Jack in the Box Improves Quality and Efficiency with Automation
When Srinivas Vajupeyayajula became the owner/operator of 18 Jack in the Box franchises in the greater Houston area, he immediately transitioned the restaurants over to an automated oil management system from Restaurant Technologies, Inc.® (RTI).
Jack in the Box, one of the nation’s largest hamburger chains, lists food quality, safety and innovation among its core values, so replacing an outdated and dangerous manual oil-handling process with the RTI system made perfect sense. Now, Vajupeyayajula’s employees enjoy easily managing the restaurant oil – because it can be added, filtered and disposed of, even while hot, without ever needing to touch a drop.
The RTI oil management system is comprised of two tanks – one for fresh oil and one for waste oil – and a secure fill box mounted to the exterior of each restaurant. The closed-loop automated oil handling solution helps restaurants manage oil more efficiently while increasing workplace safety and improving restaurant cleanliness. RTI’s Web-based oil management portal provides Jack in the Box decision-makers with store-level visibility into oil related activities, thus optimizing oil usage and ensuring consistent fried food quality. RTI also recycles used cooking oil into biodiesel and feedstock, directly supporting corporate sustainability initiatives.
Using the Total Operations Management (TOM) portal, managers can monitor data for single or multiple restaurant locations, analyzing oil quality, usage and filtration statistics. The portal provides easy-to-interpret graphs eliminating data analysis and enabling managers to take action quickly on SOP compliance and process improvements.
TOM alerts Vajupeyayajula if more than 100 pounds of oil is used in a day so he can evaluate why more oil has been used. If employees are not following the proper oil management processes, he knows right away and can work with staff to get back on track.
The portal also shows how often the oil is filtered, when it is filtered and for how long. By properly filtering, restaurants maximize the oil’s life which contributes to the company’s bottom line and overall food quality.