Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue III, 2013 | Page 72

Operations&Maintenance
By Kellie D’Andrea

Work Order Relief
Track your facilities assets
to save time and money

H

ow much maintenance information do you have on all of
your locations? Do you know
how many of your HVAC
units will need to be replaced this year?
Are your signs still under warranty? What
maintenance is the landlord required to
do, and when? How often do your floors
need to be stripped and waxed? When
should your backflows be tested and fire
extinguishers inspected? Do you know
how much you are spending on repairs,
and are those charges consistent at different locations?
Tracking your facilities maintenance
transactions may not be a priority; treating this as a reactive component to your
business is standard practice. However,
if you believe that your locations are
your #1 asset and that maintaining them
could lead to more business and a better
customer experience, you would want to
simplify this process, correct?
If you had a work order management
system that was easy to use, you could
quickly find all of this information and
automate your maintenance programs
using the following key features found
in work order systems:
• Asset tracking – Each of your locations has assets that must be maintained:
HVAC, lighting, floors, stoves, walk-ins,
grease traps, signs, etc. However, you
need a place to store all the data about
these assets. An asset database serves
this purpose, allowing you to track serial numbers, colors, square footages, and
asset photos. Service history can also be
tracked against each asset.
• Vendor management – You spend
time finding the right vendors to service
your locations. Why not capture all their
information in one centralized system
so you have their contact information,
insurance documents (with you listed
as additionally insured), certifications,

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Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue III, 2013

and price lists in one place? A work order management system will track how
many times they have been to your location, the work performed, the amount
charged, and any warranties they offer.
• Service dispatch – When an issue
happens at one of your locations, your
managers will have a centralized system

An asset tracking
and work order
management
system is a
strategic decision
for owners
who want to
ultimately save
time and money.
with a list of prequalified vendors. If the
system is set up right, NTEs (Not To Exceeds) are built into the vendor records
so that every vendor knows they cannot charge more than the NTE without
permission from either the manager or
corporate. The system generates a work
order and alerts them to the problem,
leaving a paper trail. The IVR (Interactive
Voice Response) system requires vendors
to check in and check out, which allows
you to track whether they are at your
location and how long they are there.
When the vendor hands you an invoice,
you now have more knowledge about its
accuracy. Plus, you will have a record if
the repair doesn’t “take” and you need
to bring them back for a recall.
• Program automation – Maintenance programs can be placed on a “set
and forget” program in your system and

automatically generate work orders based
on the frequency you’ve determined.
For example, if you want your windows
cleaned both inside and out each month,
a work order will be auto-dispatched to
your provider each month. If you want a
quarterly HVAC preventive maintenance
program or a monthly grease-trap pumping program, all of that can be automated
through a work order management system.
• Accounts payable – Most work order management systems have modules
that require vendors to input their information, leaving less administrative work
for you. Each work order is updated with
“actual” work completed and converted
to an invoice in your system for approval
based on the fees you pre-negotiated.
• Reporting – The last critical compon [