Equipment maintenance has always been one of the most painstaking and costly aspects of restaurant management. That challenge had doubled with the increased constraints Covid has placed on the industry.
In every commercial kitchen, there are dozens of types of equipment each with their own unique manufacturer, specific model, and designated service provider. Managing every one of these aspects is an immense task for a restaurant operator, not to mention doing so across multiple restaurant and commercial food service kitchens.
Thankfully, Chicago-based company 86 Repairs, led by high school friends Joe Gallagher and Daniel Estrada, has arrived on the scene to unravel this problem. With their new subscription service, 86 Repairs single handedly manages every aspect of equipment maintenance for restaurateurs. This enables restaurateurs and professional foodservice operators to refocus their time, money, and energy on providing the best experiences possible.
“Repair and maintenance in a kitchen is always such a daunting responsibility,” said Daniel Estrada, CEO of 86 Repairs. “Spread across different markets, there are so many different service providers, manufacturers, brands, and dealers. All of this complexity leads to situations where operators need to know and maintain relationships with service providers, as well as backups, for each individual piece of equipment they own. What we at 86 Repairs offer is one single number that an operator can call, email, or text when anything in their establishment needs to be fixed. This eliminates the chore of having to keep track of binders-worth of contact information for individual pieces of equipment, and expensive technician visits.”
Estrada’s background in technology has created a structure that collects data that has never been accomplished before in the foodservice equipment and supply industry.
“We have been able to compile what’s been breaking, and how expensive it should be to fix it based on the volume of scenarios and the cost of labor and parts to execute a fix in each scenario,” Estrada explained. “We then share this data with our customers and help them identify trends, reduce needless costs, and expedite their operations even further.”
86 Repairs has created a State of the Industry, one-size-fits-all contact point for any piece of equipment. Their collection of robust data and analysis service has removed this traditional burden from the shoulders of many restaurateurs.
Although many establishments are currently operating under reduced revenue streams, 86 Repairs will pay for itself many times over. For just a small, flat subscription fee, operators can utilize this service as many times as they want, day or night.
Reduced income has also caused many businesses to run very lean teams of staff, and because of this, the value of employee time has increased dramatically. 86 Repairs has created a blueprint in which team members can simply reference one single number or email address for any issue that arises, rather than juggling dozens of different contact points. The result is the saving of many hours of labor time spent attending to customer experience.
With Gallagher’s experience on the manufacturing side of the industry, he understands the value that the industry’s channels provide. “Our goal is to supplement an existing CFESA/service relationship that an operator has depended upon,” Gallagher said. “Our goal is to reduces fixed costs by eliminating the need to hire and train internal techs to manage equipment and to provide data that can save money on unnecessary service calls.”
Estrada continued: “Many operators are looking at ways to cut costs by outsourcing management. We believe that a crucial key to that lies in the data insights that we are able to provide. This enables proactive cost savings decisions for their group, which covers the cost of our service as well as the peace of mind it delivers. Remember the service tech is there to fix the problem, while our goal is to get it properly diagnosed.”
Many traditional service providers simply are not equipped with the technology to generate this valuable data. 86 Repairs offers comprehensive data tracking over entire systems of equipment and can pinpoint exactly where and how operators can save money.
Although their company is relatively young, the food service equipment and engineering experience of CEO Estrada and the extensive IT experience of Head of Account Management Gallagher is providing a recipe for success. “Our goal is and has always been to help restaurants improve their experiences by enabling them to make better decisions and helping them lower costs,” Estrada concluded.
For more information on 86 Repairs’ service, those interested can visit their website.
