February 6, 2024
Collaborative Group Vets Cubigo
Kendal strives to continually improve offerings to residents, including operational efficiency in activities, maintenance, dining and transportation.
About a year ago, Kendal Affiliates launched a process to improve or replace the Point of Sale (POS) system (how residents pay for dining and other items) and manage other connected services such as dinner reservations. Christian Ramsey, Director of Operations at The Kendal Corporation, helped research and vet various providers alongside each community’s dining, financial, and information technology (IT) teams. The Kendal Corporation retained Hartman Executive Advisors to help in the selection process and potential implementation.
Over nine months, this collaborative group reviewed several systems. Cubigo emerged as the winning choice, seeming to be the most cost-effective and able to provide the flexibility and customization needed to support Kendal’s unique operating structure.
For now, most Kendal Affiliate communities will utilize only the POS component of Cubigo. Enso Village is starting with the full array of offerings Cubigo provides at an additional cost and more complex roll-out procedures. Other Affiliates are considering the move to Cubigo for added resident engagement offerings.
“One of the unique points of Cubigo is its capability to extend far beyond POS,” shared Christian Ramsey. “Cubigo’s bread and butter is resident engagement. They have done an excellent job with this function and offer expanded functionality within their native application, called “cubes,” to enhance capabilities for organizations like Kendal. We foresee further use of Cubigo capabilities as we learn from the experience at Enso Village and other early adopters that will benefit Kendal communities in the future.”
Cubigo’s Unique Selling Points
The joint Kendal group selected Cubigo as the POS solution for several reasons. The cloud-based platform can be used on all Apple devices by team members and any device for residents. Many communities prefer this to proprietary technology because Apple devices are familiar, affordable, versatile and potentially offer resale value when upgrading.
Cubigo also offers the ability to plug into Kendal’s existing data analytics and feed data directly into other software platforms. Additionally, it can be integrated into Electronic Health Records (EHR) and financial management programs (FM&A).
Importantly for Kendal, Cubigo is configurable. Each community can change its appearance or capability depending on its needs and desires.
Entering the Design Phase
Christian Ramsey is leading the Kendal team that will roll out Cubigo to each Affiliate.
“Where we are right now is the design process. We have four workstreams in the Cubigo designing stage and are working on developing the Kendal branded app, designing the POS system for dining, full implementation at Enso Village, and near-term implementation at Kendal at Ithaca. Each Affiliate will be able to have their own Kendal branded language, custom photos, and specialized landing pages,” Christian points out.
The Cubigo design phase has not been without challenges. As we build out the specific plans for each organization that will use Cubigo, we are identifying complexities of some of the meal plans around Kendal that don’t translate seamlessly to the new solution. The more meal plans offered by one location, such as per day versus per month, points, dollars or al la carte, the more complicated the design and the more involved the process to successfully launch in that location. Many Kendal Affiliates have evolved meal plans and offerings in response to market demands, but legacy plans are still in use and must be accommodated by the new solution.
Cost Savings and Kendal Support
Like most POS solutions, Cubigo has an upfront design fee and an annual maintenance fee to keep the apps running and push out updates. The scale of the Kendal System will allow each Kendal Affiliate to share the costs instead of paying individually. This results in substantial savings for each community.
Additionally, by buying into the product as an enterprise, Kendal secured special pricing for all modules and adjacent integrations.
The System will also benefit from Christian Ramsey and other Kendal team members’ time and expertise. Christian’s role as project lead is to manage the initiation of each rollout. By working alongside each Affiliate as they implement the app, he will provide necessary Kendal support during the process and aid in the translation of Kendal business practices to Cubigo. The goal is to improve the process with each implementation and work towards standardizing business practices, ensuring a functional, developed app for each community.
Benefits for Current and Prospective Residents
Even for communities only subscribing to the POS “cube,” residents will benefit directly beyond payments, particularly in dining. For example, residents currently must call the dining room to make a reservation. With the Cubigo app, they can log in to a portal and make reservations from their device with immediate confirmation.
For communities choosing to purchase other “cubes” offered by Cubigo, they can coordinate housekeeping, maintenance, transportation and other service requests. Employee teams can also broadcast valuable messages to all residents, such as essential weather updates. It can also be used as a resident engagement and communication platform.
Cubigo is also working on the capability to offer a special cube for prospective residents, where the app can offer a “looking glass” of what is happening in the community and help them stay connected.
Cubigo is Coming Soon
The Kendal System is currently in the Cubigo design phase. Some communities, such as Enso Village, will launch their capabilities in the coming months; others will roll out over the next 12 to 18 months. More updates on the benefits and opportunities of Cubigo will be coming soon.
