Article contributed by Mike Berman, COO, Day & Nite/All Service
Even if you’re not acquainted with Black Box Workforce Intelligence’s restaurant industry research statistics, you’re certainly familiar with the operating reality:
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Slightly more than 6 fewer back of the house employees vs 2019
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Not quite 3 fewer front-end employees vs 2019
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70% more open positions, industrywide
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10% fewer candidates available to fill these positions
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Industry staff turnover rates approaching 145%
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This week’s column won’t be another lament covering the well-worn issues for which there are no quick or easy solutions. A large part of the operating reality is adjusting to these conditions with clarity of purpose, innovative determination to prosper and profit in what amounts to an era of scarcity. Last week’s Bloomin’ Brands third quarter earnings release provides highly useful insights and guidance. Bloomin’ quarterly revenues once again surpassed $1 billion accompanied by solid operating margin performance.
Behind Bloomin’ Brands’ rather impressive numbers are a couple of critical sentences every foodservice operator is wise to take to heart, future earnings a reflection of “Achieving ongoing operating efficiencies from simplification efforts”, coupled with Bloomin’ projecting 2022 commodity prices will increase by 10%, inflation to add some $170 million higher expenses next year. Businesses not a large as Bloomin’ Brands, lacking their purchasing power are more likely to experience higher costs of doing business, especially when labor expense is factored in. But all can adopt Bloomin’ Brands same operational efficiency and simplification strategies.
Equipment repairs—particularly emergency repair—is traditionally among the least efficient, anything but simplified, most wasteful of all recurring business practices. Whenever a piece of equipment is inoperable the very condition itself defines inefficient. Accordingly, investing in comprehensive Preventative Maintenance simplifies with calculable positive returns. But even well maintained equipment will break down on occasion; previously published industry studies—all conducted prior to mounting global supply chain problems! —showing response times can exceed 12 hours, it can take as long as 16 days to fix a single piece, with first time fix rates hovering around 80% further illustrate how relying solely on repairs institutionalizes inefficiency.
Although no useful study detailing how much time hospitality professionals spend on the phone calling service providers exists, considering noted staffing shortages and no prior reports these encounters were classified as high value watermarks to begin with, true costs of inefficient business in the traditional model only grows. Throughout recorded human history, across all categories and walks of life, automation has proven to be the most effective, permanent device for achieving simplified efficiency.
Not only has the Day & Nite family of companies regularly leveraged sophisticated technology to deliver greater efficiencies in the complex commercial Cooking, Refrigeration, HVAC, Indoor Environmental Quality and Plumbing equipment installation – maintenance – repair service-delivery chain, the company’s in-house laboratory continues to develop proprietary tools, methods and means allowing customers to regularly achieve greater scale, streamlined operational efficiencies.
DNAS Lite, a mobile application, is among the fastest growing and most popular innovations solving many of foodservice’s problems today and well into 2022. Day & Nite/All Service/Popular Plumbing/Performance Air Mechanical’s continued commitment to developing the next generation of methods designed to reduce overall operating expenses, deliver ever more favorable hospitality economies of scale.
Circumstantial urgency demands action. To protect yourself from double-digit inflation, scarcity through simplified, streamlined efficiencies in a high impact fashion email jbf@wearetheone.com.
