#4 - Subway Franchise
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Case Study : Subway, United StatesHow Abcom worked with Subway of America to develop the foundations of a global backoffice technology platform. |
Subway has grown from humble beginnings to become a massive global QSR success.
Despite Subway's steady growth, excellent store operations and robust business model, no standardised back office technology solution had evolved within the franchise as a whole. Individual franchisees had selected a large range of differing back office systems; with mixed functionality tradeoffs and no common feature sets or integration.
Subway knew a unified and specialised backoffice I.T. needed to be developed that could become a defacto standard for all Subway franchises; designed to meet the special requirements of the business and delivering a standardised technology platform that could be built upon into the future.
Abcom sent representatives to Subway HQ in the USA to tender a bespoke eProphet store suite as the Subway backoffice solution. Several other backoffice suppliers also tendered for this opportunity but in the end Subway selected Abcom as the backoffice systems supplier based on several key factors.
Subway was impressed firstly with the overall resilience, stability and architecture of the eProphet solution. eProphet has been built on patterns and practices that have been battle tested in real stores for nearly 30 years. It represented a robust and mature product with less risk than shorter operational history alternatives. The fact that ePropet was a solid and dependable thick client system at the core was another crucial factor - Subway knew that thin client solutions and cloud based technology created an unnecessary dependence on external systems that outweighed any benefits of convenient deployment they might bring.
Secondly, depth of software functionality was a critical factor in the decision. The eProphet store suite contains a fully functioning Inventory Control, Cash Control, Labor/Time & Attendance management system, Scheduling management system, POS & timeclock communications support, central file maintenance support, ability to extend select functionality beyond the store through Abcom Cloud Services, and above store integration to accounts and payroll systems. The Abcom solution represented a comprehensive, one-stop-shop product that ticked all boxes.
Finally, flexibility to change and customisation was absolutely essential. Subway needed a solution that would map to their tech and business model, not the other way around. Abcom was able to instantly provision a dedicated development team that would further enhance and adapt the eProphet solution exactly to Subway's specifications under difficult deadlines.
Abcom has now delivered and completed hand over of the Subway/eProphet back office solution which is currently being operated in select pilot stores throughout the USA. Upon completion of the pilot and subsequent solution fine tuning, the solution will be standardised and made available to franchisees globally.
Franchise Software
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