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John Tata 
xpient Solutions, LLC
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Frisch's Gains Measurable Speed of Service Improvements with Loop/POS Integration

Charlotte, NC (May 16, 2006) ~ With a goal of better understanding and improving its drive-thru speed of service, Frisch’s Restaurants, Inc. is integrating its existing loop detectors with XPIENT Solutions’ point-of-sale (POS) applications system. . This fully integrated approach makes it possible for Frisch’s to analyze speed of service to a much higher level of detail and provide actionable information on a real-time basis throughout its organization. “Providing managers with immediate access to total time, menu board time, and window time information, allows us to focus on each component of the drive-thru process to help us better understand and improve service to our customers,” said Paul Adams, responsible for the speed of service special project initiative at Frisch’s.

Most quick service restaurants measure speed of service by displaying a timer connected to the loop detector on a display inside the restaurant. XPIENT’s integrated loop detector/POS solution goes much further by capturing loop signals in the same database used to store POS information. This makes it possible to combine loop detector information, such as when the customer arrived at and left the menu board, with POS information, such as when the order process began, when the order was completed, when the kitchen completed the order, when the POS was tendered, the size and composition of the order, which crewmembers took the order, etc. Equally important, the new approach provides immediate notification to management, at or above store, regarding their drive-thru speed of service performance.

This new methodology, fully integrating speed of service data with the point-of-sale system, makes it possible to more effectively understand the various components that make up speed of service by tracking and integrating the time information that is captured by the POS. “You can determine not only that speed of service has risen but also identify whether the delay is in greeting the customer at the menu board, taking the order, preparing the food, accepting the payment, etc.,” said Christopher Sebes, CEO of XPIENT. “You may discover that the reason speed of service has risen is simply because the average order size has gone up.”

“A key advantage of the new approach is that the speed of service information is stored in an SQL database where it can easily be accessed by other applications, combined with other data sources, and used in reports or alerts,” Sebes said. Alerts can be set up to, for example, send a message to the cell phone of the area manager whenever the average drive-through time rises above 120 seconds for more than 30 minutes.

“We engaged in an initial deployment of XPIENT’s fully integrated speed of service system to validate its capabilities in a real operating environment. We tested the concept at a limited number of stores. It worked very well and we have proceeded to rollout in all of our stores,” Adams said. “Having the ability to easily measure and analyze speed of service has given managers and employees a greater sense of urgency. The ability to examine order prep times against the overall speed of service continuum will help us to learn exactly what components of the process are slowing down speed of service. Once measured, we are in a better position to correct any weaknesses in our drive-thru component. Additionally, as we obtain the ability to compare measurements through our entire network, we will begin to ask questions such as why this store is doing better than that store and migrate best practices throughout our organization.”

About XPIENT Solutions, LLC.
XPIENT Solutions ( www.xpient.com ) is an organization of highly qualified restaurant and software development specialists devoted to business process improvement and professional support services for the foodservice industry. XPIENT offers a full complement of integrated technologies including Point-of-Sale, Back Office and Enterprise Management. From applications that help efficiently take orders and improve kitchen throughput, to labor management, production prep, inventory control, customer loyalty, speed of service, surveillance enhancement and data management tools, XPIENT's solution suite allows the restaurant operator to better and more easily manage every aspect of their restaurant operations.

About Frisch's
Frisch's Restaurants, Inc. is a regional company that operates full service family-style restaurants under the name of Frisch's Big Boy. The Company also operates grill buffet-style restaurants under the name Golden Corral under certain licensing agreements. At the end of the fiscal year, we operated 88 Big Boys and 30 Golden Corrals. Sales in fiscal 2005 rose 7.5% to $279,247,122 from $259,701,417 last year. Net earnings for the year rose 38.3% to $14,557,969 compared with $10,529,010 last year. In June, we opened our first restaurant in Pennsylvania, in Uniontown. All restaurants operated by the Company are located in various regions of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Plans are in place to expand Golden Corral operations into certain parts of Michigan.