July 2022 was the driest in the UK since 1935, with the 19th July seeing the highest temperatures since records began. During this month, one foodservice operator had 81% fewer emergency callouts for refrigeration equipment failures than another, even though they have similar operations and an equivalent number of outlets. Why? Find out more:
Introduction
Flowrite are a commercial refrigeration and air-conditioning specialist, whose expertise is in supporting the UK’s hospitality and foodservice sector. Working with many of the UK’s largest foodservice operators provides Flowrite with a plethora of data and a unique insight into the impact of PPMs. This case study compares two similar hospitality businesses, with an equivalent size estate (one with 500 branches, the other with 503 branches), both supported by Flowrite.
What does PPM stand for?
PPM’s or “Planned Preventative Maintenance” is a proactive approach to maintaining your cooling equipment. It involves specialist engineers servicing and maintaining this equipment on a regular, scheduled basis. The advantage being that, rather than waiting for equipment to fail and reactively repairing it (with the associated impact on operations and the customer experience), maintenance is carried out in a planned and scheduled way to reduce the likelihood of failures occurring at all.
Introducing Operator A and Operator B
Operator A and Operator B are two businesses in the hospitality and foodservice sector. They have operations that span the UK, and their brands are considered household names. Flowrite engineers support both these businesses with reactive callouts when there are equipment issues, including with business-critical 4-hour calls, where an essential piece of equipment has failed and a response within 4 hours is required. One of the two operators also operates a twice-yearly PPM programme, where an engineer attends site to conduct scheduled equipment checks and servicing.
Operator A
Operator A operates 503 branches across the UK. Flowrite work closely with this client on reactive calls, using its large engineer team to attend site and implement fixes with a fast response being a key part of the service. The most critical breakdowns have a 4-hour response time KPI. This usually means that a business-critical piece of cooling equipment has failed, such as a refrigerator containing perishable products such as meat and poultry.
Operator B
Operator B has 500 branches nationwide, with Flowrite providing reactive call support as needed, alongside two annual programmes of planned preventative maintenance. These two PPM programmes see servicing and maintenance of cooling equipment, and proactive care provided to keep equipment running at optimal levels. Like Operator A, there is also a 4-hour response time in operation, in the case of critical breakdowns.
What does the data show us?
Here’s the data for July 2022, the driest month since 1935 which saw some record-breaking temperatures. The data shows the number of 4-hour emergency call-outs received from both operators.
| Emergency <4 hour Call Outs (July 2022) | Jul-22 |
| Operator A | 216 |
| Operator B | 42 |
| Variance | -81% |
And non-emergency call-outs for 2022 (full 12 months)?
| General Call Outs (2022 full 12 months) | 2022 |
| Operator A | 5252 |
| Operator B | 3247 |
| Variance | -38% |
Disruptions to operations can be damaging to brands, with costs both financial and in the impact on the customer experience. Emergency callouts for Operator A were 414% higher than Operator B at the July peak, with an associated cost that can only partially be accounted for. For customers, staff, and owners alike, reducing the number of emergency call-outs has many benefits: reduced cost, reduced stress, and a better overall experience.
Conclusion
For foodservice and hospitality businesses, actively managing the maintenance of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment can play a vital role in reducing risk and ensuring operational continuity. Reliable cooling, especially in the hot summer months, is absolutely essential for pubs and restaurants to keep doing what they do best – delighting customers and delivering exceptional experiences.
To get support with your own PPM programme, speak to the sector leaders. Flowrite has the largest number of refrigeration engineers servicing the hospitality and foodservice sector, and we can help reduce your risk and keep your outlets operating at optimal performance.