Client:
Our client is a prominent, fast-growing restaurant chain recognized for its fresh, high-quality, and responsibly sourced ingredients. With a commitment to operational excellence and a dynamic menu, they rely on precise and timely data to manage their extensive supply chain and ensure optimal inventory.
Challenge
As our client expanded, they faced a critical challenge: a disconnect between their Salesforce CRM, the authoritative source for product data, and Crunchtime, their vital back-of-house management system. Manual data entry was a bottleneck, leading to inaccuracies, delays, and inefficiencies in inventory management. This not only hampered their ability to respond swiftly to menu changes and supply fluctuations but also consumed valuable employee time that could be better spent on strategic initiatives. The lack of real-time synchronization meant that product information wasn’t consistently aligned across systems, impacting purchasing decisions, financial reporting, and overall operational fluidity.
Solution
Our firm designed and implemented a robust, event-driven integration solution to seamlessly synchronize product data between the client’s Salesforce and Crunchtime systems. The core of our solution involved a near real-time (every 5 minutes) process that detected any new or updated product information in Salesforce and pushed it to Crunchtime.
Key components of the solution included:
- Near Real-Time Synchronization: An event-based trigger in Salesforce captures product updates as they occur, ensuring Crunchtime receives the latest information almost instantly.
- Ad-Hoc Reconciliation Workflow: A crucial “safety net” was built in – an on-demand reconciliation process that refreshes all product records in Crunchtime with data from Salesforce. This guarantees data consistency, handles initial bulk loads, and rectifies any potential discrepancies.
- Targeted Data Retrieval: Leveraging Salesforce’s API, the integration selectively retrieves 15 critical product fields, ensuring only relevant data is transferred.
- Secure Data Delivery: Product files are delivered to Crunchtime via SFTP, adhering to strict security protocols, and a copy is simultaneously sent to Google Drive for secure archiving and accessibility.
- Comprehensive Error Handling: Proactive exception handling and automated notifications (via email) are in place to alert relevant teams of any data sync errors or failures, ensuring prompt resolution.
- Full Data Overwrite: To maintain data integrity, the integration performs a full overwrite of product records in Crunchtime, eliminating the need for complex field-by-field comparisons and simplifying data alignment.
Value Delivered
The integration solution delivered substantial value across the client’s organization:
- Significant Reduction in Manual Effort: Automated data synchronization eliminated the need for time-consuming manual data entry, freeing up staff to focus on higher-value tasks.
- Enhanced Data Accuracy: By establishing Salesforce as the single source of truth and implementing robust synchronization, data accuracy across both systems dramatically improved, leading to more reliable inventory figures and better decision-making.
- Improved Inventory Management: Real-time access to accurate product data enabled the client to optimize inventory levels, reduce waste, and streamline procurement processes.
- Faster Responsiveness: The near real-time updates allow the client to quickly adapt to menu changes, introduce new products, and respond to supply chain dynamics with agility.
- Strengthened Supply Chain Operations: The integration is a cornerstone of the client’s broader initiative to enhance supply chain accuracy and efficiency, contributing to a more resilient and responsive operation.
- Increased Operational Efficiency: By automating a critical data flow, the solution minimized friction points and improved the overall efficiency of their product data management.
Summary:
Our partnership with this leading restaurant chain demonstrates the power of well-executed IT automation. By integrating their Salesforce and Crunchtime systems, we empowered them with a seamless, accurate, and efficient product data flow. This not only alleviated immediate operational challenges but also laid the groundwork for enhanced supply chain management, driving improved data accuracy, reduced manual effort, and greater agility in a competitive and fast-paced industry. This project stands as a testament to how strategic integrations can unlock significant operational and financial benefits for hospitality businesses.
Drew Ruttle is Project Manager at Dispatch Integration, leading initiatives that help clients optimize enterprise software and achieve strategic outcomes. With over a decade of experience in project management and training, Drew has guided teams across diverse industries, applying his expertise in implementation, technical support, and process improvement to deliver measurable results and operational efficiency.
