NEXTEP SYSTEMS recently received a patent for a foodservice technology that the company's leadership likes to say makes the user feel smarter when they use it.
"Most point-of-sale systems made me feel stupid," says Tommy Woycik, president of
NEXTEP SYSTEMS. "I thought, 'Why can't an employee with a little training load a complex order into the system?'"
The 10-year-old company received a patent for its point-of-sale platform that utilizes what the firm is calling a wizard approach. Its menu flow and display only puts the options a user needs on the screen, streamlining the process and simplifying the menu flow so as to minimize the training necessary to use it.
NEXTEP SYSTEMS also makes self-ordering kiosks that allow customers to order their own food or coffee, grab a ticket, and wait for it to come up. It is used everywhere from restaurants to airports to casinos.
Sales of NEXTEP SYSTEMS platforms have steadily increased in recent years, resulting in a three-year, compound-annual growth rate of 36 percent.
"Every year we grow 30-40 percent," Woycik says.
That has enabled the Troy-based firm to continually add employees. It has a staff of 40 and four interns, hiring four people over the last year as software developers, sales professionals, and customer service representatives. NEXTEP is also looking to hire another four people.
With 1,500 installations in the U.S. and adding 150 over the next year, Woycik is optimistic that NEXTEP SYSTEMS will continue to hire and grow at its current rate.
"We're going after larger and larger customers," Woycik says. "We want to go after the largest clients with more than 100 locations."
Source: Tommy Woycik, president of NEXTEP SYSTEMS
Writer: Jon Zemke
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