Labor Management. NOW Simple.

Some of TimeForge’s November and December updates included improvements to scheduling and enhanced multi-unit capabilities, as well as new training videos (available on the TimeForge Manual).

In addition, we have improved our Point of Sale connectivity and integration, with our POS vendors, including Dinerware, Aloha POS (from Radiant Systems), and Micros.

Some of the Dinerware improvements with TimeForge include:

• Use a fingerprint scanner with your Dinerware system to stop buddy punching and keep employees from riding the clock. To use a fingerprint scanner, you’ll need to clock all staff members in to Dinerware one time. You need to do this step, because Dinerware requires that employees be logged in for a variety of reasons, including meal coursing and printing.   After this initial clock in, all additional clock in and clock outs can be done on TimeForge, using a separate time punch terminal with a fingerprint scanner attached.

Use a Fingerprint Reader with Dinerware

• Forecast sales and inventory using Menu Item Groupings inside of Dinerware. While building a labor schedule, you may want to track gross sales, individual item sales, covers, labor hours, or other metrics.   Additionally, you can now build schedules and forecast sales by grouping menu items together.   For example, you may want to schedule staff members based on the hourly sales of porterhouse steaks, crab cakes, and apple turnovers.   Using TimeForge and Dinerware, you now can.

Forecast and Record Menu Items and Menu Item Groups

• You can view Dinerware sales information on your cell phone and view real-time sales and labor information at the same time. Any Menu Item or Menu Item Group that is being forecast or collected by TimeForge can be viewed on your cell phone using the secure TimeForge RSS feed.   Receive real-time labor and sales information on any compatible smartphone or PDA.   You can read more about this in the TimeForge Manual.

• In addition, TimeForge is now compatible with Dinerware version 2.9.1 – the latest offering from Dinerware. This latest version of the Dinerware POS offers a number of improvements for Dinerware and TimeForge customers.   Talk to your Dinerware representative about upgrading today!

You should be using a labor management system with your Dinerware POS system to make your life easy!   TimeForge can quickly and easily build your employee work schedules, manage attendance while enforcing the schedule (and stopping employees from clocking in early), reduce labor costs, and streamline staff management.   Sign up for a trial today to use TimeForge with your Dinerware POS system.

Related articles or pages

• National Restaurant Association 2009
• Building a Labor Schedule is Complicated. Use Tools to Keep Managers and Employees Happy.
• Age and Brand Analysis of POS Systems in Foodservice
• Western Food Expo is a wrap!
• TimeForge Newsletter , November Edition (Part 3)

Owners and operators in the retail and restaurant industries face a common problem with Point of Sale (POS) systems …. sophisticated POS systems can take some time to learn – and operators are too busy with day-to-day operations to learn the systems completely.

As David Scott Peters points out in a quick blog post over at FOHBOH (Front of House, Back of House), a deep understanding of your Point of Sale system is an absolute must.   David points out that in addition to being a cash register, POS systems can perform a number of additional tasks, such as locating ideal food costs, managing inventory, controlling labor costs, and much more.

However, one aspect that David did not touch upon is that there are often major capability differences between the various Point of Sale manufacturers.   Some systems do have built-in inventory, food costing, and labor management modules, but many others do not have these modules.

In many cases, it is preferable to identify and use a best-of-breed solution designed specifically for the task at hand.   For example, CostGuard continues to develop and maintain the best inventory managament system available for restaurants, bars, and clubs.   TimeForge labor management software is designed from the ground-up to make labor management and employee scheduling easy for restaurant and retail operators.

Related articles or pages

• Western Food Expo is a wrap!
• Off Topic: Inventory Managment for Restaurants
• Age and Brand Analysis of POS Systems in Foodservice
• Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo
• Restaurant, Bar, and Club Scheduling Options (Part 2 of 4)

The Nation Restaurant Association is forecasting a shortage in workers over the next several years, as the growth of the hospitality sector surpasses the available labor force. Instead of hiring new laborers, many growing operators will need to maximize their existing workforce , and supplementing trained workers with advanced technology solutions is a wise decision. Shorter training times, tighter staffing, faster service times, improved accuracy, and more consistent product quality are just a few of the benefits of blending technology and employees.

Restaurant Business, one of the nations leading restaurant and food-service publications, recently featured an article on the topic of “High Tech Takes on Big Labor“, focusing on many relevant technology advancements including:

• Pay-at-the-table technology (Faster table turnover which means more sales with fewer employees)
• Wireless order taking (Directly enter orders into the POS system, servers can focus on guest satisfaction)
• Web-based employee scheduling (Build schedules faster and notify employees of upcoming work, reduces overhead drastically)
• Online ordering (labor is not needed to field phone calls, enter orders, or pay customers)

A number of technology vendors were highlighted in the article, including TimeForge.com

Some of the scheduling related vendors mentioned in the article include:

• ASI’s Restaurant Manager Labor Scheduling Module that generates staffing rosters and then can be printed, posted to the website, emailed, or sent as text messages.

• CrunchTime!’s Labor and Workforce Management tool which is a web-based solution that interfaces with various POS and HR systems.

• HotSchedules web-based product which offers enhanced reports, rule-based auto-scheduling and POS integration.

• Deterministic’s Labor System is a web-based labor forecasting and management program.

• MacromatiX’s Scheduling and Labor Management product is a web-based QSR and fast-casual scheduling program which alerts managers when labor is “over” or “under”.

• MICROS Systems has a new mylabor product (part of the mymicros.net suite), offering a web-based labor management tool.

• TimeForge.com is a web-based scheduling system designed to keep management on the floor, and reduce turnover by keeping employees “in-the-loop”. The software builds a complete schedule in just a few seconds, and can be manually adjusted to meet specific needs of the business. Employees receive daily reminders about schedule changes, through the website, email, and text messages , and workers can trade shifts online, read messages from management, and request time off (or change their availability).

How long does it take to make your employee schedules? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor expenses through effective employee labor management at your business, bar, club, or restaurant.

Related articles or pages

• Workforce Labor Scheduling Updates (Part 1)
• TimeForge Workforce Scheduling is now listed in FindApps.com
• Reduce Turnover with Shift Scheduling Software
• Workforce Labor Scheduling Updates (Part 2)
• Western Food Expo is a wrap!

Entitled A Look Into the Leading Chains of the Casual, Fast Casual, Quick Serve, and Family Restaurant Segments, Chain Store Guide (CSGIS) recently published an whitepaper describing Point of Sale (POS) systems currently being used by various national restaurant chains.

There is some interesting information in the whitepaper, which is an examination of the data that Chain Store Guide has been collecting for years, and makes available in some of their products. The paper looks at the average age of POS hardware and POS software in use at the top five restaurants for several segments of the hospitality industry, including:

• Fast Casual (Panera Bread, Chipotle Mexican Grill, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Boston Market, Captain D’s, etc…)
• Casual (Applebee’s, Chili’s, Outback, Olive Garden, T.G.I Friday’s)
• Quick Serve (McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut)
• Family Restaurant (Denny’s, Cracker Barrel, Golden Corral, Bob Evans, Waffle House)

According to their data:

• The top 5 fast casual chains have Point of Sale hardware that is almost 7 years old, and Point of Sale software that is just over 5 years old (on average).
• The top 5 casual chains have Point of Sale hardware that is about 6 years old, and Point of Sale software that is right at 9 years old (on average).
• The top 5 quick service chains have Point of Sale hardware that is right at 4 years old, and Point of Sale software that is just over 3 years old (on average).
• The top 5 family chains have Point of Sale hardware that is just over 7 years old, and Point of Sale software that is more than 9 years old (on average).

You can read the full Chain Store Guide report here.

How long does it take you to make an employee work schedule? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor costs through effective employee labor management at your business, bar, club, grocery, convenience store, or restaurant.

Related articles or pages

• Off Topic: Inventory Managment for Restaurants
• Part Two: Recruiting and Retaining Gen Y Employees
• Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show is Wrapped Up…
• Accuvia , Labor Scheduling Systems
• Workforce Labor Scheduling Updates (Part 2)

One of the newsletters that we receive at TimeForge is the excellent (weekly) Restaurant Report Newsletter. Two weeks ago, this question was posed in the newsletter:

“Inventory Control Programs – What would you recommend as the best inventory control programs that is easy to read, follow and upkeep with information. As well we are looking into a new computer system and program for the front of the house….what would you recommend. We are in Canada and service and maintenance of course is very important.”

Several years ago, we did a study of food-service industry inventory programs, and looked at the adoption and usage of inventory procedures in the marketplace. During this study, we also spoke with many of the “obvious” players in the industry – so we sent the poster a response to her question, which was published in this week’s Restaurant Report:

The interesting thing about inventory systems is that….few people use them. We did a study about 2 years ago of all of the major players, and how many people used their products. Less than 20% of the market uses inventory control (with a computer). That being said, there are some amazing programs out there that will help reduce food costs and/or track inventory.

Some of the main vendors include:

Eatec, MenuLink (part of Radiant), and Compeat are all “high end” systems. Expect to spend between $10k and $40k for your store to get started with one of their packages. Really designed for very large chains. These guys own about 3 – 4% of the hospitality inventory market.

iPro is (was) a one-man show, and is the “bargain bin” version of inventory software. I would stay away from this product, even if it’s only $99. They own about 1% of the market (mostly eBay purchases).

ChefTec is “the” independent inventory product in the US, and is based out of Colorado. Getting support isn’t always easy, but they are very knowledgeable about their product. About 20 employees (as of 2 years ago), and their product starts around $1k. About 2-3% of the market (on the high end).

Cost Guard is an excellent product, which was recently upgraded and a lot of new documentation was written for the product. The owner lives in New York, and runs a tight ship…but there are only about 4 employees at last count. Probably have about 1.3% of the total market. Given the opportunity, I would recommend Cost Guard over ChefTec.

Optimum Control is a Canadian company, and as of 2 years ago, had about 6 or 8 employees. They claimed to have 3,000 installed restaurants, or about .3% of the market. Pricing is around $1k.

If I was you, I would recommend that you give Optimum Control and Cost Guard a try, and see which one works better for you. I believe both of the products have online or downloadable demos.

Regarding the front-of-house…are you interested in a POS system, a reservation system, a scheduling solution, a marketing solution, a video surveillance system, bar and liquor control, or something else? There are all-in-one solutions (I don’t recommend them), and there are individual pieces to the puzzle.

Of course, if you need a labor management tool – please take a look at our software.

Hope that helps – good luck!

Anthony Presley
Founder
TimeForge.com: Restaurant Employee Scheduling Software
P: 866.684.7191

How long does it take to make your employee schedules? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor costs through effective employee labor management at your business, bar, club, grocery, convenience store, or restaurant.

Related articles or pages

• Simple Employee Scheduling – Version 1.8.5 (Part 3)
• Product Mix Relating to Inventory Costs
• Employee Labor Scheduling: Interview with TimeForge.com's Anthony Presley
• Workforce Labor Scheduling Updates (Part 2)
• Workforce Labor Scheduling Updates (Part 1)

On September 6 , 9, we exhibited at the Florida Food & Lodging Show and occupied booth 1506 for three days. Held in sunny Orlando, the show provided access to about 500 exhibitors for approximately 10,000 restaurant, hotel, and club professionals. This year, the show was held in conjunction with Pizza Magazine’s (PMQ) Orlando Pizza Show.

Hopefully, the show was a great success for the many restaurateurs who were at the show, seeking the latest in equipment, operations techniques, food cost controls, employee scheduling software, building leasing, credit card processing, and everything else that owners, operators, and managers in the restaurant, bar, club, and foodservice industries need. We enjoyed meeting everyone who stopped at our booth!

TimeForge was presented to several thousand individuals interested in controlling labor costs, reducing turnover, and making their life easier by using scheduling and labor management systems.

We’d like to thank a few of the exhibiting companies who share a similar passion for the hospitality industry (ordered by physical proximity to our booth):

• Don Edward & Company (Don) , Everything but the food
• Finn Marketing Group , Cutting-edge restaurant equipment
• DinerWare , Feature rich POS systems for the right price
• FishBowl Marketing , The de-facto standard in hospitality e-mail marketing
• PMQ Magazine , Dedicated publications for the pizza industry

Additionally, we met with DinePoint, who had several representatives attending the show. Expect some news from TimeForge and DinePoint in the near future!

How long does it take to make an employee schedule? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that labor costs could be as much as 30% of your expenses? TimeForge can help streamline and minimize labor costs through effective employee scheduling at your restaurant, bar, or club.

Related articles or pages

• Texas Restaurant Association Show (Part 2) — 2008
• Off Topic: Inventory Managment for Restaurants
• Age and Brand Analysis of POS Systems in Foodservice
• Accuvia , Labor Scheduling Systems
• Western Food Expo is a wrap!

As many of you know, we exhibited at the Western Food Expo in California two weeks ago. We had a great time! Our booth was strategically positioned by a Digital Dining Point Of Sale (POS) distributor / reseller and Red Wing Shoes. During the three days in Los Angeles, we spoke to more than 500 restaurant owners, managers, employees, and share holders. A few hotel / motel operators, bar owners, and food inspectors were also interested in the benefits of labor scheduling software. The response for the software was overwhelming, and we appreciated the amazing amount of feedback that many of the customers, and potential customers, provided.

Additionally, we did get to spend some quality time with representatives from Digital Dining, Squirrel Systems, Radiant (Aloha POS), Waiter Pad POS, Micros, and Intura. All of these vendors are interested in integrating the TimeForge employee scheduling and labor management software with their own software packages. Look for integration of our advanced employee scheduling system with your favorite POS system, coming soon!

How long does it take to make an employee schedule? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that labor costs could be as much as 30% of your expenses? TimeForge can help streamline and minimize labor costs through effective employee scheduling at your restaurant, bar, or club.

Related articles or pages

• Accuvia , Labor Scheduling Systems
• Workforce Labor Scheduling Updates (Part 1)
• Restaurant Business Article on Workforce Problems
• Off Topic: Inventory Managment for Restaurants
• Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show is Wrapped Up…

It is official! TimeForge.com will be exhibiting at the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo in Los Angeles, CA on August 18 – 20, 2007. The trade show is being held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and looks to be a very exciting show with a great mix of first-time and “experienced” exhibiting companies.

If you are at the show Western Foodservice show, make sure you take a look at Halo, a revolutionary web-based Point-Of-Sale system from Canada. Barb, one of their business representatives, showed us a very neat POS system at the Southwest Food Expo in Dallas.

We will be setting up shop in booth #2827, and we would love to see you there! Our booth is next to the regional Digital Dining partner, Hospitality Technology Systems. Stop by and see the latest TimeForge features, including shift-swapping and time & attendance tracking!

How long does it take to make an employee schedule? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that labor costs could be as much as 30% of your expenses? TimeForge can help streamline and minimize labor costs through effective employee scheduling at your restaurant, bar, or club.

Related articles or pages

• Western Food Expo is a wrap!
• Restaurant, Bar, and Club Scheduling Options (Part 2 of 4)
• Off Topic: Inventory Managment for Restaurants
• Latest Software Features
• Labor Scheduling Software Article at Nation's Restaurant News