Restaurants thrive on preparation and routine to operate like clockwork. It isn’t just line cooks who need mise en place – every aspect of a restaurant needs to be consistent to deliver an unforgettable, and repeatable, customer experience.

Running a restaurant can be exhausting, considering all of the tasks that need to be done day in and day out:

• Taking inventory of fresh ingredients and receiving new orders,
• Accounting for every dollar entering and exiting the building,
• Ensuring all equipment is working properly and cleaned thoroughly before and after use,
• Managing labor to make sure all shifts are covered and all employees stay sane,
• Acting with speed to hire new talent when labor turns over, 
• Training all of that new talent when they’re onboarded,
• Marketing to bring returning and new customers through the door, and, most importantly,
• Keeping those customers happy.

Operating just one restaurant can take up every hour of a business owner’s day. So what happens when they want to expand and grow their business? Daily tasks are duplicated and new complications are added into the mix.

With multiple restaurant locations, recipes and ingredients, staff training, and repair and maintenance (R&M) processes need to be consistent so customer experiences can be replicable not only within four walls but across town–or even across the country.

While we can’t fix every pain point for multi-unit restaurant operators, we can at least take the stress of R&M management off their plates. Here’s why an R&M solution is a must for these businesses.

Save precious time

Managing repairs can put any operator into crisis mode—especially now, with supply chain delays for critical parts and skilled labor shortages for complicated fixes. Time gets poured into finding available vendors, collecting budget-friendly quotes, waiting for someone to be dispatched, and then finally getting someone on-site for the repair.

Maintenance needs multiply as restaurants expand. In the week of August 20, 2022, our customers averaged 2.83 vendor requests per location. Consider how unmanageable that becomes at scale:

• 5 locations: 14.15 vendor requests per week
• 10 locations: 28.3 vendor requests per week
• 20 locations: 56.6 vendor requests per week

As restaurants grow, it becomes incredibly difficult for operators and facility managers to directly address every single issue at every location. They might not be able to be everywhere at once—but 86 Repairs can.

Our Customer Service team is available 24/7/365. We manage the R&M process so operators can focus on the many other aspects of their restaurants that demand attention. Anyone at any of our customers’ locations can simply call, text, or email us with the issue, and we’ll handle it from end to end.

With email updates on every ticket and a centralized Customer Portal to keep data for every location in one place, operators can stay in the loop without spending hours on the phone.

Implement an easy process

Single-unit restaurants can scrape by without a documented R&M process in place. Usually, a handful of folks know the ins and outs of the equipment in the kitchen—and can share their POV with the new employees who come into the fold.

But as restaurants expand, that approach doesn’t scale. Processes for repair management, ongoing preventative maintenance, and even vendor selection must be documented so every employee at every location knows what’s expected of them at any given time.

With 86 Repairs, existing employees and new hires just need to know to contact us when something goes wrong, and we’ll take it from there:

• Help with identifying the specific part or area of equipment in need of repair
• Troubleshooting tips to get the equipment back up and running without vendor dispatch 
• Collecting vendor quotes when dispatch is needed
• Scheduling a vendor to complete the repair
• Ensuring the vendor has completed the repair to satisfaction

Multi-unit restaurant groups don’t have to document R&M processes from scratch. We are the process!

Maintain consistency

Operating multiple restaurants can quickly turn into a numbers game. How many locations are too many? What does the P&L need to look like to make expansion profitable? How much food needs to be sold during every shift?

To make data-driven decisions, consistency is key. But how can you be consistent when every GM has a different level of experience managing repairs, frontline staff turnover is high across locations, and vendor relationships vary from market to market? Internal factors make inconsistency the norm.

Multi-unit operators need consistent data collection for every service request and every asset in their kitchens. Without a well-executed R&M process, leadership isn’t equipped with accurate data to make the right decisions for the business.

Use 86 Repairs for a consistent process for data collection. We collect relevant numbers from every customer location—like equipment service history and frequency, vendor performance, and time and cost savings—to offer operators actionable insights to make smarter R&M decisions as they grow.

There’s no need to spend time training staff on accurate data collection as you would with a tool like a CMMS. With 86 Repairs, R&M data is collected and analyzed uniformly so operators get an accurate picture of where their business stands and where to improve.

The R&M solution built for restaurants

Restaurants need processes as they expand. With our R&M solution, operators get a framework to control the chaos—no matter how many locations they run.

But remember, not all facility management software is created equal. 86 Repairs is an R&M management platform built specifically for the restaurant industry. It’s designed to support the equipment and infrastructure found within commercial kitchens with a wide variety of end users in mind.

Plus, our Customer Service Team is well-versed in R&M, and the majority of our team has industry experience. We can act as a true partner to your business as your group expands.

So trust our (R&M) process and get growing! Request a demo today to learn how 86 Repairs can help your restaurant group scale.