There’s a lot going on in the Food Equipment Service industry. Extreme labor shortage, supply chain issues, new technology, mergers & acquisitions, new health policies, etc., to name just a few.
It’s more important than ever for executives to keep their fingers on the pulse of the industry to make informed strategic decisions and steer their companies in the right direction.
We’d like to thank all the contributors for their willingness to open up and share their wisdom with us:
Alright, let’s dive in.
During our conversations, the most common theme that kept coming up was recruiting technicians (no surprise there!):
Seems like more of the same “Technicians are hard to find and hard to keep”… but this time was different.
I noticed a shift happening in how a lot of executives are approaching recruiting and retaining technicians in a post-covid world.
Let’s dig in.
With the competition for experienced technicians heating up, a new incentive tactic seems to be emerging and it’s creating a bidding war that’s negatively impacting the industry as a whole.
Josh Zolin with Windy City Equipment explains:
Anna Vermillion with Repair24 takes a firm stance against it:
American Kitchen’s Josh Taylor warns of the negative implications this tactic can have on your existing technicians:
Given all these valid arguments, the logical next question is:
“What can be done instead?”
Here are a few ideas the executives shared with us:
Before tackling recruitment, a lot of the executives argue that you need to examine your company’s culture first to make sure that when a technician comes on board, they stick around for the long haul.
Company culture is more than having chill areas and free breakfast.
It’s the policies, procedures, and habits you create as a leader that impact technicians’ retention and productivity.
Anna Vermillion shares her approach to creating a great company culture:
Jim Eason with SAM Service shares how you can still retain your technicians even if you don’t pay them the highest hourly rate:
These are some great examples of how executives think about shaping their company’s culture to increase technician retention and productivity.
Once you’ve got that in place, the next logical question is:
With so many different marketing channels available, it can get challenging trying to figure out how to make it all work.
Josh Zolin suggests to start with your website:
None of the executives we’ve interviewed had any concerns with the phone not ringing enough with service calls. But they all needed more techs.
Focusing your website messaging to appeal to technicians, and showing them how great your company is seems like an approach definitely worth testing.
That’s a great strategy to target those who are already aware of the industry and are actively seeking employment.
But as we all know, one of the biggest challenges the industry faces is that there aren’t enough new techs entering the workforce.
What can be done about it?
Daniel Kaltenbaugh, Jr. from Welbilt shares his take on this challenge:
Here’s how Patrick Duffy with Duffy’s AIS is proactively placing his company in front of potential talent:
Anna Vermillion suggests a collaborative approach to attract new blood into the industry:
Bob Levine with Americold is partnering with Technical Schools and picking up young and committed technicians:
Attracting new people into the trades is only one part of the equation.
Once they’re in, they need to know what they’re doing to actually fix increasingly complex units and create revenue for the company, which is why whoever can train faster will have a competitive advantage over their competition.
Josh Taylor notes the shift to virtual training for a lot of manufacturers:
Patrick Duffy shares an innovation that his company will be introducing to ramp up new technicians faster and help master technicians be more productive:
These interviews provided a rich discussion on a burning topic for the industry, and hopefully this article gave you insights to find new technicians, ramp them up faster, and keep them sticking around for the long haul.
For some parting thoughts, Josh Zolin provides a perfect summary of all that we covered:
Since the rise of Covid 19 in mid 2020, supply chains across the world slowed down dramatically for many reasons, including but not limited to ports congestion, material scarcity, labor shortage, reduced demand to name a few.
These delays with parts, and even trucks, aggravate the recruitment issues. But this industry will never stop and executives will find a way to adapt to the circumstances.
So, what’s left to do is make the most of the technicians we do have:
The sudden slow down in the industry due to macroeconomic factors is forcing Service Agents to be more intentional about growth and optimization. Not just as something that happens because of the demand overflow but as part of a long-term strategy:
This is a great moment to refine processes and even redefine parts of the business, as the industry prepares to bounce back to inevitable growth. This is when those most efficient will come up on top:
Every executive we talked to, without fail, has their eyes set on getting back to (and exceeding) pre-COVID levels:
So then the question is, how do we do that? How do we collectively as an industry move ahead and recover lost ground?
Let’s go over some of the key initiatives taking place in the industry right now:
Business innovations take many forms. It can be new technology, new ways of processing data, new business models, or new processes, etc.
Here are some of the highlights from our conversations with these industry executives.
While supply chain issues are being most disruptive for manufacturers, some are using these trying times to develop new systems and components that make the industry less vulnerable in the future.
Dan Kaltenbaugh, Jr. gives us a sneak peek behind the scenes of what Welbilt got cooking on the innovation front:
The Internet of Things continues to impact Food Service Equipment that makes use of smart technology and facilitates what most executives agree is the next big thing in the industry: Predictive Maintenance.
Service agents are leveraging online platforms and finding collaborative ways to help each other with parts, fulfilling jobs, and keeping the industry moving:
Advancements in technology and data processing protocols will start creating business differentiation and potentially new products and services.
One of the things we noticed when talking to executives was a renewed focus on sales. Up until this point, demand has been so high that service agents could thrive by just taking orders whereas now it is becoming more proactive:
Anna shares how Repair 24 strategically targets accounts to predictably grow sales and increase revenue:
Jim Eason with SAM Service sets clear growth plans to generate revenue and help the business expand into new territories:
On top of going after new and more strategic accounts, businesses need to optimize their revenue per technician on the current jobs, which is one of the focus areas for Patrick Duffy:
Technology, data, parts sharing, remote technician support, expansion: all these business areas are part of a complicated puzzle. But what if the pieces could be rearranged to form a completely different picture?
It’s very clear: This industry is far from being in its final form.
Manufacturers, service agents, and cooperatives alike are all creatively moving the industry forward in a new and exciting way.
Will we come together and redefine how we attract technicians? Will data finally flow from equipment to technician to manufacturer and enable predictive maintenance? Will somebody effectively implement a pooled labor model? Will technicians attempt first to fix equipment over the phone before going on-site?
Time will tell and we’ll be here for the ride.
Send me an email to yassin.shaar@origobpo.com to have a chat and collaborate.
Sincerely, Yassin Shaar, Chief Growth Officer at Origo
For more information, visit the Origo website, or learn how Origo can help your operation by calling (832) 558-6661.
