Some items hit your bottom line harder than others. High-cost ingredients, items prone to waste, and products that walk out the back door deserve extra attention. Best Practices in Expressway give you ready-to-use guidance on exactly how to fix the most common loss patterns, right where you spot the problem.
What Best Practices Are
Best Practices are short, item-specific instructions that explain how to reduce loss on items with chronic variance issues. Think holding amounts, portion controls, closing procedures, and where to check for theft. They live right next to the items you're already reviewing, so you don't have to dig through training materials or guess at next steps.
You'll know an item has a Best Practice attached when you see the information icon next to its name.
Where to Find Them
Best Practices show up in the reports where you're most likely to catch a problem:
Troubleshooting
Summary
Item Variance
Key Item Targets
In each of these views, scan for the information icon next to an item name. If you see it, there's guidance available with one click.
How to View Best Practices
Open any of the reports listed above from Manage Inventory.
Find an item with variance you want to address.
Click the information icon next to the item name.
A pop-up appears with the step-by-step Best Practice for that item.
That's it. Read through the guidance, take action, and close the window.
Tip: If you're reviewing variance with a manager or shift lead, pull up the Best Practice on screen during the conversation. It turns a "we need to do better" chat into a "here's exactly what to do tomorrow" plan.
Printing the Best Practices Report
Sometimes it's easier to walk the floor with a printed reference, or hand a copy to a new manager during training. You can pull a Best Practices report for any items you choose.
Go to Manage Inventory > Counts and open the Best Practices report.
Check the box next to each item you want included.
Click Create Report.
The report will generate below. Use the toolbar to print it or save as a PDF.
Tip: A focused report with just your top 10 to 15 problem items is often more useful than a full list. Easier to share, easier to act on with your team.
Editing Best Practices for Your Group
If you're a franchisee, you can edit Best Practices to match your group's own standards, procedures, and expectations. The defaults are a starting point. If your team has a different holding procedure, a specific portioning rule, or a closing routine that's worked well for you, update the guidance so your operators see what matters most for your business.
Heads up: Edits apply across your group, so everyone in your organization will see the same updated guidance. It's a great way to make sure every store is working from the same playbook.
FAQ
Why don't I see an information icon on every item? The icon only appears on items where a Best Practice has been added. If there's an item you'd like to add guidance for, you can edit the Best Practices list directly.
Can I add a Best Practice for a new item? Yes. You can add new entries for any item that doesn't already have one.
What if a default Best Practice doesn't quite fit our operation? Edit it. The guidance is meant to reflect how your group actually runs.
You're All Set
Best Practices turn a variance number on a screen into a clear action you can take with your team. Start by clicking the icon next to your biggest problem item this week and see what comes up. You might be surprised how much variance traces back to one or two fixable habits.
Still stuck? Reach out to our support team and we'll be happy to help.