How Retailers Can Cut Labor and Save Time

“What is my time worth?” This is a question that all retailers need to ask themselves when equipping their stores.

The good news is that today’s high-tech equipment offers plenty of options to help retailers cut down on the amount of labor required for countless processes across the store, including in the deli/foodservice area, where several grocers are following the leads of convenience stores by testing computerized ordering systems that streamline the process from start to finish.

Buffalo, N.Y.-based Dash’s Market is taking the leap into the world of computerized grocerant solutions and will soon install Dumac’s RORCv6 Self Service kiosk in-store, which the retailer expects will cut down on the amount of labor needed to run the foodservice section and reduce the footprint created by physical equipment.

Also, the self-service kiosk will help prevent inaccuracies throughout the ordering process, says Erin Sidoni, systems supervisor for Dash’s. Now, “any menu changes that are made need to be done in both the kitchen system and the POS system,” she says. “The current system opens the door to inaccuracies and missed rings, having one system helps reduce these chances.”

Dash’s has one computer for inputting orders by an employee, which are then handed down the line to another employee who tenders the order out on a second register. Having one system handle both the kitchen functions, as well as the front-end functions, the retailer will be able to cut out a step in the process, Sidoni says.

“Adding the Self Ordering Kiosk is another element we see as both labor savings and customer enrichment,” she says. “With the self-ordering kiosks, we free up employees to deliver a great food experience, while allowing our guests to customize the experience to their preferences.”

Dash’s is not the only retailer moving toward streamlined, computerized ordering systems; Costco recently started testing a similar system in its food court at its Tustin and Pacoima, Calif. stores. A store employee told The Orange County Register that since the technology’s installation, wait times have been “cut substantially.”

Cameras Keep an Eye on Stock

Keeping track of which stock is running out and when can be a major headache for retailers and store associates, but there are several solutions to help address this issue. For example, technology created by Atlanta-based Trax International enables retailers to optimize store labor by positioning its Trax IoT cameras on shelves opposite fast-moving goods. The cameras will take pictures throughout the day and send notifications to store employees when a product is out of stock or running low.

David Gottlieb, GM of global retail for Trax, says the technology allows store employees to quickly resolve stocking issues before customers are affected. The only other way to find issues such as these is for “employees to constantly walk the store. Trax enables retailers to improve their planning accuracy and merchandising effectiveness,” says Gottlieb. The technology gives retailers “visibility into the rate that customers shop the home location of their products,” he says. “That information, which has likely never been available, can be input to their ordering systems to improve their overall supply chain down to the shelf.”

Wrapping Up the Back End

Retail-focused software can make things easier on the store floor, but there are also plenty of time-saving options available in the hardware realm. Machines used for foodservice, deli and other food preparation-related functions can be both difficult and time-consuming to keep clean and efficient.

Columbus, Ohio-based Mettler Toledo has helped numerous retailers gain efficiencies with its 880 Auto Wrapper, which aligns trays in a fraction of a second and requires only one staff member to wrap and process the entire production run. Guy Dille, retail business area leader for Mettler Toledo, says the company has documented customer testimonies, and the consensus is that the wrapper has “increased their backroom efficiency by 82%.”

Some of the Auto Wrapper’s biggest fans include the team at Syracuse, N.Y.-based Green Hills Farms. Dan Piron, meat department manager, says, “It’s so intuitive. It just guides the user step-by-step through each and every one of its functions.” Kevin Petrie, director of operations for Green Hills, concurs, saying the store is experiencing “tremendous ROI with the 880, both in reduced labor costs and through increased customer satisfaction.”

Also, Bill Scorzetti, meat department manager of Glass Gardens ShopRite in New York, says, “It’s a lot more efficient and saves a lot of time,” because instead of requiring two associates to execute the wrapping process (one to load and one to unload), a single operator can perform both tasks simultaneously while standing in the same position.

A Cut Above the Rest

One of the most difficult areas of a grocery store to manage is behind the deli counter, where equipment must be cleaned completely every few hours. To help make this task more manageable, Essex, Md.-based Hobart has a line of slicers with multiple removable parts for easy sanitization.

Hobart’s slicers feature a removable knife, carriage and meat grip arms that, according to product line manager Julie Heinrichs, saves 20%-25% in time spent cleaning and also increases sanitation because employees have full access to the parts. The slicer’s proprietary clean-cut blade saves time and money because it doesn’t need to be sharpened every day or replaced as often due to the hardened steel cobalt welding around the outer edge of the knife, the company says.

Heinrichs says a retailer that owned a 13-year-old Hobart slicer and switched to a new competitive unit came to her and said they preferred their old machine. “I figured they would really like their new slicer, but they actually preferred the 13-year-old slicer vs. the new slicer that they had because of how difficult it was to sanitize,” she says.

Cleaning up the Oil

Working with oil can be a slippery task; it must be handled with care due to potential danger to both employees and the environment. But Ahold Delhaize has found new labor efficiencies with the recent adoption of Bristol, Conn.-based Restaurant Technologies Inc.’s Total Oil Management solution, a “turnkey closed-loop automated oil management system” that automates the entire manual oil process with built-on oil filling, disposing and filtration systems.

The system eliminates the need for in-store staff to go through the potentially dangerous and physically taxing task of manually pouring new oil and carrying away jugs of used product. It also includes an automatic reordering system, as well as oil removal and recycling.

The system can save three or more hours a week in additional labor, according to Restaurant Technologies officials. For example, Ahold Delhaize’s employees previously were tasked with manually changing cooking oil and disposing of it in a rendering tank outside of the store, with no visibility tools in place to monitor filtration and activity, Restaurant Technologies officials say, and this led to safety issues, productivity inefficiencies and operating inconsistencies across markets.

“Now more than ever, having a deli operation that functions as efficiently as any commercial restaurant kitchen is critical,” says Jim English, director of national accounts for Restaurant Technologies. “Automating your deli’s oil management can help keep employees safe, provide efficiencies in the kitchen and help ensure you’re serving a high-quality fried food product.”

More Efficient Kitchens are Heating Up

Grocery store kitchens are another arena in which there is potential for major labor-saving moves. Selecting the correct ovens, for example, can help streamline the process from cook to customer. Retailers have equipment available to them that can accomplish just that, such as Alto-Shaam’s Cook & Hold Oven with Halo Heat that allows the night shift staff to start a cooking program and have it ready to go the next day.

Kari Fulton, VP of national accounts, retail, for Alto-Shaam, says this is a “huge labor savings because you can have some programs for next day already completed when you come in the following day.” On the cool side of things, the company also offers a QuickChiller that can cut down steps in a cold self-serve program by allowing staff to roll items directly into the unit instead of stacking product on racks.

“Labor is always a big issue,” says Fulton, particularly when it comes to cleaning equipment. However, she says, challenges can be vastly minimized by having consistency in recipes and implementing technology and equipment with faster heat-up cycles to reduce excessive labor costs.

Fresh Food Delivery Could Be as Fast as Ordering a Pizza

Robots could help retailers deliver fresh groceries in under two hours with CommonSense Robotics’ new solution.

The company, which recently raised $20 million in Series A funding, bringing the company’s total funding to $26 million, could allow retailers to offer “one-hour, on-demand grocery deliveries to consumers at a profitable margin” for the first time in the history of grocery.

The solution works to shorten the grocery supply chain by moving high-capacity micro-fulfillment centers into underused urban spaces, where robots will then store, sort and process inventory. The micro-fulfillment centers could allow retailers of all sizes to keep their inventory closer to their target customers, instead of in far-removed hangars, which could also help them to cut costs for the consumers.

The Tel Aviv, Israel-based company is deploying the first generation of its robots in its first operational facility and has plans to open more facilities in the U.S., U.K. and Israel in 2018.

Voice Activation Hits the Grocery Aisles

Soon shoppers could have access to voice-powered customer assistance courtesy of Amazon’s Alexa right in the aisles of their brick-and-mortar retail store. One example is The Mars Agency’s recently released Bottle Genius Powered by Smart Aisle, which was available at Bottlerocket Wine & Spirit in Manhattan’s Flatiron neighborhood in February.

The personalized, voice-powered customer assistant is helping shoppers navigate the store’s whiskey aisle with the ability to answer directional questions such as “current favorite, purchase occasion or desire to try something new.”

Once engaged, shoppers are given three curated whiskey recommendations, plus tasting information and additional information about the brands if desired. Also, a custom-built shelf equipped with LED specialists and arrow electronics lights up to guide shoppers to their recommended items.