IFS Qatar

IFS Group’s diversified business interests include in-house-developed Retail Brands & Restaurant Concepts, Franchised Food Outlets, and Integrated IFS Contract Catering & Support Services, which is the core business activity.

IFS currently has 50+ outlets under 10 different brands. These outlets are of 4 types:

1. Corporate Canteens (accessed normally by the corporate employees)
2. School Canteens (accessed normally by Students)
3. Standalone Restaurants/Branded Retail Outlets (accessed normally by family, friends, individuals, etc.)
4. Catering Services (accessed by employees or students or individuals, based on the nature of catering)

IFS Qatar was managing its operations using legacy software. The management wished to implement cashless operations across their Corporate Canteens using RFID cards. They also wanted to implement centralized reporting. To create a better customer experience, they wished to enable roaming between stores and provide reliable and quick customer support.

The IFS Qatar team realised that their existing technology was a limiting factor in making this possible. That is where Semnox Solutions came into the picture.

IFS Qatar intended to have all their F&B operations handled by Semnox’s Parafait F&B Management System. And so, although each of their stores had unique operations covering various facets of F&B operations, it was integrated under Parafait. Here are the details of the approach taken by Semnox for IFS Qatar:

1. Some stores implemented a Cashless Model, wherein pre-loaded Cashless Cards are issued to visitors with certain credits/entitlements that can be used in their respective canteen/stores. 
2. Some other stores went with a Cash & Carry model, wherein visitors come & purchase food items from respective stores based on what is available on the menu. 
3. The remaining stores are operated as fine dining restaurants, where visitors order food at the table and billing is done before they leave.  
4. Semnox Deducting Agents (card readers) have been deployed to manage payments for employees in Corporate Canteens. 
5. All stores are powered by one or more POS machines for operations based on business volume & store size. In total Semnox has deployed 60+ POS stations.
6. The Parafait Kitchen Order Ticketing (KOT) module is being used in stores for efficient order management. The whole process of receiving orders, sending order details to the kitchen and receiving the finished order from the kitchen is tracked using the KOT module. 
7. B2C Online Purchases are enabled for each store so that visitors can recharge their Cashless Cards online and later use them at the stores. This is typically used at Corporate Canteens or School Canteens.
8. The HQ setup has been implemented at all stores allowing business operations to be analyzed at each store, as well as centrally by the management. This means centralised control, effective analysis and decision making is possible anywhere, anytime.

The project was implemented by Semnox using tried and tested change management strategies, making for a smooth transition.