While running even one restaurant location requires skill and the utmost in organization, operating a chain restaurant requires complex procedure and coordination for smooth operations.Here are just a few ways an inventory management solution could help streamline operations in your chain restaurant.
Streamline Delivery Costs
With growing costs of labour, many parts of restaurant budgets are being affected – including supply delivery fees. For a chain restaurant, these costs can add up quickly. Having a well-organized inventory management and ordering system will help you streamline your delivery schedule for maximum efficiency, saving you money. The less deliveries you need to order, the less you will get charged, so try your best to order items strategically and take advantage of bulk orders when possible.
Bulk Orders
Bulk ordering can make a huge impact for chain restaurants. Whether it’s a large-scale or small-scale chain restaurant, bulk ordering can save you a lot of money on ingredients. An inventory management solution will allow you to plan your inventory chain-wide over longer periods of time, which will allow you to take advantage of bulk orders. Work with your vendors to see if they would be willing to package organize bulk orders separately per location to drop-off pre-portioned ingredients to each location. This can be a huge cost saver, as well as time saver for your staff!
Consistency of Product
As a chain restaurant, you want to make sure your product is the same at each location. Someone visiting your downtown location for dinner expects the same great taste and quality they would receive at your other location on the west side. To ensure consistency of the product, ordering all of your ingredients from the same vendor can be key. To do this, planning and proper inventory management are required. If you suddenly run out of ingredients at one location and have to source alternatives at the last minute, this could come at the risk of altering your dishes at one location.
Consolidated Information
Implementing a digital inventory management solution with cloud storage capability is a way for chain restaurants to manage all of their inventory in one place. This can make a huge difference for the regional managers overseeing the operations of multiple locations and can help allow you to streamline your inventory system chain-wide. With one shared system, it is easy to coordinate deliveries and even share ingredients if certain dishes seem to be more popular at certain locations, etc.
Optimum Control – OC Enterprise is a powerful tool for chain restaurants, big and small. Optimum Control has applications for recipe and liquor costing, inventory control, purchasing and ordering, and more. Learn more about this all-in-one hospitality solution today!