Road Café drive-in coffee outlets

Road Café is a successful chain of drive-in coffee outlets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In a unique business model, the company also has a subsidiary trading company that imports coffee beans and other supplies from international locations and distributes them to local markets. With close to 15 years in coffee retail and trading, this family-owned business has demonstrated consistent growth year-to-year. Having started with a single store, Road Café now has over 20 outlets spread across the Eastern and Central provinces of Saudi Arabia.

The company was dealing with a multitude of classic issues faced by rapidly expanding businesses. Although growth was strong and all operating processes were in place, what was lacking was an integrated software system that reflected the state of the business in real time. Road Café needed:

Effectively handling of inventory shrinkage and waste management
Simplifying transactions between the parent company and the subsidiary company to avoid duplication of effort
Measurement consistency across its retail outlets

The solution for replacing a number of manual and semi-automated systems was to implement a single integrated enterprise wide system. After considering many possibilities, LS Nav was selected as the best fit product to meet the client’s needs. Godrej Infotech Limited (GITL), with its track record of over 150 successful implementations globally, was selected as the preferred implementation partner.

The key features of the solution were:

Café Wise Comparisons
Tracking of outlet wise sales and consumption activity helps in identification of high and low performance areas. The system can almost instantly pinpoint proliferation scenarios; an extremely tedious activity when performed with a manual set up.
Integrated Sales and Payments
Consolidated sales and payment information from the POS is automatically sent to the back office at the end of each closing period. In a situation where the stores are open 24/7, this solution ensures that all financial information is updated until the very last shift.
Business Intelligence
The integrated system allows for a single source of truth for all of the organization’s data across companies and currencies. The senior management can make profitable business decisions with the strategic inputs received from the holistic MIS reporting system.
Intercompany Postings
Since the supplies for the retail outlets are procured from the subsidiary trading company, the intercompany configuration significantly solved the issue of duplicate data entry. Sales, purchase and general ledger transactions between the two companies can now be automated based on input and output feeds.

Challenges

The main challenge for this engagement was related to converting a manual system to an automated system. Since this was a full life cycle implementation, constant communication between clients and consultants was imperative for the project’s success. Risks to this engagement were effectively managed by following GITL’s proven engagement execution methodology. The management team ensured that regular checkpoints and feedback mechanisms were in place right from requirements gathering to rollout. Upfront milestone based project planning led to efficient utilization of resources for both customer and partner organizations.

"We looked at every challenge posed in this project as an opportunity to do better and go that extra mile. Whether it was regional language barriers or unique customization requirements, we were excellently supported by the team at Road Café and Godrej Infotech Limited to find workable solutions to all of our problems. One of the most exciting aspects of this project was conducting the go-live activities after midnight so as to avoid disrupting the normal functioning of the cafes."

Benefits to the Client

Discrepancy information
15% reduction in waste
Optimal inventory levels
Consumption trend analysis
40% reduction in manual effort
Accurate financial information
Automated real time triggers
Arabic language reports

In our business, the right timing holds the key to our bottom line. We import some of the finest coffee beans from across the globe. Maintaining the optimal level of supplies at all our cafés is extremely important. Having the LS Nav system in place makes it extremely easy for us to make real time decisions.

Mohammed Alhowaish

The NAV inter-company configuration has streamlined our sales and purchase order processes, reducing significant amount of manual effort. Looking back, we are extremely pleased to have taken the decision to opt for an ERP system. The in-depth experience of the consultants at Godrej Infotech Limited greatly simplified the complex processes right from requirements to rollout. Having seen the benefits of what such as system can do, we are excited about implementing further enhancements and upgrades.

Mohammed Alhowaish

Implementation Partner

Godrej Infotech

Godrej Infotech Ltd is a software services and consulting company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It has multiple sales and delivery offices and operates in the Middle East, Europe, APAC, and USA regions.

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