The Core Problem
Decision Logic, an Omaha-based provider of back-of-house operations software for multi-unit restaurant brands, has released two new products — Vitals and ShiftFlow — aimed squarely at a persistent unit-level pain point: managers finding out what went wrong only after the shift has ended.
The product pair targets the window between signal and action. Vitals delivers 34 near-real-time metrics spanning sales performance, labor, productivity, and adjustment risk, while ShiftFlow functions as a mobile task-management layer that translates those signals into actionable workflow items. Both are available now, with beta operators already live on the platform.
The Numbers
Vitals surfaces 14 performance metrics, 11 labor metrics, five productivity metrics, and four adjustment-risk metrics — all accessible without requiring managers to retreat to a back-office terminal. The dashboard is designed to flag developing issues in real time: whether sales are tracking to forecast, whether labor is running over schedule, whether an employee is approaching overtime, or whether void and discount activity warrants a closer look.
ShiftFlow was architected with manager turnover explicitly in mind. With annual manager turnover across the industry running at 28%, the product attempts to reduce the institutional-knowledge problem by codifying shift processes into a repeatable mobile workflow. Tasks can be generated automatically from existing schedules, pushed down from above-store leaders, or created ad hoc by managers on the floor. At launch, ShiftFlow supports nine task types, including scheduled orders, inventories, line checks, maintenance, closing activities, and manager reminders.
"Restaurant managers have always had plenty of data. What they haven't always had is the right information at the moment they can still act on it," said Keegan Conrey, CEO of Decision Logic. "We want managers to be able to see a problem developing, understand what needs attention and do something about it before the shift is over instead of reading about it in a report tomorrow."
Operator Context
For multi-unit operators managing labor cost as a percentage of sales — one of the two biggest line items in the restaurant P&L — real-time labor and productivity visibility has direct implications for store-level margin. A unit running three percent over its labor budget for two hours of a dinner shift can still course-correct; the same unit discovering the overrun at the morning manager review cannot.
Decision Logic's existing platform already covers inventory management, food cost intelligence including actual-versus-theoretical variance and menu item analysis, labor optimization, manager logs, digital line checks, and consolidated sales reporting. Current operator partners include 54th Street Restaurants, RibCrib BBQ, Golden Corral, Taco John's, and Twin Peaks — a mix of full-service and fast-casual brands that illustrates the platform's multi-segment positioning.
ShiftFlow will launch without a POS dependency, lowering the integration barrier for operators running heterogeneous tech stacks. Vitals will launch with Toast and Qu integrations, with additional POS partnerships planned — a meaningful detail for chains that have standardized on other point-of-sale systems and are evaluating back-of-house technology upgrades.
What's Next
Operators can evaluate both products live at the Decision Logic booth at FSTEC 2026. For above-store leaders managing multiple units, the combined Vitals and ShiftFlow capability offers a consistency layer: uniform task execution across locations and a shared visibility framework that doesn't depend on any single manager's institutional knowledge or reporting habits.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
