More companies are adopting an in-house self-performance maintenance program to manage costs and have more control over outcomes.
By Regina Ludes
When managing maintenance for multiple sites, facilities managers have few options. A decentralized approach puts more responsibility on site managers’ shoulders and takes them away from their customers, while the brokered model gives a third-party vendor more control over the process and outcomes. Both approaches are costly and difficult to manage.
The alternative is an in-house, self-performing program in which trained technicians are hired as full-time employees to service multiple sites, usually within an assigned region. They may be specialists, like window cleaning and replacement professionals, or general technicians who can handle various tasks. The model promises long-term cost savings and ensures that maintenance tasks are completed properly and on time.
However, several things must be considered when starting an in-house program, such as start-up costs and hiring properly trained technicians. Facilities managers who are familiar with the program or have worked with it previously say the benefits are well worth the initial investment.
Take Advantage of the Benefits
“The self-performing maintenance model is nothing new. Many retailers have used it for years,” said Antonio Hinton, Manager, Retail Facilities with Carter’s. “The model exists, and the benefits are there. It’s about being willing to adopt it.”
After working with an in-house self-performing model at a previous company, Hinton hopes to implement a similar program at Carter’s, which currently relies on outside suppliers. Hinton’s proposed field model targets high-volume metro areas with high concentrations of stores where one person can be employed to “own” that region.
In addition to cost savings and providing consistent service, Hinton said an in-house program provides more flexible scheduling of maintenance tasks and allows techs to respond quickly when emergencies arise. “You might send a tech team to Florida to solve problems there, but then if something happens in Atlanta, you can adjust the schedule accordingly,” Hinton explains.
Communication is sharper because the technician reports directly to the facilities manager and store manager. There’s no middle man in the scenario. Managers have more control over the service quality because they can teach technicians how to perform those services according to their specific requirements.
There’s also an opportunity to close the technical skill gap. “When using a third-party contractor, you don’t always know what skill level the technician will have. If I can employ a technician with top-level skills, I know I can deploy him to the sites where he’s needed,” Hinton said.
Starting From Scratch
Despite the numerous advantages, there are some downsides, such as liability, said Justin Farr, Senior Facilities Manager with Southern Veterinary Partners.
“With an in-house model, if your technician causes damage or someone gets hurt, the only recourse is your own insurance,” Farr explained. “It makes more sense to hire someone to do simpler tasks because the risks are lower.”
Farr came to Southern Veterinary Partners (SVP) 15 months ago to build a centralized facilities program. Everything at SVP was decentralized, with each hospital calling its own maintenance providers. He worked with several self-performing vendors at a previous company. His goal is to achieve a balance of cost savings and provide more personalized maintenance service to SVP’s hospitals.
However, starting up an in-house program can be difficult and costly. “The initial overhead must cover everything from the tools, the tech person’s salary and benefits, and the vehicle to get around,” Farr said.
To justify those start-up costs to upper management, Farr suggested gathering data to show the return on investment, focusing on four areas: the scope of work, the cost to implement the program, the potential cost savings and geography and logistics. For example, by giving the assigned technician a set route where they travel from site A through site Z on certain days of the month, you can estimate how many site visits they can handle and how long each visit will take, Farr explained.
“If one person can handle smaller tasks on a regular route, that means fewer service calls to an outside vendor, fewer tasks at the corporate level and more accountability overall,” he said.
Hinton believed more companies will adopt the self-performing model in the future because of the cost savings and control over the process it provides.
However, Farr added that if an in-house program isn’t possible for your company, working with a supplier with self-performing technicians is an option, taking you one step closer to the full in-house program. “The main objective is to service your locations as best as possible,” he said.
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