With the advent of hospitality specific software solutions, hoteliers can run their business quite efficiently, streamlining the process right from the execution stage to operationreports.
A passion for guest satisfaction alone is never enough to drive the gargantuan task of building a hotel that meets international standards. Project management of a new hotel is an extremely arduous task; however, Project Management International Private Limited (PMIPL), uses an application that makes the job easier all around.
At the start of the project, a project manager is deployed at the site along with his team to monitor quality control, purchase, stores, and a senior engineer for civil, services, and interiors.
When the project is run by PMIPL, this team is on board with the project management software which is loaded on their computers at site, connected online with the company’s head office in Delhi.
The application has been developed in-house, says Lalit Kapoor, the managing director, and is available for their clients to get a clear view of the project stages.
“The team at the site feeds in all the data daily, starting with the receipts and issues in the stores at site, and their progress based on the timelines that are pre-decided at the time of drawing up contract”, he says.
Ravi Shankar, managing director, Anantara Hotels and Resorts, who has used the application in the project stages of a golf and spa resort (Ambatty Greens in Coorg, and Chandra Mahal Haveli, a heritage hotel in a royal property Bharatpur, Rajasthan), agrees on its efficacy.
“The application has helped us knock off an entire layer of processes and personnel. It’s a help at the HR management level too; we did not need as many people for the project as are required in manual planning,” he says.
The application also highlights at what stage what part of the budget should be consumed, since the expenses for project and purchases are fed in as daily data in those computers.
This system shows the projected timelines vis-à-vis the achieved timeline, compares the defined budgets with the planned budgets, as against the executed budgets achieved, and variations and delays if any, at every stage.
“The deadlines set up to achieve these targets are already available with us, so we know whether we are progressing on the right course”, adds Kapoor.
The client only needs to log into the site and get all the reports real time, for all functions, at any point.
Online, the job cost report shows the purchasing progress and the payment progress of their reports. The expediting report is the detailed account of the approval, production, and delivery information available today.
Although, the software is for internal use of PMI only, and the management information system (MIS) derived from the software is available to the clients, a terminal facility has not been implemented yet for various reasons.
“We are trying to extract the MIS so that they see reports in a PDF format in accordance with the information required by the client. Once we achieve that we shall be giving an interactive screen to clients; however, on our website, we do put up a weekly status for the client to monitor online,” clarifies Kapoor.
The benefits are wide and varied. To begin with, under the old system, the relevant people would get the day’s data, but there was no way of knowing how it had fared.
“There was no way of knowing how these resources were being supplied, allocated, or not supplied, and that the project was facing shortfall,” he says. Now, a comparative status is available all the time.
This accuracy, speed, and visibility, help control financial planning, and the transparency of the funds utilisation and availability at every stage allows for better resource planning for the next identified time period.
“We have access to quick comparative information, thereby helping us to plan quickly and well. If I have data on my fingertips for the last month, or the last three months, I know what I should be doing for next week. This helps us plan the project with realistic figures in mind, and that’s a great help, that’s our biggest advantage,” says Kapoor.
Currently, Anantara Hotels and Resorts is using the application in setting up its three-star business property in Gujarat, in another arm of the group that develops star hotels in cities.
Adds Shankar: “In terms of cost, with good visibility of the project movement we now know exactly what is going in at which stage in comparison to our plans and projections; we know where the shortfall is, and the correct figures.
This could be a clincher advantage, especially in these times, due to the ease of planning and the efficiency of statistics availability. PMI has plans for a similar application for the procurement functions too, and, I think, for a hotel group setting up a property, this will be a huge asset.”
Once the hotel is up and running, the project task may be over but the difficult jobs begin. All departments need to be on real time with finance and accounts to ensure that what is needed is being bought, and is paid for prudently.
A number of good applications are available in the market to help manage these, and most multi property hotels in India use them. Some of the most widely used management applications are from Oracle’s product line. PeopleSoft (the HR application), and iBoss, that integrates almost all the functions of back office F&B controls, inventory planning, and financial and accounting planning, are used widely.
Besides group sales and event management solutions, they also offer customer relationship management (CRM) solutions that help the staff provide better customer service, and provide differentiated personalised service at all customer touch points.
Oracle’s solutions are used in a number of hospitality organisations, including industry leaders such as the Taj Group, The Oberoi Group, Lemon Tree Group, Shanghri-La, Hyatt Group, and Marriot properties in India.
Says Ajay Kumar, head IT, Lemon Tree hotels: “The application has been supplied by M/S Alif Systems and hosted in central computing environment (hub-spoke). The common database of application and hospitality specific functions provide greater control and MIS at the corporate level.
The Oracle DB engine has helped the application achieve the highest level of process sustainability and uptime in our scaled operations.”
The Taj Group has deployed this application across all its properties. In the words of Rama Mohana Rao, financial controller, Taj Krishna, Hyderabad: “Oracle offers us an entire gamut of solutions.
The daily purchase details, and the non-stock purchases based on menus and returns, allow us to control inventory, and thus helps us cut costs. The billing process becomes easy, lead time planning becomes easy; the purchase orders are also accurate, and I don’t have to keep looking back to cross-check the accounts.”
Pro’LIFIC is used for an integrated back office system. The application is a one-stop shop that spans the functions of materials management, food and beverage costing, and back office accounting. It covers materials requisitions, purchase, receiving, stock accounting, inventory management, recipe management, F&B cost analysis, debtors accounting, payables management, general ledger, and financial reporting.
At the Trident, it has made the job of back-office management much easier. Says Prashant Gupta, F&B manager, Trident Gurgaon: “It takes care of the entire chain covering inventory and procurement management, and links it back to billing and finance. It also links forward to menu planning so, if we have the menu in the application, it can work on the procurement plan, identify the products already in stock and also identify slow moving stocks.”
Slow moving inventory slows down the cash flow, and Pro’LIFIC ensures that these items are identified and eliminated. “Pro’LIFIC ensures the inventory is maintained, and that it frees up money, which is a great thing for hotels right now”, adds Gupta.
Further, the application maintains records of expiry dates for all stock items, and their last purchase price along with vendor details, and thus affects the P&L on a monthly basis.
From its database it extracts reports of inventory, which helps vastly in inventory management. It also helps cut down on purchase malpractices, since an application once posted cannot be edited – only corrected – leaving a clear auditable trail.
Hence, the reports Prol’IFIC generates reflect the status of inventory, cost, and accounts, real-time and accurately. It is also easily interfaceable with similar applications like Prologic First’s WISH Front Office, Fidelio & Opera front office software, and also Micros’s POS application, to name a few.
The point of sales (POS) systems used in most hotels, provide ease of billing and are, in most cases, connected with the accounting system directly. This ensures that billing is transparent and allows for all related accounts activities in a seamless manner.
Pro’LIFIC provides this solution in its comprehensive package but there are other brands too, like Softbrands and Oracle.
Another application on the list of Tridents’ favorites is the payroll management software, PRISM (Pay Roll Information and Systems Management).
It is a stand-alone application, where the HR fills in the data about the employees, their attendance and so on, and once a month it is made available to the finance department.
“We only need to make the bank deposits of salary on the 25th of the month, and at that time, all of the data is available,” says Neeraj Tanwar, financial controller, Trident Gurgaon.
Hyatt International uses EPICOR/SCALA, a hospitality back office solution with integrated financial, operational and reporting features. For nearly two decades the company worked largely with proprietary systems but, as it expanded, they needed a scaleable and more robust system and the choice happened to be SCALA.
Hyatt needs a solution that supports global localisation, multi-currency, and multi-language capabilities, allowing efficient data sharing between the corporate office and subsidiaries worldwide.
Most internationally known brands are going for the spa experience even in city hotels. A good example is the Lalit, New Delhi. For its increasing spa needs they use Soft Brands Emerald Spa management software, which uses intelliSpa.
The solution covers comprehensive spa management information, such as detailed analysis of the client, as well as marketing features and planning direct marketing campaigns that are customised to usage needs.
Says Lesley Saunders, director global channel and spa strategist, SoftBrands Asia Pacific and Middle East: “While spas have been working on providing a unique experience to their customers to beat the competition, an understanding of ‘what is next’ that spas should look at to improve its operational performance and increase profitability is of utmost importance. This is where technology comes in.
A comprehensive spa solution will help spas improve their treatment room utilisation rate (TRU). TRU is as important to spas as occupancy levels are to hoteliers.”
Softbrands also offers other applications – their POS solution SoftBrands Emerald Food & Beverage management solution is used for foodservice or profit center (wired or wireless), including room service, bars, restaurants, patios and retail stores.
Powered by Squirrel, this restaurant POS software plugs into SoftBrands property management systems and seamlessly integrates all front-of-house and back-office functions.
It also has the ability to sort and route orders, transfer checks between outlets, print copies of restaurant bills from the property management system, track guest market segments, and more.
According to Binu Mathews, vice president and general manager, SoftBrands India: “Just like any other business, the hospitality industry is also getting competitive. To make sure hotels drive revenue growth, hoteliers are depending on technology solutions that can sell more rooms every day, while maintaining the rate parity.
More revenue per customer (MRPC), is the emerging focus for hoteliers. Technology solutions have changed from being mere transactional systems that allow operations, to being used by hotels to up-sell more services.”
PRISM has helped Tanwar keep a tight check on proper accounting without any added resources. “The application takes care of all the deductions, taxes, PF, ESI, all salary returns. We save on resources, plus, the system runs between two departments – HR and accounts – so there is no chance of error at all,” he says.
Adds Gupta – “In F&B, Prol’IFIC has the menu items connected to the stores, and the inventory is linked to the finance and accounts department, so these reports show the entire chain. The biggest advantage is that it facilitates planning, but at the same time, it also ensures that no wrong purchases are made.
“Most hotels today are trying to discourage the practice of buying on purchase requisitions, that is, buying off the market for a one-time situation in an emergency, and this system helps stop that too. All of this ultimately helps in cost cutting and better planning of resources.”
Software applications in the hospitality industry do the same job that their technological abilities do for all industries. Here the added advantage is that they do not just provide a solution. They make the guest difference. A satisfied guest is assured business…and this is no one-time profit. Most big brands in hotels run on this guest loyalty.
