Sodexho Commits to NKL Cash Handling
Released: 2-19-03
First Trial Sites Prove Cost-Savings in Less
than 90 Days for Loss Prevention and Quick, Accurate Cash-Out Procedures.
Goals: Protect Cash and Protect Time.
Sodexho (NYSE: SDX), as North America’s leading provider of food
and facilities management services, was interested in reduced operating
costs and ultimately an opportunity for sales growth. Hospital cafeteria
sales have been trending downward industry wide in the last two years.
The company requested that NKL Cash Handling handle several beta trial
installations to prove that cost savings could be achieved through electronic
cash handling. Primary objectives included loss prevention, and quick
cash-out procedures at high-volume hospital cafeteria properties.
Client Profile:
Sodexho (www.sodexhoUSA.com) is the leading provider of food and facilities
management in the US and Canada, with $5.5 billion in annual sales. Sodexho
offers innovative outsourcing solutions in food service, housekeeping,
grounds keeping, plant operations and maintenance, asset management, and
laundry services to more than 6,000 corporations, health care, long term
care and retirement centers, schools, college campuses, military and remote
sites in North America. Headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD, Sodexho is
a proud endorser of the Global Sullivan Principles for Corporate Responsibility
(www.globalsullivanprinciples.org).
Overview of Initial NKL Cash Handling Installations:
Several NKL Cash Handling installations were made in 2002 alongside sister
product, Image Vault for digital video surveillance. The last of several
beta trials was installed at University of Cleveland Medical Center (Cleveland,
Ohio) in August 2002.
The typical cash management system from NKL Cash Handling
includes cash validators at each cash register, and cash dispensers including
coin changing tied to a data management software tool called NKL Edge.
A validator or a cash dispenser can act as the controller of its total
smart safe system. The combination of NKL and Image Vault technologies,
both from FKI Security Products, allowed for complete POS transaction
tracking. Sodexho managers can see what the transaction was as a video
image and as a receipt.
Anticipated Benefits:
Loss Prevention and Employee Security.“We anticipated increasing
security of cash handling dramatically for both employees and managers.
This system allows a department head to track electronically who’s
in and out of the safe and is designed for levels of access control,”
explained Sue Simons, director of analytical and performance systems at
Sodexho Health Care Services in Tinley Park, Ill.
Decreased Cash Counting for All Staff.
There was also an immediate understanding that the installations would
decrease the amount of time required for cash counting and accounting
reconciliations. “Some cafeterias see such heavy volume that there
may be up to 16 cash-outs per day, and each cashier generally handles
his or her own cash-out,” said Simons.
Time-Savings. Cashiers Can Buy Change
Directly. With NKL electronic cash handling, a cashier can avoid interacting
with management every time change is needed. The system automatically
records what change has been dispersed or received by a cashier with a
time and date stamp.
Verified, Tangible Results
Substantial Time Savings. Simons' reports soft savings in labor
reduction. The 30 minute average cash-out has been reduced, per cashier,
to about five minutes, freeing them up to handling the customers. Per-Cafeteria
Sales Increases. Simons also reports from 2- 5 percent increases in sales
in the months since the NKL Cash Handling systems have been in place.
“We have seen more than a 5.3 percent increase in sales at our first
installation for year-end. This is very encouraging and we have begun
to evaluate at least 38 other facilities for NKL Cash Handling systems
in our network,” she said. Simons said an additional three installations
will occur in the first two quarters of 2003 with plans to review NKL
Cash Handling for other Sodexho divisions, including its Campus Services
Division by summer 2003. The scheduled installations will include United
Children’s Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota; and the Cincinnati Children’s
Hospital in Ohio.
Return on Investment (ROI). “We know that there
is a return on the investment in NKL Cash Handling systems within 20 weeks,
instead of the originally thought six months. This makes electronic cash
management an important part of our bottom-line profitability,”
Simons said.
Why NKL Cash Handling?
Simons of Sodexho indicated that NKL was willing to work with Sodexho
to make any necessary software changes to interface IT and cash register
systems. “They were very responsive and investigative in working
through all our environments. They are available for consultation and
field testing.”
“This was a major factor in our decisions to move
forward,” she said. For example, NKL Cash Handling wrote in the
“vend till feature”, so that multiple vend tubes could be
used simultaneously at the beginning of a shift. NKL Edge software allows
senior management and onsite managers to track in real-time each cafeteria’s
performance based on their own pre-selected metrics, or to develop graphs
and quick charts in Microsoft Access. The NKL Edge PLUS software connects
instantly into safes for total programming and key master authority. These
metrics can then be compared and contrasted against archived data, other
facilities, or grouped in regions or by division for total results.
NKL Cash Handling Service and Support
24/7 support is offered to all NKL clients, including Sodexho, for maximum
performance. Based on the Sodexho trials, validator and dispensing units
had bill jams less than one percent of the time. Brandon M. Ring, National
Account Manager for NKL Cash Handling, indicated that the NKL Edge software
was being enhanced for release in Q1 2003 as NKL Edge Plus. “We
look to build a feature-rich electronic cash management system that is
easy to use and economical to install,” he added. Sodexo results
were typical of the customer base in the retail, restaurant, and convenience
store sectors in 2002. “The customer is our priority and we look
at customization requests as our field research and product development
opportunities.”
NKL is a brand of the FireKing Security Group, based in
New Albany. For product information, contact, Mike Smith, Vice President
of Research & Development at 800-457-2424, Ext. 1262, or visit www.nklcashhandling.com.
About NKL
NKL cash handling, a member of the FKI Security Group, (formerly Fire
King International) is a premiere cash management product serving the
loss prevention industry. The FKI Security Group goes beyond traditional
safe technology and adds a turnkey system for cash management, financial
auditing, financial tracking, and cash handling. Through a vigorous focus
on the customer and their changing needs, NKL remains the number one leader
in this new category of cash management for loss prevention. For more
information, visit nklcashhandling.com.
For more information contact news@fkisecuritygroup.com.
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