Panera Bread(R) Selects TMx Enterprise to Manage Labor

By: Panera Bread | 3 Shares 163 Reads

TMx™ Solution Proven to Optimize Staffing Levels to Improve Sales and Customer Service

Eden Prairie, MN (PRWEB) September 13, 2010 -- TimeManagement Corporation, a labor management solution provider, announced today that Panera Bread signed an agreement to license the TMx Enterprise 5 solution, a labor scheduling software product, after a comprehensive multi-site, 12-month pilot.

"We strive to operate at the highest levels of customer service, and the TMx solution will help enable us to do so even more efficiently," says Michael Kupstas, Senior Vice President, Panera Bread. "The TMx pilot demonstrated an opportunity to manage labor in a way that improves customer experience, simplifies the scheduling process and provides employee convenience. Proper management of these factors will help free up our managers' time and further improve cafe operations."

"Panera is one of the country's leading food service companies with system-wide sales in 2009 exceeding $2.8 billion and recently was named to BusinessWeek's 2010 list of Top 25 Customer Service Champs," states Barrs Lewis, president and CEO for TimeManagement. "We're extremely pleased to have partnered with their operations and IT groups as they've helped us make quantum leaps forward in the TMx product offering."

One such change was adding product mix (PMix) enhancements to the TMx service labor guides, which provide users with an optimal schedule. TMx provides an easy analytical method for developing and maintaining service labor guides by forecasting product mix by time interval and the calculation of labor effort per item. The key result from this is that each café's optimal labor or guide hours are based on the product mix they are selling. This, along with TMx robust forecasting capabilities, provides operators with a strong one-two punch.

TMx also provides café metrics so multi-unit managers can identify strong and weak performers and obtain insights for what actions are needed to improve performance. Coupled with training and top-down accountability, these metrics provide the levers to move the "average" manager performance to "strong-excellent."

"We are well into final systems integration activities, enabling the expansion of pilot locations this fall, in preparation for full rollout to all company-owned bakery-cafes starting in 2011," adds Kupstas.

About Panera Bread Company

Panera Bread Company owns and franchises 1,399 bakery-cafes as of June 29, 2010 under the Panera Bread®, Saint Louis Bread Co.®, and Paradise Bakery & Café® names. Our bakery-cafes are principally located in suburban, strip mall and regional mall locations. We feature high quality, reasonably priced food in a warm, inviting, and comfortable environment. With our identity rooted in handcrafted, fresh-baked, artisan bread, we are committed to providing great tasting, quality food that people can trust. Nearly all of our bakery-cafes have a menu highlighted by antibiotic free chicken, whole grain bread, and select organic and all-natural ingredients, with zero grams of artificial trans fat per serving, which provide flavorful, wholesome offerings. Our menu includes a wide variety of year-round favorites complemented by new items introduced seasonally with the goal of creating new standards in everyday food choices. In neighborhoods across this country and in Ontario, Canada, our customers enjoy our warm and welcoming environment featuring comfortable gathering areas, relaxing decor, and free internet access. Our bakery-cafes routinely donate bread and baked goods to community organizations in need.

About TimeManagement

TimeManagement Corporation (www.timemgmt.com) offers labor management solutions that assist over 7,000 hospitality operators by improving the efficiency and productivity of their workforce. TMx labor management solutions include performance-based scheduling, dynamic labor forecasting, embedded workflow for employee hiring, employee self service, multiple time capture solutions and seamless integration to numerous POS, PMS, Inventory and payroll systems.

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