Unity Meals: School Meal Planning Platform

Services we provided:

Product Strategy UI/UX Design Web App Engineering On-Going Support Web-application development

The Client

Unity Meals: Providing Nutritious Meals to Schools

Unity Meals is a food service provider based in Southern California, serving both private and public K-12 schools. They needed a modern solution to replace their outdated digital system, which had been in place for over fifteen years. The company required an ERP platform that could handle the complexities of managing school meal offerings, especially given the differences in meal requirements between private and public schools, as well as the frequent changes in federal and state nutritional regulations.

The Challenge

Streamlining processes and eliminating errors in a complex, manual system

Unity Meals was using a highly complex and manual spreadsheet-based process to manage their meal offerings for public school clients. This solution was prone to errors and created significant data entry challenges. The client needed a more efficient, modern system to manage customer orders, nutritional requirements, and reporting while maintaining the flexibility to adapt to changing regulatory standards. They sought a digital solution that could improve accuracy, speed up operations, and be user-friendly for their team.

The Solution

A flexible and intuitive ERP solution for the food service industry

Materialize collaborated closely with Unity Meals to create a tailored ERP solution that streamlined both front and back-office operations. We conducted a thorough business process analysis to understand their workflow and identify pain points. The new system integrated menu building, customer management, and ordering functions, all within an intuitive user interface. We also ensured that the system could leverage data from their existing platform to minimize disruption and improve data accuracy. One of the critical features of the new system was its adaptability to state and federal nutritional requirements. We built a reporting module that allowed Unity Meals to track compliance with ever-changing regulations, ensuring that their meals met the necessary nutritional standards. The system provided flexibility to adjust these standards as the government made revisions, and it allowed Unity Meals to easily report on students’ nutritional intake to educators.

Services we provided:

Product Strategy UI/UX Design Web App Engineering On-Going Support Web-application development

Product Strategy

Building a flexible solution to address regulatory compliance and streamline workflows

Our product strategy focused on creating a system that would be both robust and flexible enough to adapt to the evolving needs of Unity Meals. We designed the ERP system with a modular approach to streamline workflows for managing customer orders, meal menus, and regulatory compliance. The system’s adaptability was key, as it allowed Unity Meals to keep up with frequent updates to nutritional guidelines while providing real-time reporting to schools.

UI/UX Design

Intuitive UX for easy adoption and quick training

The design of the ERP system prioritized ease of use for the Unity Meals team. We created an intuitive user interface that simplified complex tasks like menu building, customer management, and regulatory reporting. The system was designed for fast adoption by staff, with minimal training required to transition from their old process. Our design also ensured that the user experience was optimized for both desktop and mobile use, making it easy for staff to access the platform anytime, anywhere.

Web App Engineering

Seamless integration with existing data and processes

We developed a scalable and reliable web application that integrated seamlessly with Unity Meals’ existing systems. The new ERP platform leveraged legacy data from their previous spreadsheet-based system to reduce migration challenges and ensure continuity in operations. We also focused on making the system highly adaptable to future needs, with the flexibility to handle new menu items, customer orders, and regulatory requirements as they arise.

On-Going Support

Continuous improvement and support for long-term success

Materialize continues to support Unity Meals as they use the new ERP system. We provide ongoing maintenance, ensuring the platform remains up to date with the latest regulatory changes and adding new features as needed. Our team works closely with Unity Meals to ensure the system evolves with their business needs, helping them stay ahead in a rapidly changing industry. We also provide technical support to resolve any issues quickly and efficiently, ensuring the platform remains a reliable tool for their team.

Web-application development

Technology Stack To Reach Excellence

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