CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN
Cut forecast miss in half
Variance between actual and forecasted labor dropped by more than half.
The hospitality operating system for restaurants
The future of restaurants is hospitality.
For twenty years, restaurant software pulled leaders into the back office. Axial puts them back on the floor.
Axial Shift is the only restaurant operating system that keeps managers focused on hospitality, and out of the office. Axial sets your shifts up for success, from forecast to tip-out, delivering the right information to the right person at the right time. Replace your old tools or connect the ones you already have.
On the floor at
1,000+ locations
The problem has a name
Back office.
For twenty years, leading restaurant software companies built office tools. Each one promised leaders more control and efficiency, but they all stole time and attention. And that came right out of the dining room, the only place a restaurant actually builds its brand.
Restaurants don't need more technology. They need technology that hands the shift back.
FAILURE 01
One for all, nothing great.
Everything and the kitchen sink, and it's all just okay.
FAILURE 02
Locked out of your own data.
You trust it to keep your data, then you can't get to it.
FAILURE 03
One more thing to do.
It asks managers to do something before it does anything for them.
FAILURE 04
One more thing to look at.
Too much to read, too little to act on, and too late to matter.
Why Axial exists
"I didn't see better execution, I saw distraction."
"I owned eight restaurants, and we'd deployed nine different software tools. I found managers in the office more often than not, and the apps we were using were a constant distraction. We were spending more effort training our people to use software than developing their hospitality talents.
I spent two and a half years trying to talk the industry's tech leaders into building something better. They didn't. So we did."
Ellis Winstanley
CEO & Co-Founder · Chairman, Texas Restaurant Association
The new way
Floor-first.
Software should get the best out of operators where they love to be: on the floor. That belief is why we built Axial Shift, a modern tool that puts the operator's experience first.
How we build it
Four rules we don't break.
01
Open.
We connect to everything you run, even our competitors. And your data is yours.
02
Relevant.
Keeps pace with service. Feedback updates as the shift develops.
03
Useful.
93% of team members use Axial. Leaders open it 18 times a week. Hourly staff, 11.
04
Fast.
We measure our success by how fast users get on and off our app.
The hospitality operating system
Focused execution leads to operational consistency.
Every tool Axial builds must answer two questions. Is this improving hospitality? Is this getting the leader out of the office?
BEFORE THE SHIFT
Set up to execute a great plan.
The Daily Guide shows plan vs. actual, who's working and what needs attention. Pre-shift happens on the floor, not in the office. A forecast your managers believe, because they shape it, and the manager makes the final call. Message groups update themselves as people join and leave.
DURING SERVICE
Everyone can see the score.
Goals and challenges where everyone above average wins, so the whole floor plays, not just the top three. Short tasks fire to whoever is closest. Need a line check every three hours? Send it to four roles. Nobody leaves the floor to find out.
AFTER CLOSE
Operational transparency.
Beyond basics like shift trades and time-off requests, team members see what they're succeeding at, where they can improve, and what they've earned. An after-action review for every shift. Tip pools anyone can understand, even banquets and tabs closed by another server.
THE WEEK AHEAD
A constant improvement loop.
Clear perspective leads to better plans and better teamwork. Axial gives senior managers tools to develop newer managers. Challenges make it easy for leaders to set goals the whole team can see, so wins come quickly and often.
What happens when we refocus on hospitality
Leadership shows up in the numbers.
TALK OF THE TOWN
+$399,000
In added wine sales.
HIGH-END STEAKHOUSE
+14% per person
Higher per-person average, while elevating the guest experience.
MID-ATLANTIC GROUP
+28% BWL
Beer, wine and liquor went from 20.2% to 25.8% of sales.
"Our managers are making better decisions. They're making more active decisions based on what's happening in real time."
"Axial Shift was just night and day above everybody else."
Axial earned its position
We wouldn't sell Axial until usage was pervasive.
For four years, Axial was invite-only, one brand at a time. We went to market only when 76% of people used it, from dishwasher to CEO. Today, usage has risen to 93%.
Contributing to our industry is our priority.
During COVID, we only charged restaurants whose sales were up. Today, we resolve more than 90% of customer requests and reported issues within 24 hours.
Our storyADOPTION, DISHWASHER TO CEO
Today93%
Locations1,000+
Users19,000+
Uptime SLA99.9%
Put hospitality back into every shift.
Invest 30 minutes in seeing how Axial can position your team to refocus on hospitality. We'll run through your technology stack, and show you how you can regain your leaders' time and slash your software expenses at the same time.
