Consultants advise and walk away. The Howard Company is a systems integrator. We take a consultative approach to defining the best solution, then take single-point responsibility for delivering a working system, not a hodgepodge of parts from different vendors. Behind that is a 100% employee-owned manufacturer, founded in 1950 in Brookfield, Wisconsin: weatherized enclosures, canopies, clearance bars, speaker posts, and signage engineered and built in-house, paired with best-fit commercial displays from LG and Samsung.

That system thinking extends past the screen. A drive-thru is a conversation as much as a menu board, customers have to hear and be heard, whether the order is taken by a crew member on a headset or an AI voice agent. Howard integrates the audio and headset communications alongside the visuals; a signage-only vendor addresses the visuals and leaves the rest to you. When a single-software vendor sources the display from one company and hands installation to another, a failure means finding out which of three vendors is at fault. With Howard, one project manager is accountable for the whole working system.

Being software-agnostic is the point, and it's a real advantage. Instead of forcing every customer onto one platform, Howard matches the right content-management system to your requirements, choosing from proven platforms like Navori, Neon, and Nanonation. The right fit depends on questions a single-platform vendor can't answer for you:

• Do you need direct integration with your POS?
• How much customization do you need?
• How hands-on do you want to be with your CMS day to day?

And where it counts, Howard does build proprietary software — our OCS (Order Confirmation System) for the drive-thru. The result: the best platform for your stores, not the only platform a vendor happens to sell.

POS integration is a strength of this model, not a weakness: Nanonation is a founding partner of Square for Drive-Thru (The Howard Company was named in Square's May 2026 launch announcement), Neon offers a documented integration with Toast at the register and with Olo for digital ordering, and Navori's open API lets our team wire menu data from your existing systems, integration work Howard scopes and delivers as part of the project, not homework left to your IT department. And because the CMS layer isn't welded to the hardware, if your brand migrates to a different POS down the road, we can adapt your software without ripping out your screens and enclosures, a safety net a single-platform vendor can't offer.

Consultants advise and walk away. The Howard Company is a systems integrator. We take a consultative approach to defining the best solution, then take single-point responsibility for delivering a working system, not a hodgepodge of parts from different vendors. Behind that is a 100% employee-owned manufacturer, founded in 1950 in Brookfield, Wisconsin: weatherized enclosures, canopies, clearance bars, speaker posts, and signage engineered and built in-house, paired with best-fit commercial displays from LG and Samsung.

That system thinking extends past the screen. A drive-thru is a conversation as much as a menu board, customers have to hear and be heard, whether the order is taken by a crew member on a headset or an AI voice agent. Howard integrates the audio and headset communications alongside the visuals; a signage-only vendor addresses the visuals and leaves the rest to you. When a single-software vendor sources the display from one company and hands installation to another, a failure means finding out which of three vendors is at fault. With Howard, one project manager is accountable for the whole working system.

Yes, we have been doing both digital and static signage for years. Howard runs active digital programs for brands of different sizes, including digital drive-thru systems, indoor/outdoor digital displays, kiosks, and hybrid drive-thru-plus-interior projects, many on ongoing recurring-service agreements. The fact that Howard also does static signage, branding, and merchandising isn't a lack of focus, it means you don't have to hire three vendors to outfit one store.

Every digital rollout has the same cost components: software, displays, installation, and project management. The question isn't whether those costs exist, it's how many vendors and contracts you have to manage to cover them. With Howard, you pay one company: we manufacture the enclosures, structures, and signage in-house, pair them with commercial displays from LG and Samsung, hire and manage the installation contractors, and project-manage the whole scope from concept to install with one point of accountability, which is typically faster and lower-risk for multi-unit operators.