“Tasty sushi for all. Tasty sushi for the heart.”
Akindo Sushiro is Japan's largest chain of conveyor belt sushi restaurants, with over 450 stores domestically and currently expanding internationally. Sushiro is renown for providing low-cost and high-quality sushi as well as excellent customer service. We at Fusion Systems work together with them as their technology partner to support their mission of sustaining high quality operational practices and great customer service.
Fusion Systems Solution
Sushiro wants to lower operational costs without sacrificing the quality in service as well as maintain their steady business growth. We were chosen because of our proven track record in providing reliable IT technology that is both highly flexible and scalable.
Fusion Systems helps Sushiro bring an edge over their competition. With our technology, Sushiro managed to significantly increase turnover rates, reduce wastage, and lower their operational costs. In 2017, Sushiro ranked as No. 1 in Food & Beverage apps in Japan for two months in a row for its MAU (Monthly Active Users), number of downloads, rate of user increase, and application level of activity.
Mobile App for Reservation and Net Ticketing (SUSHIPASS)
Sushiro's popularity has caused their average waiting time during peak-time to be as long as 3 hours. To prevent customers from having to wait for exorbitant amounts of time and to better manage seating of customers, we have come up with a solution—SUSHIPASS. This is an iOS and Android mobile application that allows users to make reservations. It includes a "net ticketing" feature, allowing users to virtually pull tickets and immediately be put in the queue. Users will get a reminder 30 minutes before and once again, 10 minutes before they will be seated via push notifications on their smartphone. SUSHIPASS is able to provide very precise real-time waiting time by tracking users' current location and using historical data to analyze off and on peak average waiting time.
Since the release of the app in early 2015, Sushiro has reached 5,500,000 downloads and the user base continues to grow. With this mobile evolution, customers can effectively manage their waiting times via their smartphone. No longer are they days of physically waiting at the restaurant in a long queue. Within 2 years of release, the mobile ticketing feature in our app has reached 70% usage.
The app has been ranked as No.1 in the Food and Drink Category in App Store, over the other major restaurants apps. This app has also been awarded in "App Ape Award 2016" in Brand App Category.
HR Interview and Contract Management
Sushiro employs over 45,000 part-time staff every year, meaning hundreds of interview and hiring contract paperwork is generated on a daily basis. Additionally, storing three years of documentation is quite costly in terms of space and operation. We helped Sushiro resolve this issue by deploying a HR system that digitizes all job applications, hiring paperwork, and different types of employment records. All documents are stored securely in the cloud. The system also supports contract renewal management of part-time staff. Multi-language support is provided to meet Sushiro's localization needs and to accommodate their international expansion goals. With this HR system, new staff registration is 3x faster and documentation and labor management has become a lot more efficient.
CRM Database
We also provide a single entry point for Sushiro to access their customer database. A series of APIs allow information about customers to be shared across all their systems: SUSHIPASS, Takeout, and MyPage. The benefit is that their customers can now login to Sushiro's different platforms via one account.
Food Management System (Fridge App)
Like most large scale restaurant chains, Sushiro's inventory management is very complex. They were using Excel sheets to record inventory which we all know is a very time consuming effort. Managing fridge inventory is very critical in keeping restaurant operations healthy and running smoothly. Dealing with fresh food in the kitchen, for example, involves knowing where food items are located and how much is left. Sushiro wanted a quick way to locate where items are without having to goto every freezer or fridge to locate food. We came up with an app solution that gives them a quick visualization of which items are where.
Since our Fridge App was deployed, food items’ traceability and portion management became a quick and easy process. With a few clicks from the tablet, staff can easily assign items to different facilities. The layout of all raw inventory can be seen, shared, and printed with just one click. With the Fridge App, Sushiro has effectively reduced food waste and costs associated with it as well as streamlining their operations.