Technology Roundup Mobile, integrated systems and advanced analytics propel FM to new role SHERYL S. JACKSON Fans of the original Star Trek series that first aired in 1966 remember the tricorder an amazing handheld device that scans the environment, records and analyzes data. Who could have predicted that in 2014, retail maintenance professionals would rely on a similar device to track completion of work orders, dispatch vendors and collect massive amounts of data that can be used to better manage their department s budget, staffing and work processes? Of course, today s tricorder is known as a smartphone. www.prsm.com I SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014 I 25
THOMAS KRIER ZAREE VOSKERIJIAN Use of mobile devices for generating and tracking work orders is only one trend in the use of technology to support retail maintenance operations. As more technology is adopted, facility maintenance s role within retail operations is changing. PRSM invited three technology experts to share their insights into what is happening today as well as what the future holds for retail maintenance technology. WHAT HAS DRIVEN THE INCREASED USE OF TECHNOLOGY? Two things happened during the recession of 2008 to promote increased adoption of technology, suggests Thomas Krier, President and Chief Executive Officer of Big Sky Technologies. First, there was a critical need to identify costs in all areas of a retail operation to evaluate opportunities to save, he says. The second reason to adopt technology was related to identification of costs, but came from audit departments. There was an increasing public demand for financial transparency and internal auditors focused on facilities maintenance and the need to document completion of work as well as actual costs, he says. For so many years the facilities department ran under the radar, but now they interact more with auditors and financial managers. There is also a drive to capture data in a way that it can be used to better predict expenses and plan budgets for the future, says Zaree Voskerijian, President, Intelligent Data Systems. Collecting information at all three levels store- or equipment-specific, regional or brand, and executive level gives facilities managers actionable information to evaluate potential for changes in approved vendors, warranty programs or type of equipment purchased. Automating the data collection, aggregation and analysis processes enables managers to work more proactively, he adds. The evolution in field maintenance over the past 10 years has been profound, says Mike Parks, Vice President of Field Services, Verisae. Sophisticated software and adoption of cloud-based and hosted solutions has allowed for a more connected facility, he says. Maintenance, energy and capital projects, which were often competing budgets in the old way of doing business, have been empowered to work together to improve the total cost of facility ownership, allow for intelligent store design and create proactive capital improvement budgets years in advance. WHAT TECHNOLOGIES ARE IN USE TODAY? Outsourcing to third parties. Technology that supports outsourcing some facilities management activities to a third party provides a cost-effective way to extend staff productivity, says Voskerijian. Having a central location to receive maintenance and repair requests, contact pre-approved maintenance vendors with work orders, and document results for the facility management department creates a single touchpoint, which reduces the opportunity for errors, he says. Technology enables the communication to occur between stores and third party vendor seamlessly so store managers do not spend time tracking down the right person. Cloud computing. Although initially viewed with skepticism about security and access to data, cloud computing is a generally www.prsm.com I SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014 I 27
accepted platform today, says Voskerijian. The platform is mature and stable, and safeguards that improve security of data are in place, he says. Facilities managers understand the flexibility and cost savings the cloud represents since there is no need to create or expand the retailers information technology infrastructure to run the cloud-based applications. GPS enabled devices for field technicians. Sensor-based global positioning systems (GPS) imbedded in work order management applications can Come visit us at Booth 41 at the 2014 PRSM Mid-Year Conference Complete Parking Lot Management PAVEMENT MARKING PROFESSIONALS Parker Line Striping, Inc. 3081 US Highway 11, Dekalb Junction, NY 13630 automatically collect the date, time and geocode of the work location. Capturing this level of service data gives managers more precise information to document work, says Voskerijian. Complete maintenance management systems. Facility managers can now monitor utility and energy use, track warranties and improve planned and preventive maintenance in one system, says Parks. There is a push toward machine to machine monitoring to predict failure or outages to minimize loss and ensure sales@parkerline.com www.parkerline.com MIKE PARKS food safety, he says. The value of accurate prediction of maintenance needs saves money because preventive services are performed just in time versus just in case, he explains. Not only does this help retailers save money on maintenance, but it prevents outages that result in loss of perishable products or loss of revenue from customers who don t want to shop in a southern store in the summer with no air conditioning. Invoicing is also easier with complete systems, says Parks. CMMS enables electronic invoice submission and review as well as utility bill processing. Invoices can be checked against work order documentation, contractual agreements and expected costs to ensure accurate payments. Mobile technology. The need for multiple telephone numbers, fax machines, interactive voice recognition (IVR) systems or leaving the store floor to enter a service request, have disappeared with the advent of tablets and smartphones. Field technicians can document work and take photos of maintenance issues with one device that uploads the information into one record, points out Krier. Mobile technology has become not just nice to have, but necessary. There are three uses of mobile technology, a loose coupling of technology and a tightly integrated system, points out Voskerijian. The looser approach means a technician takes a photo in the field and emails it to the office, he says. A tightly integrated application gives the technician access to the work order file so the photo is automatically uploaded to the file, keeping all data regarding that work order together. The third option with mobile technology is a cloud- or web-based system that provides access to full documents with the ability to update documents in real-time, he adds. Optimizing the use of mobile technology and complementing it with a system that can aggregate data into appropriate files requires a thorough understanding of what mobile can accomplish and what the user experience is like, says Voskerijian. The reason it is important to keep the 28 I PROFESSIONAL RETAIL STORE MAINTENANCE I www.prsm.com 704531_Parker.indd 1 8/2/14 6:14 AM
user experience in mind, is the viability of a five-inch smartphone screen versus a 10-inch tablet or 19-inch computer or laptop monitor, he points out. Be sure your technology provides different interfaces for different users, he says. If the online forms are too difficult for field technicians to use on a smartphone, they may document on paper, then input data later, negating the efficiency and accuracy of online documentation. WHAT CHALLENGES DO FACILITIES MANAGERS FACE WITH TECHNOLOGY? Interoperability among disparate applications and systems is a major challenge for facilities managers, admits Krier. Retailers may have an invoice system they like and an energy management system they like, but no way for the two to communicate and share data, he explains. With no interoperability standards in place for software developers, it is up to vendors to enable communication between different systems. The ability to aggregate data from different systems leads to more robust business intelligence as well as more efficient workflows, he adds. Business process change is hard, says Parks. The first challenge is usually funding new technology because maintenance and energy departments are often not experienced at putting together the business case to support capital investment, he explains. There is also a need to educate management that maintenance and energy costs are controllable expenses, with the right tools in place. Once funded, gaining support for a new way to do a job, training and rolling out the technology requires involvement of everyone in the department. For mobile technology, the biggest challenge is the corporate policy regarding personal mobile devices, says Krier. Questions come up about a store managers use of their personal smartphones to enter work requests, he says. Although entering the request on a smartphone, which allows them to stay on the floor as opposed to going into a back office, may be more convenient, employees are using data plans for which they pay rather than the company. While some retailers provide corporateowned devices, not all do, so the retailer must be careful not to require the use of 676884_Divisions.indd 1 www.prsm.com I SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014 I 29 10/03/14 9:13 PM
personal devices, even though submission of a work order takes little data unless a photograph is included, he explains. HOW HAS TECHNOLOGY CHANGED FACILITIES MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENTS? Every facility maintenance manager in every industry is doing more with less these days and technology is supporting this improved productivity. Staffing levels across maintenance teams are incredibly disparate depending on the size of the operation, internal business processes and key performance indicators, says Parks. With big data, the skillset required to perform analytics has increased in facilities teams, but staffing efficiencies can be achieved with automated processes. By eliminating the need for staff to perform repetitive tasks, manually track data or search multiple databases for information, their skills can be used to analyze data. More than anything, technology allows facilities and energy teams to be proactive and effective, working on what is most important more often and implementing long-term strategies to reduce expenses. Facilities maintenance used to be the little department in the corner that no one really notices, says Krier. Now, their experience with software and systems that collect information and provide data in a way that can be used to forecast budgets and implement proactive strategies has created more integration among departments, he says. WHAT DOES YOUR CRYSTAL BALL PREDICT FOR THE FUTURE OF FACILITIES MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY? Integration of multiple systems will continue to grow, predicts Krier. We will also see more facilities maintenance organizations branding their solutions so you see their name and logo when you login to request service. The branding efforts don t just apply to aesthetics, he adds. They are beginning to pay more attention to what they need, so we will see more custom solutions requested by retailers. Near Field Communications (NFC) will become more prevalent, says Voskerijian. An NFC tag on a wireless device will automatically transmit a message that the technician is at the location and will confirm time, day and geocode. This will produce more precise, verifiable documentation for all technicians work, he adds. The use of technology will continue to grow as managers realize the benefit of access to information to make better decisions, says Parks. Evaluating data won t remain an internal exercise instead, facilities maintenance and energy managers will want information about how they compare to others. Benchmarking and sharing best practices will improve the value of facilities maintenance organizations, he adds. Big Data, real-time monitoring and advanced analytics is available today and will continue to be enhanced. If systems are integrated, and retailers have information, in real time on critical assets, it can become predictive in nature, says Parks. Reductions in energy consumption and equipment downtime, and the impact these issues have on food safety, customer satisfaction, production and expense cannot be undersold. l Sheryl S. Jackson is a business writer specializing in facilities maintenance. 30 I PROFESSIONAL RETAIL STORE MAINTENANCE I www.prsm.com 559550_Brinco.indd 1 11/1/11 6:29:35 PM