BACK-FACTORY

Knowing the company
BACKFACTORY GmbH is one of Germany's leading self-service bakeries. The company strategy is based on a franchising concept, so its organisation, production and merchandise management infrastructures focus on decentralised organisation and a high level of efficiency. The Hamburg-based bakery has been successfully operating as a franchise business since 2002, and after seven years of steady growth it already has 115 stores throughout Germany, with more planned. BACK-FACTORY's founder and managing director Peter Gabler expects the German market to hold the potential for at least 100 additional stores; and there are also plans to go international by expanding into neighbouring Austria and the Netherlands.

Defining the strategy
From the very start, the managers of BACKFACTORY GmbH knew that they needed the right Point of Service (POS) system to support their steadily growing business. They required a strong and scalable solution in terms of performance, stability and the volume of data it can handle. In order to lay the foundation for growth, BACK-FACTORY must continuously control and improve their internal business processes. Torex OSCAR-POS was the logical choice. In addition to a broad range of POS, administration and management functions, Torex OSCAR-POS provides flexible adaptability, a user friendly interface, effective tools for analysis and reporting and highly modular design and scalability.

Choosing the solution
All 115 stores, as well as the system headquarters inHamburg, are equipped with Torex OSCAR-POS today. The recent introduction of a new ERP solution from Godesys made it once again clear that the company can depend on Torex OSCAR-POS. It seamlessly integrates with the new ERP processes and effectively complements them.

For example, Torex empowers BACK-FACTORY to generate sales and stock lists down to each item, thus facilitating an efficient just-in-time order process in addition to precise stock management.

The transaction data (POS receipts, POS balances, precise time period reports) is automatically transferred to the central Hamburg system without requiring any manual processing from the store's employees.

Andreas Fricke, Business Director at BACK-FACTORY explains: "We perform our store-based management using the Torex OSCAR-POS system. For any company of our size, highly automated central merchandise management is a must; this involves placing orders with suppliers, configuring order process flows, managing the central warehouse and the like. And with Torex we are able to access these central merchandise management processes using the POS solutions in the individual stores."

The data generated in the Godesys ERP system is placed in a directory from which the Torex POS solution retrieves the information, updates master and transaction data and then transfers this to the stores.

BACK-FACTORY draws on the integrated solution and the sales and stock data it provides to achieve centralised merchandise and purchase planning. Now, whenever the central ERP system sends an order suggestion, the store vendors can confirm it directly in the POS solution, and all associated data is automatically passed on to the central ERP application. This results in both leaner and more secure processes.

Time and attendance built in
The store stations now offer basic time recording functions. "This is a good example of the modular design and great functional range of Torex," says Fricke. "Today our company's size and structure makes this application necessary. Thanks to the fact that the POS solution offers this and many more functions as standard, no additional programming was required."

Achieving return on investment
Alongside introducing its central merchandise system, BACK-FACTORY has updated their POS solution from Torex to the latest industry-specific version. This offers features tailored to the needs of bakeries.

Andreas Fricke sums it up as follows: "The Torex OSCAR-POS solution enables us to implement and control the process chain between head office, stores, franchise partners, purchasing and logistics with great precision and in a very professional manner. And with regard to the interface with our central ERP software, this is where the system really comes into its own. At the company headquarters all sales figures and other key data from the stores are collected down to individual items and accurate to the day. This allows us to make merchandise decisions on the spot and helps us to optimise operating costs."