Church's Chicken® revolutionizes Restaurant Operations With New Digital System

ATLANTA, Jan. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its ongoing five-year plan to become a dominant player in the QSR industry and the leader in the chicken category, Church's Chicken® is nearly finished with the domestic rollout of the OPS 360 System. Custom-built from the ground-up, the OPS 360 System is a first-of-its-kind tool that replaces the traditional paper binder and checklist, common in QSR.

The OPS 360 System provides a digital app-based cellular tablet loaded with solutions aimed at improving operations and access to reporting dashboards, training websites, and core operating systems. Since the tablet is always connected to the cloud, the OPS 360 System facilitates automated reporting within the Church's system. Market leaders, franchisees, and corporate field operations can now evaluate engagement and completion of daily operational tasks and standards remotely, allowing Church's to gain new perspectives and insights on day-to-day successes and challenges "in real time."

"When improving our daily operations, our operators want solutions that positively impact the daily routines of our managers and team members. We've strategically used proven technology to help us remove complexity and simplify operations," said Brendan Berg, Senior Vice President of Global Operations Services for the brand. "With our franchisees on our Operations Excellence Advisory Council, we agreed that a digital tool for recording quality assurance tasks would benefit everyone in the restaurant. Managers who have opportunities with shift control are gaining valuable training and experience through the use of the tool. Imagine a digital routines checklist that tells the manager what to do at certain times of the day, literally guiding them through the shift. The OPS 360 Routines Mobile App acts like a virtual coach, directing the manager in charge when to complete food safety temps, cleanliness checks, and stock up for the lunch/dinner rush."

The OPS 360 System is more than a digital version of the paper checklist used for managing opening/closing tasks and food safety checks. It provides step-by-step instructions organized by daypart and restaurant type, and uses interactive links to digital resources such as updated job aids, OPS manual procedures and training videos to provide troubleshooting best practices. It also tracks which managers are logged into the system during a given shift and measures how they interact with their daily routines – this helps franchisees track behaviors (by Manager-in-Charge) and identify any performance trends that need reinforcement and redirection.

The OPS 360 System provides easy access to dashboard reporting websites, allowing the RGM to easily monitor their guest satisfaction scores, resolve guest complaints, and quickly access their email.

"Any website that has a mobile app, we can download that onto the tablet," added Luis de la Torre, Director of Ops Excellence at Church's Chicken. "Our biggest surprise is how our Managers love accessing the mobile app version of our online training program, Pathway to Excellence University. Team members can complete their training courses, review messages, and access support resources right on the tablet.  They can now complete certifications without having to fight for screen time on the back office computer." 

In partnership with their vendor NEXTx, the Church's team created the initial system in just six months, with beta testing and primary launch taking a few months more. All told, the OPS 360 System was a project that was completed in less than a year. So far, Church's has deployed the digital OPS 360 tablets to 450 US restaurants, with all restaurants worldwide scheduled to be running on the new system by the end of Q1 next year. They are aiming to introduce the OPS 360 System into key international markets after having completed translations and programming modifications to account for any regional and cultural differences. Franchise operators are finding value in the digital solution no matter where they are in the world and are warmly embracing this tool. Additionally, the corporate operations team behind OPS 360's development has stated that the tool will continuously be enhanced, optimized, and re-developed to respond to franchisees' ever-changing needs and their restaurant teams.

"Going digital has dozens of positive repercussions beyond just centralizing everything Church's onto one tablet," added de la Torre. "Managers are being more thorough completing their assessments. Market leaders are responding quickly to alerts and requests. Our Ops Excellence Coaches are now more efficient coaching on specific restaurant needs deepening on the managers performance. We are also able to easily roll out new procedures related to new menu items – such as when we launched our new Chicken Sandwich in October of this year.  Due to limited travel restrictions, all in-person and in-market training had to be done virtually using the Microsoft Teams app loaded onto the tablet. Training for our Chicken Sandwich was seamless, allowing everyone easy access to training resources right on their tablet. Not to mention, we're saving a ton of money and being more environmentally friendly by eliminating the printing and shipping of paper documents."

Berg also stated that they are using a Mobile Device Management (MDM) system to control what is included and restricted in each OPS 360 Tablet, providing better security of sensitive documents and data. Also, the tablets are password protected and geo-fenced so that the information can only be accessed on the restaurant premises. The initial response from franchisees and corporate management teams has been overwhelmingly positive, with users reporting the system to be simple, intuitive, and reliable.

"We have dramatically improved the day to day routines of operating a successful Church's restaurant," Berg explained. "The more teams utilize OPS 360 to the fullest extent of its capabilities, the better they will be able to drive efficiency and profitability. This means giving our franchisees complete solutions and proven tools for getting the absolute most out of their businesses, and that begins and ends with operational excellence. We are proud to say that the OPS 360 has made operating a Church's restaurant simpler and easier than ever before. That is the level of commitment we believe must happen for Church's to be the Global Franchisor of Choice."

About Church's Chicken® / Texas Chicken™ / Church's Texas Chicken™
Founded in San Antonio, TX, in 1952 by George W. Church, Church's Chicken, along with its sister brands Texas Chicken and Church's Texas Chicken outside of the U.S., is one of the largest quick-service chicken restaurant chains in the world. The brands specialize in Original and Spicy Chicken freshly prepared throughout the day in small batches that are hand-battered and double-breaded, Tender Strips®, sandwiches, honey-butter biscuits made from scratch and freshly baked, and classic, home-style sides all for a great value. Church's Chicken, Texas Chicken and Church's Texas Chicken have more than 1,500 locations in 26 countries and global markets and system-wide sales of more than $1 billion.  For more information about Church's Chicken®, Texas Chicken™ or Church's Texas Chicken™ franchising opportunities, visit http://www.churchs.com/franchiseget-started.php.

Contact: Kim Miller
888-869-7899
[email protected]

SOURCE Church's Chicken

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