Meet Sara with The Howard Company...Who is always looking for ways to leverage technology to streamline and automate processes.
- About Sara
Sara Sina joined The Howard Company in 2017 as Vice President of Operations and was promoted to President in 2023 and CEO in 2024. She has a proven track record in continuous improvement and lean manufacturing and is always looking for ways to leverage technology to streamline and automate processes. Before The Howard Company, Sara had roles of increasing responsibility in different industries, including consumer paper products at Procter & Gamble and cast urethane & rubber molding. She holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
- What unique problem does your company solve for restaurants?
The Howard Company is a 100% employee-owned company that specializes in branding signage and technology, including drive-thru equipment and digital displays for the restaurant industry. We customize solutions and integrate multiple technologies to reduce the number of vendors our customers need to interact with, and provide ongoing content management services and technical support to make sure that both the hardware and software we provide is meeting our customer’s needs in an ever-changing industry.
- Why did your company join RTN?
As we grow and continue to serve more customers, we want to be able to offer our expertise to contribute to the industry’s thought leadership on best practices for the use of technology in the restaurant space. We have learned a lot in our 70+ years of manufacturing and offering both printed and digital signage solutions, and we want to share that knowledge to help restaurant operators find the best cutting-edge technologies to help them grow their brands.
- What’s your favorite personal pastime?
I love cooking healthy meals for our family while trying new recipes and techniques
- What three words would you use to describe what’s happening in the restaurant industry right now?
Change, automation, (guest) experience
- What’s your most-used restaurant app and why?
Jimmy Johns mobile ordering app. With my kids in travel sports, on tournament weekends we are often trying to squeeze in a fast meal between games, and it is awesome to be able to order online on our way there and have our meal ready when we get there, so we can get back on the road quickly!
- What restaurateur do you most admire and why?
I most admire Chef Michael Feker, who owns two restaurants in the Milwaukee area including my favorite, IL MITO. His food is amazing, and I had the chance to participate in one of his private cooking demonstrations a few years ago which was fantastic.
- What technology are you most excited about for the future of restaurants and why?
I am most excited about our new kiosk software, which can be set up to do AI-enhanced A/B testing by geographic region. This software learns over time which options are more likely to be selected with each initial purchase and adjusts upselling strategy accordingly to maximize revenue. Ordering kiosks have been shown to produce 7% higher ticket sales than traditional order points, but with suggestive selling, tickets can be up to 28% higher! That result is a real win for our customers in increasing revenue in the same store footprint.
- Connect With Sara
LinkedIn: Sara Sina
Email: [email protected]