What restaurant facilities managers want from their FM software
Effective restaurant facilities management (FM) is particularly important because properties are revenue generating. Uptime is critical for preventing lost revenue from an unplanned closure due, for example, to equipment breakdown.
Moreover, equipment downtime—even when it’s a broken ice cream machine—can impact long-term customer loyalty, especially in the hyper-competitive restaurant industry. Regular customers and their recurring, reliable revenue are top of mind for restaurant ownership and facilities managers.
To ensure uptime, facilities managers rely on FM software, like a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), for scheduling and automating essential tasks. Those tasks include preventive maintenance for extending the useful life of equipment, especially kitchen refrigerators and walk-in freezers.
When considering FM software, restaurant facilities managers prioritize the following features:
Communication
Time-stamped communication streams found inside work orders and available to all FM stakeholders give visibility into the actions and steps leading to completion. For internal FM teams, the stream can also reveal technician skill gaps needing to be remedied to meet tight SLAs for urgent kitchen repairs, like combination ovens and dishwashers.
Mobile app for on-the-go efficiency
It’s not unusual for an FM team to be responsible for multiple dozens, even hundreds, of restaurants. A mobile CMMS is essential for ensuring productivity on the road. Software can schedule and optimize a technician’s daily route and bundle work orders for a specific restaurant to ensure multiple requests are handled while a technician is on site.
One centralized FM platform that’s scalable, efficient, and compatible
For FM teams whose operations were once paper- and fax-driven, having all information available in one easily accessible database is a huge win. The database is both a storehouse of information and system of record available to stakeholders 24/7 on both desktop and mobile platforms.
A CMMS should scale to accommodate the growth of FM operations. It must fulfill its promise of time- and cost-savings and integrate with business software used by other FM stakeholders, like accounting and finance.
Forward-looking FM with metrics, insights, and reporting
CMMS data, especially when augmented by business intelligence, provides insights into the health of aging assets, and even identifies when such equipment should be replaced. Forward-looking facilities management favors preventive maintenance (PM) to save money over the long term and limit reactive repairs. Data-driven insights inform budgets and enhance preparedness, like ordering ovens, heat lamps, and deep fryers well in advance of replacement to counter long delivery times and supply chain disruptions.
Customized workflows and reporting
Because restaurants are open 70 or more hours per week, kitchen equipment gets greater wear and tear and needs more frequent preventive maintenance than equipment in other industries. Flexible and configurable workflows enable FM teams to mitigate the effects of heavy equipment use and prepare for other restaurant-specific issues, like random health inspections.
Customized reporting within FM software, like a CMMS, allows restaurant FMs to see the metrics most relevant to their operations, such as budget compliance, equipment uptime, and work order lifecycles.
Business intelligence combined with CMMS data displays metrics in visual dashboards with high-level views for executive leadership needing to understand overall operations and granular views for restaurant FM teams needing visibility into the health of individual assets.
CMMS technology for professional facilities management
Check out the new report, The CMMS solution to facilities management.
Looking for the right CMMS platform? Contact a JLL Technology solutions expert to learn more about our Corrigo platform for restaurant FM.