computer program that provides accurate and immediate purchasing reports, allowing him to make informed decisions on where to buy. Using an integrated recipe-calculating feature, an operator even can view the bottom line in economies of scale.

Another feature some programs offer is calculation of stock from multiple locations, something that has been a huge help to Gerry O’Leary at Hillcrest Country Club in Boise, Idaho.

With several kitchens, numerous cooks and five private-party rooms, O’Leary, the club’s executive chef, realized he was losing money by continually ordering food already in stock. The software allows him to calculate total available inventory from all facilities at the club. If an ingredient isn’t in the main dining room’s kitchen, he’ll know if he can find it at one of the smaller stations.

“When I came here they were having trouble breaking 42% food cost,” O’Leary says. “But since I’ve implemented the new software, I’ve dropped it nine percentage points and managed to keep it at that level every month we’ve used the program.”

Hillcrest also does significant business catering private parties for its members, and O’Leary says the software has proven extremely valuable on that front as well.

“It’s really easy to lose money if you give a client a price, and your food ends up costing more since you can’t pass that expense on to the client once you’ve given a quote,” he says. “With this software, you know exactly what your food costs are for the number of people you’ll be serving. You can give a client an accurate price.”

BACK TO SCHOOL
Recognizing the importance of the technology, The Art Institute of New York now teaches inventory software programs to its 1,200 culinary students, according to Academic Department Director Kenneth Goldberg. “We want to make sure our students leave here with the skills they’ll need, and that includes using this technology,” he says.

While teaching the programs, the school implemented the software for its own inventory control. “It’s really useful because we’re consistent with the students we have,” Goldberg says. “We’ve gotten rid of our paper-based system and use the program to generate a cost-effective shopping list for the school.”

Still, the savings don’t come cheap. Prices for more-advanced software programs can run into the thousands of dollars, and Menard admits he was a little shocked at first.

“Now it’s all profit,” says Menard, who has been using the software for six months. “With what we’ve saved by using the technology, the program paid for itself in its first month.”

Shari Goldhagen is a New York City-based freelance writer.