The OU Experience: Day 3/4 - C-Bord/Micros + Meetings + Marketing + Project

For day 3 of the internship we got to spend the day with Sean Bacon, the director/manager of C-Bord and Micros. C-Bord is the program that is used by the university to document purchasing reports, inventory, ingredients, and recipes from all the locations across campus. It's also the program that Kelsey and I are using partially for our project in respect to nutritional data for each individual menu item. So learning how the program works was really helpful in preparing us for what we'll need to do. We also got to take a look at a time/temp system they use which keeps track of all fridge/freezer temps across campus at all locations. It displays them together and as soon as the temp reaches 46 degrees F it sends a text message to the manager of the location to let them know the machine is not at the proper temperature. This way the manager can fix the problem to prevent product spoilage and loss of inventory.

The other half of Bacon's job requires handling Micros, which is the cash register system at OU. This job is huge! There is so much work behind handling all the requirements that comes with this system. It involves in putting all employees data and giving them codes which allows access to certain areas of the system. For example, an employee who is working dishes, kitchen prep and catering will have those options only when they clock in to choose from. Then, there is also the area of creating the screen set up for the touch screen cash machines. He actually gets to design the layout including the size of the buttons, the colors, and which screen will lead into the next. This seems like it would be so hard to learn just due to the sheer amount of thinking that goes into making this. Say at Crossroads (a restaurant) you wanted to create a menu for a bacon cheese burger. You have to create buttons that say ketchup, mustard, onions, bacon, cheese, extra cheese, no cheese, coke, XL coke, refill, etc. until you have all the options available that you can think a customer might want with that meal. Nearly impossible! Although he said that changes usually end up happening within the first week and he works with the managers to determine what will work for them and their customers as well. But it was very interesting and cool that there's a bit of graphic design behind the job.

After we were done with that, we got to sit in on another one of Shawn's (other Shawn's) meetings with Core-Mark which is a company that deals with supplying convenience stores with merchandise and machines. The guys had driven up from Texas and will be supplying her Xcetera store once in opens with different coffee machines, flavor shot machines, creamers, sweeteners, and everything in between! I had nooo idea there were so many kinds of coffee, it was crazy. Kelsey and I were shocked at how many decisions go into it. Another interesting aspect was to see the limitations that were put on their choices due to the fact that the university is in contract with Coca-Cola. So say if they wanted to purchase an iced tea machine from this company, they wouldn't be able to since coke owns a certain brand. The only areas on campus where they would be able to supply something separate would be Wendy's or Chick-fil-A since they have their own contracts. One of the really cool things they're purchasing is an oatmeal machine! Shawn is super excited and says its her 'baby'. It actually looks pretty good too!

Onto day 4 now, FRIDAY! So in the morning we got to spend some time briefly at marketing with Amy. She showed us her office where she works with 2 other individuals and 5 interns which the recruit from the university, but only during the school year. Kelsey and I will be working with them for our project this month where they'll help design the fitter foods menu and promotional material. Their department is growing quite a bit and they handle more then just housing and food service. It is a huge job and it's hard to believe that they can handle it all with as few people as they do. She also showed us some of the mock dorm rooms they have which are really quite gorgeous. There are three similar buildings around the building we work in which have offices on the first 2 floors but have dormitories on the rest of the levels (about 12). There are some pics down below along with the Couch meal hall.

After spending some time in marketing it was almost lunch. We headed out to eat then came back and spent the rest of the afternoon working on our project. We got to work on C-bord as well as US Foods website which allowed us to look through the food catalog that Flying Cow uses to determine nutrient information and purchasing patterns. We also got sent the cost sheet which shows how they determine the cost of each item as well as the portions used for the recipes. It's a lengthy process but it's really interesting to get some hands on experience and work with these programs.

We have no big plans for the weekend, I've just been relaxing this morning and went for a walk around the campus. It's really cool on campus because when they end up tearing down an old building they put in a small park so all over campus there are these little parks everywhere. There are some pics down below as well which show the lovely weather we're having! Most of this next week is working around Couch to see how they handle purchasing, food costing, scheduling, and a bunch of other things.