As shoppers flock back to physical stores, they demand the same convenient, frictionless experience they can get online. To deliver, retail shops and malls need a system to keep operations running efficiently. Retail facility maintenance takes on added importance, and a streamlined and well-managed maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) supply chain is key to keeping the lights on and customers coming back. Ensuring your on-staff or outsourced retail building maintenance team can find, access, and mobilize the equipment and materials it needs to keep common areas clean, restrooms sanitary, fixtures in good order, and the infrastructure humming along is key to creating an atmosphere where employees want to work, and customers want to shop.
Benefits of Retail Facility Maintenance
No one wants to patronize a store whose management disregards its appearance and functionality. Dirty displays, dingy furnishings, and broken fixtures, sends a message that shop owners and managers do not care about their customers or their employees. Workers will respond with decreased effort and customers will spend their money elsewhere. Beyond creating a pleasant setting for consumers and associates, retail and commercial building maintenance influences several cost and revenue drivers:
- Wear and Tear – Keeping physical plant system components clean and lubricated extends their lifespan and reduces the number of costly repairs and replacement parts commercial building maintenance teams must purchase.
- Asset Value – Equipment kept in running order, windows and doors that open and close smoothly, HVAC systems that actually control the indoor climate, and other well-maintained property retains its value and can fetch higher prices when it comes time to sell.
- Liability – Broken glass, slippery floors, broken light fixtures, and other symptoms of lax retail building maintenance invites worker and customer injury and the inevitable lawsuit that will follow.
Components of Retail Facility Maintenance
Effective retail building maintenance can only be achieved if all parties and workflows work together to create symbiosis and economies of scope. Operations, finance, procurement, warehousing, and the maintenance team or vendor must coordinate their efforts to ensure transparency, coordination, and service levels are maintained. An integrated supply chain approach can manage these related efforts to ensure tasks get done on time and maintenance personnel have the tools they need to perform them successfully. Integrating the MRO supply chain with facility maintenance enables optimal decisions based on the range, scale, scope, and complexity of the duties required and analysis of whether these functions are better outsourced or assigned to in-house staff.
A supply-chain-as-a-service provider can identify the areas where MRO coordination improvements can boost retail facility maintenance performance and ROI, develop a plan for reaching those goals, and implement a range of activities to get there.
Facility Maintenance Supply Chain Optimization
Retail facility maintenance operations face potential risks when required to handle the supply chain themselves caused by geopolitical circumstances, embargoes, transportation bottlenecks, etc. SDI can tailor an MRO supply chain product specifically for these challenges:
- Auditing current procedures to identify vulnerabilities and service gaps
- Recommending process alterations to improve performance and efficiency
- Vetting vendors to streamline procurement while maintaining redundant sources
- Actively managing mission-critical parts and supplies
This last point can drastically reduce the money and time spent on repairs. SDI estimates that facility technicians spend one-third of their shifts searching for and retrieving the resources they need to conduct their maintenance and repair orders. Seventy percent of the fixes left uncompleted during the first call are the result of missing, wrong, or broken replacement parts.
SDI can implement an MRO supply chain strategy that standardizes replacement parts, qualifies vendors, and ensures sufficient stock of cleaning supplies and consumables so facility maintenance crews can do their jobs efficiently and keep customers and employees satisfied. To see how these services can benefit your retail or commercial facility, contact SDI to schedule an assessment.
