Syrus, provider of back-office and above-store reporting tools and services for the restaurant industry, helped All Star Management, a 12-store Wendy’s restaurant franchise operation located in Illinois, improve its business through better management of its food and labor costs.

In just a few months, owner Mike Allegro has seen a return on his investment with Syrus. “Using the Syrus system has paid off,” Allegro says. “Not only have we lowered food cost, but using Syrus’ Labor Scheduler, managers now have a precise scheduling system, and it is very user-friendly. We’ve reduced our overall labor by 2 percent since we began using Syrus’ labor system.”

All Star Management had a back-office system, but Allegro became increasingly frustrated with inaccurate numbers and the need to spend time educating the company about his business. “I needed a partner, not just a vendor, who could hit the ground running to help control my costs,” he says. “I found that Syrus was the only solution that would go the extra mile to help me improve my business by including an Account Representative to work with my managers.”

From the start, Allegro found Syrus’ tools were more beneficial to him than other systems. Syrus’ first task was to review the recipes and prices in the former back-office system. “Syrus found a lot of mistakes and straightened them out,” Allegro says. “Having accurate data is critical.”

Patrick Maks, Syrus’ vice president of business development, led an effort of providing on-site training to show Allegro how to use Syrus’ above-store reporting to identify store-specific problems, then use detailed ingredient reports to dig deep into their food cost problems, which they were unable to do with their former provider. “If you don’t know where to start looking to the find the problem, you’re never going to find it,” Allegro says.

All Star Management district manager Jacque Lindsay has also seen the benefits in her stores. “My stores’ food costs are lower,” she says. “Managers are more accountable and the ordering program has reduced the amount of inventory on shelves. My managers find that Syrus’ inventory, labor, and ordering programs are very flexible and easy to use.”

Using Syrus, Lindsay tracks sales and negative transactions and uses consolidated reporting to compare the stores’ food cost, saving time by going directly to the problem store. “After reviewing the information from my home or office, I can go into the store and quickly go online with the general manager to pull up a food cost report,” she says. “It’s exciting that now my managers have already looked at the Syrus report and have answers ready for me. They’re learning and we’re working together. And, if we need help, I just call my Syrus Account Representative.”

Allegro uses Syrus’ above-store reporting to monitor his business. “Syrus calls my stores to troubleshoot and correct data, so I know my information is accurate when I log in each morning to see my daily sales report,” he says. “It’s like having an extension of your company. Communication has improved with my employees. I can capture my numbers early in the morning and at least three times a week I’m sending out emails to my staff with questions on sales, voids, labor, and food. It’s all about the numbers.”

Allegro also uses Syrus’ Analytics feature, a program that customizes reports to his specific needs, and the Product on Hand report, which shows the amount of days the stores are carrying inventory, by ingredient.

“The system has made my company better and my managers are more knowledgeable in controlling food and labor,” Allegro says. “I’ve seen the return on my investment and my people are happier.”