Our client is one of the largest company-operated convenience retailers in the U.S., with over three hundred stores located across seven states. They are committed to providing excellent customer service and experiences, while also expanding and innovating their business. In order to continue scaling up and meeting customer expectations, they began an initiative to optimize their store operations and maintenance processes. The Challenge Our client used different processes and systems across all their locations, making it difficult to gain quick access to information like the status of their work orders and which vendors were responsible for maintaining each asset. It was especially challenging to get a holistic view of performance, as our client uses maintenance services from over 60 different vendors and over 4,000 technicians, many of whom are small, self-performing maintenance specialists. In order to have accurate oversight of those vendors, our client needed a way to capture data such as: Performance on service level agreements (SLAs) for any urgent corrective maintenance or scheduled preventive maintenance at their stores Accurate technician labor hours, including travel times and return trips Replacement parts used during repairs (such as any parts under warranty or new parts purchased) The Solution Our client needed a unified retail store maintenance system that provided one system of record across all stores, assets, vendors, work orders, invoices, and contracts. They chose Nuvolo Connected Workplace for Retail, as it offers a single source of truth and provides full visibility into all store maintenance activities, making it much easier to collect and visualize performance data for both internal and external vendor technicians. With Nuvolo, they can see SLAs and metrics, highlight costs, track where they are over and underutilizing resources, and identify process improvements based on business data. Key Store Maintenance Process Improvements Our client was able to optimize their store maintenance processes in several ways. Digital Quoting and Invoicing Our client built a digital quoting and vendor invoicing system, so they no longer need to rely on paper records. This new, streamlined system enables them to process 2,000 vendor invoices monthly. Plus, they save 5-7 minutes on each vendor invoice review and approval—which equals 2,800 hours yearly. With their digital vendor invoicing, they were able to simplify the process for auditing work orders and invoices, and they also improved vendor payment timing. Parts Inventory Management and Distribution Our client uses Nuvolo to manage their central warehouse and 24 remote mobile stockroom vehicles. They implemented a more transparent process for distributing parts, and they simplified their inventory auditing process. With these changes in place, they were able to improve the time needed to obtain parts by 2-3 days. This enables them to make repairs, complete work orders more quickly, and get revenue-generating equipment back up and running sooner. Plus, because they have better visibility into their parts inventory, they can order parts and inventory in bulk with discounts, reducing their spend. Work Order Evaluations and New Troubleshooting Checklists They also optimized their processes for evaluating work orders and troubleshooting issues. For example, they applied timestamps to work orders, so store managers can better track completion times. Plus, the organization implemented a vendor rating system based on a scale of 1-5, which gives teams better insight into how vendors are performing. The organization can also review vendor performance history, which helps when it comes time to negotiate contracts. Additionally, our client added troubleshooting checklists to some service requests to help streamline the maintenance process. Store managers are guided through on-site reset steps for about 10% of assets, and they are given the support to try and troubleshoot known issues before creating work orders which incur trip charges. This means many common issues are resolved much more quickly—without having to involve vendors and the costs associated. Highlighted Outcomes Ultimately, our client experienced several key benefits, including: Process Efficiencies: Vendors now use mobile devices to update work orders on site A new paperless invoice processing system saves time and ensures accuracy Work order routing is automated and simplified Improved Vendor Management: Our client has full transparency on work order performance across all retail stores A work order sign-off and satisfaction rating system drives accountability across vendors and technicians Managers can validate the time spent on work orders and cross-reference this data with digital invoices Powerful Reporting and Analytics: Real-time data is now available from the technicians in the field Teams can use an intuitive user interface (UI) to set up custom reports Dashboards are configurable by user role and geographical coverage Future Plans Our client is planning on expanding their use of Connected Workplace to several areas. This includes integration with their financial processing systems, so they can automate invoice payments, implement end-to-end tracking for asset orders and shipments, and use purchase order (PO) number tracking between systems. They are also interested in using Connected Workplace to support their environmental and sustainability efforts, including tracking underground fuel storage tanks, meeting records retention requirements, and complying with state and local regulations. Interested in learning more? See how Circle K uses Connected Workplace to get a consolidated view of their facilities operations. You can also learn more about Connected Workplace for Retail, and contact us for a demo. Share
