FS/TEC shopping lists provide insights into operator technology needs

Nation's Restaurant News, Nov 6, 2006 by Alan J. Liddle

LONG BEACH, CALIF. -- Shauna Patterson, manager of information systems for White Spot Ltd., says she will be looking for technology "that can help us do more with less" while attending FS/TEC 2006, which is being held Nov. 5-8 at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center here.

Joseph Trietsch, Black Angus Steakhouse director of information technology, or IT, says he is going to FS/TEC, in part, to hear how point-of-sale, or POS, system vendors plan to help California operators survive the state's unique labor laws. The 88-unit Black Angus Steakhouse chain is owned by Los Altos, Calif-based American Restaurant Group Inc.

With more than 150 hardware, software and services providers expected to exhibit their wares at FS/TEC, operators will have plenty of potential business aids to browse among.

"With the ongoing challenge to find and retain employees, we'll be looking to technology to A) increase our speed of service, and B) promote our training and processes, as we strive to be an employer of choice," says White Spot's Patterson. Her Vancouver, British Columbia-based company fields 60 namesake casual-dining restaurants and another 43 burger-oriented Triple O's outlets in nontraditional sites, such as ferry terminals and service stations.

Trietsch says he plans to investigate restaurant industry-specific add-on applications to leverage his company's in-progress deployment of Lawson's general ledger and enterprise resource planning software packages. He says he also is interested in pay-at-the-table technology and meeting with vendors to find out "how we can best, and most painlessly, become PCI [Payment Card Industry security standards] compliant."

"I'm very interested in hearing which course of action POS vendors are planning to take to help [operators] manage California labor laws," Trietsch says.

A number of restaurant chains with branches in California in recent years have been hit with sizeable financial penalties by state labor regulatory agencies and have been named as defendants in civil lawsuits. The regulators and plaintiffs have contended that the operators illegally classified some employees as exempt from overtime and did not provide mandatory breaks.

"We will be checking out wireless handhelds and food-and-labor solutions," says Tamy Duplantis, vice president of IT for Potbelly Sandwich Works. The chain also will look for "speed-of-service improvers like self-service kiosks and online ordering, and edgy ways to reach customers, like cellular [phone messaging]," Duplantis says.

Chicago-based Potbelly Sandwich Works operates 128 restaurants. Duplantis says the chain's technology appetite is running to "things that will grow us for another two to three years and strategies that will take us past 500 stores."

Douglas Genne, manager of IT for Washington, D.C.-based Palm Restaurant Group, says he wants his FS/TEC visit to provide leads to reservations and table-management technologies that integrate with the POS system in his company's chain of 29 The Palm steakhouses.

The 335-unit Culver's Frozen Custard chain in 2007 "is focusing on speeding up our drive-thru and doing more with all the data we've collected," says Carlton Larson, information systems director for the Prairie du Sac, Wis.-based parent, Culver Franchising System Inc.

Greg Clore, vice president of IT for Dallas-based Dave & Buster's Inc., operator of 47 dining and gaming complexes, says he wants to spot technologies "that can further integrate store-level systems."

Launched in 1996, FS/TEC is managed and produced by Nation's Restaurant News and Robert N. Grimes of Accuvia. Its founding sponsors are IBM Corp., Microsoft Corp., Micros Systems Inc. and NCR Corp. Corporate sponsors are Epson America Inc., PAR and Radiant Systems Inc., and the affiliate sponsors are HyperActive Technologies Inc. and Torex Hospitality.

aliddle@nrn.com

20 Most Exhibited Products/Services at FS/TEC 2006

                                                                NO. OF
                                                                FS/TEC
PRODUCTS/SERVICES CATEGORIES                              EXHIBITORS *

Point-of-Sale Systems/Peripherals/Repairs & Support           44/29/11
Computerized Foodservice/Restaurant Management Systems           10/25
Back Office Systems & Software                                      33
Quick-Service Restaurant Solutions                                  31
Electronic Gift Certificates/Gift Cards                           7/16
Customer Loyalty Systems/ Frequent Diner                          18/4
Handheld Systems/Remote & Mobile Computing                        16/6
Touch Monitors/Touchscreens                                       5/15
Inventory Management Services & Systems                             18
Credit & Debit Card Processing/ Systems & Services                 8/9
Drive-Thru Systems/Order Confirmation Systems                     13/4
Labor Management Systems                                            16
Network Design & Implement/ Management Systems                     8/7
Electronic & Digital Signs/Computerized Menu Boards                8/4
Self-Service Systems & Solutions                                    11
Internet & Intranet Services                                        11
ATM & Kiosk Hardware & Software                                     11
Technology Platform for Foodservice                                 11
Kitchen Management Systems & Solutions                              10
Printers/ Franchise/ Marketing/Online/Wireless **                    9

* Exhibitors registered as of Oct. 6, 2006; some exhibitors list single
products/ services in multiple categories; some numbers reflect
combined, related categories

** Multiple categories, nine exhibitors each: Printers, Franchise
Software/Management, Marketing Information Systems, Online Ordering,
Wireless Communications