Background
When it comes to the intricacies of running a successful Tim Hortons franchise, it could be said that Beth Eimer knows a thing or two about a thing or two. As Manager of Recruitment and Training for Kelton Enterprises, Eimer is responsible for overseeing operations in 31 Tim Hortons locations throughout Western New York. Kelton started with a team of 30 in 1999 and has since grown to more than 800 team members today.
Eimer began her current position three years ago, however, her Tim Hortons roots trace back further than that. She first worked at a Tim Hortons as a teenager before eventually moving up to the position of shift supervisor.
It was here where she was first introduced to the CLEARVIEW and all the information that was suddenly at her fingertips. Eimer described the newfound insights as eye-opening.
We sat down with Beth Eimer to discuss her experiences with CLEARVIEW and what it brings to Kelton Enterprises.
When you first used CLEARVIEW as a shift supervisor, what were some of the things that struck you that you could do that you couldn’t do before?
As a team member, you don’t realize how important food cost from an inventory standpoint is until you can see that everything is recorded. Suddenly, I could see all of those details in CLEARVIEW.
That was eye-opening to me, to see how properly keying items into the register or properly accounting for food that is wasted really is. You don’t think it’s such a big deal as a team member, but when you see the impact it’s having on your food cost, it gives you an entirely different perspective as a shift supervisor.
Before CLEARVIEW, you may have had an idea, or a gut-feel, for whether or not you were effectively controlling certain stock items, but with CLEARVIEW, it’s been very easy to see the variance between what we should be using and what we have been using. Now we can look at the food report and say, ‘Okay, we wasted 80 sausages last week. Can we get that down to 30?’ It’s much easier to do with the team when you have those hard numbers.
When you first used How throughout your organization do you find that CLEARVIEW helps save your people time?
From an administrative standpoint, I like that once you create a new user, all of the details are there and then get distributed out to whatever report you’re currently using. It could be their contact information, their emergency details, or their shift availability. Everything is right there for you so you’re not having the flip through papers and waste time.
So just in terms of administrative record-keeping, that definitely saves time. When you’re in a company with as many people as we have, it’s important to find what you need pretty quickly instead of having to sort through papers in your office. It’s a simple thing, but it goes a long way.
As someone who trains others on the CLEARVIEW system, what do you tell your trainees on the importance of using it to its full capacity?
It’s everything all in one program, that’s beneficial. You have all your team member information, your forecasting, your product mixes, it’s all right there and easy to access.
I appreciate that CLEARVIEW allows me to “drill- down” and dig into the bare bone details of what you’re looking at, such as menu sales impact on inventory usage from recipes. I think everything all-in-one program is probably the most beneficial.
How have you found CLEARVIEW leads to cost savings through which organization?
It’s everything all in one program, that’s beneficial. You have all your team You can’t move what you can’t measure so just being able to see your specific numbers and sort it in a way that you want it sorted. I can look at the top 20 food costs and sort it by the most expensive or any other factor, that has definitely led to savings on food cost for sure.
What would you say to somebody who was considering bringing CLEARVIEW into their organization? What advice would you give them?
I would recommend it for sure. It has all the information you need right there. I would certainly advise them to explore the training section and reach out if they need assistance.
I know I’ve reached out a handful of times and I’ve been offered either links to different training that’s already available on the topic or have been offered setting up individual consultations on how to use different tools. I’ve found that to be very user-friendly just being able to get the help you need when you’re not understanding something.
See CLEARVIEW in action.