Catering Equipment Servicing Software
Tesseract’s Catering Equipment Servicing Software offers a comprehensive solution for managing the maintenance and servicing of catering equipment. Tailored to meet the specific needs of the catering industry, our software streamlines operations with features such as detailed job tracking, automated scheduling, and proactive service management.
With over 35 years of experience in service management, Tesseract understands the critical importance of keeping catering equipment in optimal condition. Our software ensures timely responses to service requests, thorough documentation of maintenance activities, and efficient handling of service agreements.
Choose Tesseract’s Catering Equipment Servicing Software to enhance your operational efficiency, minimise equipment downtime, and ensure the reliability of your catering tools and appliances. Empower your catering equipment servicing business with a solution that prioritises precision, reliability, and optimal performance.
Catering Equipment Servicing Software Benefits
Prevent Downtime Through Effective Maintenance
Take a strategic and proactive approach to planned preventative maintenance. Our multi-level solution allows you to ensure that essential maintenance takes place as often as is needed to keep sites and equipment operational, reducing emergency breakdowns.
Guarantee Compliance
The solution includes a service checklist to help engineers ensure that certain things that have to happen, do happen. This aids compliance. It also has a facility for their answers to be inputted automatically into a compliance certificate.
Boost First-Time
Fix Rates
Unlimited stock locations, ultra-efficient parts tracking and full integration with the rest of your service chain empowers warehouse operators to get the right parts to the right engineer at the right time. This increases the likelihood of a first-time fix, saving on return visit costs and reducing downtime for customers.
Here’s how some of our customers have transformed their businesses in partnership with Tesseract.
Espresso Service Ltd
Tesseract, Espresso Service And The Internet of Things
Meiko
Why Tesseract Is A Good Fit For the Foodservice Equipment Industry
Welbilt
Welbilt Achieve a 96% First-Time Fix Rate
Tesseract, Espresso Service And The Internet of Things
Introduction
In 2015, Espresso Service Ltd woke up and smelled ‘connected’ coffee. By implementing Asolvi’s cloud-based field service management solution, Tesseract, it entered the realm of the smart coffeemaker and the Internet of Things, bolstering its USPs and improving its service to customers.
Backed by over 25 years in the coffee industry, Espresso Service manages and maintains all types and brands of coffee machines. It does this via a nationwide network of engineers who really know their beans.
Before Tesseract, the company’s service management system was based around a less flexible, server-based, non-specialised bolt-on to an accountancy package. This was no longer up to task, so Espresso Service looked to the cloud.
Head in the Cloud
Espresso Service opted for a software-as-a-service system, aka SaaS. In other words, a system that is hosted in the cloud and accessible via the internet. The company wanted to avoid the hefty capital costs involved with installing software on its servers, and instead pay an ongoing subscription fee. It also wanted access to software that was maintained by the provider and always kept up to date. This led it to Tesseract.
Daniel Sewell, chief operating officer for Espresso Service, explains, “In the end, the choice was down to two companies. Tesseractcame out on top for three main reasons. Firstly, the system is web-based, which means our engineers can access it anywhere. Secondly, we get free upgrades and any platform developments for one customer are shared to all. The third reason is Kevin McNally. As opposed to a typical salesman just interested in a deal, Kevin was thoroughly genuine and showed a real and keen interest in our business. He still does.”
The Internet Of (Coffee) Things
The Tesseract system is able to communicate directly with some of the coffee machines Espresso Service is contracted to maintain. These machines contain a modem with a SIM card, feeding data to the Tesseract system by means of the internet. This could be asset history or maintenance alerts, i.e. the machine has run out of milk or coffee, or needs a repair.
This telemetry prompts Espresso Service to take action and, if necessary, schedule a maintenance visit — without its customers having to do anything.
On average 5,000 pieces of information a day are transmitted to the Tesseract system. This ability to monitor equipment remotely through Tesseract has not just revolutionised the way Espresso Service operates; it’s also improved the performance of our customers. Their need to keep coffee flowing and minimise equipment downtime is served by us providing them with a more responsive service.”
The Perfect Blend
Espresso Service utilises the full suite of service modules that come with Tesseract, including Call Control, Customer Assets, Parts Centre, Remote Engineer Access and Remote Customer Access.
While Tesseract is an out-of-the-box platform, Asolvi does its best to tailor and adapt it. In this case it has created an interface with Espresso Service’s accounting software, as well as between Parts Centre and the company’s stock partner. This enables Espresso Service to have full visibility and control of the movement of stock even though a separate company manages it. Asolvi and Espresso Service also worked together to enhance Tesseract’s stock-take functionality, streamlining what used to be a manual process.
What’s clear is that Asolvi and Espresso Service represent a strong, thriving partnership, one that has continued to flourish in the short time since implementation. Daniel Sewell explains, “Tesseract has given us a new USP. When we approach sales prospects, we proclaim the virtues of the Tesseract system, and how much it will make their lives easier and service better. We also recommend the platform to other companies in our industry. In particular, we partnered with an ROI firm to found a company called Espresso Service Ireland Technical Ltd, and got them set up on the Tesseract system. That’s how much we believe in it.”
Why Tesseract Is A Good Fit For the Foodservice Equipment Industry
Introduction
Meiko UK Ltd, a leading European manufacturer of ware washing technology for the foodservice industry, has been a Tesseract customer since 2012. Nigel Walters, technical services controller for Meiko, explains why the relationship has endured and why Tesseract’s field service management software is a good fit for the industry.
Originally established ninety years ago in the Black Forest, Germany, Meiko is now a global brand with production facilities in Germany, China and the US. Meiko manufactures, installs and maintains dish and glass washers, washer-disinfectors and food waste disposal systems for professional kitchens in bars, hotels, pubs, restaurants, cafes and staff canteens. Its client base includes JD Wetherspoon, Marston’s Brewery and DHL.
35,000 Calls A Year
In the UK, Meiko’s service & maintenance operation consists of approximately 35,000 preventative and reactive calls a year, which today are all managed using the Tesseract solution. In 2012, Tesseract was selected to replace a piece of service management software that wasn’t fit for purpose anymore.
Nigel explains, “There were a lot of things the old system couldn’t do, mainly because it wasn’t a fully functioning system. It didn’t provide engineers with the information they needed in the field, and the information they could get wasn’t live. There was no quotation system, no stock control. Engineers could only use it on PDAs. It got to the point where we needed something a lot more advanced.”
It was word of mouth that brought Meiko to Tesseract. “A number of us had heard of Tesseract,” says Nigel. “So we did some research and visited a number of their customers to see the Tesseract system in action. We were able to visualise how the system would work for us.”
The Power Of Automation
In addition to giving engineers more flexibility in the field, Tesseract has enabled Meiko to automate a number of routine and/or time-intensive processes in the office. This includes stock replenishment, previously an entirely manual and unintegrated process, and invoicing, which used to be done in a separate system.
But what’s really changed is how Meiko undertakes preventative maintenance. Now, all preventative maintenance appointments are generated automatically according to contract and asset requirements. This saves Meiko’s planners from having to manually check spreadsheets and paper contracts to find out when maintenance is due before going into the system to manually log the call. It also lets them schedule field engineers up to three months in advance so that they can more easily maintain service levels.
“With Tesseract, everything is simpler and more streamlined,” says Nigel. “Parts are attached to calls—and stay attached to calls—without engineers having to manually input quantities and parts numbers. We have complete visibility of all stock at all times. Costings for invoices are calculated automatically, reducing scope for error. We can complete the invoicing process in the Tesseract system, too. Before Tesseract, we had to export the data to a different system.”
10-15 Minutes Saved Per Quote
Better Reporting
Nigel admits that reporting was poor on the old system. Meiko had to use an external system and it took a lot of time to compile and process the data. “Tesseract comes with a lot of really good reports,” says Nigel. “These are standard reports that we’re able to tweak easily to fit our needs. Now everyone has access to the reports they need on a regular basis. The fact that our data is centralised means that reports are compiled with a minimum of effort.”
Catering Equipment And Tesseract: A Match Made In The Kitchen
Nigel explains, “Tesseract is a good fit for the catering industry for the same reasons it is a good fit for any kind of repair industry. Tesseract has worked hard to make sure the fundamental elements such as service contract management, preventative maintenance management, mobility, invoicing and reporting, are really strong. Our engineers and our office staff have everything they need to make sure our customers’ machines are properly maintained.”
Nigel goes on to explain that it’s Tesseract’s approach to helping customers that makes its software an even better fit for Meiko’s industry. “The way Tesseract listen to their customers is one of the big reasons our relationship with them has endured,” he says. “They’re constantly investing in their software, trying to improve what it does for us and for our industry. They listen to recommendations and if we have a problem or a need, they never just say ‘no’. They want to solve our problems, not just for us, but for them. They want to progress with us.”
Welbilt Achieve a 96% First-Time Fix Rate
Introduction
Response times and first-time fix rates are at an all-time high for kitchen equipment giant Welbilt. The integration of their data and processes using field service management technology, Tesseract, has eliminated copious manual and error-prone interventions. This, in turn, has enabled them to refocus their energies on more important things, like their customers and commitment to innovation.
In this case study, Operations Manager Mick Bradley reveals why Welbilt is performing better than ever.
A constant in the foodservice industry for decades, Welbilt trace their roots back to the Hirsch brothers’ Welbilt Stove Company, founded in 1929. Today they are an extended, still-growing family of twelve brands that includes Merrychef, Frymaster, Manitowoc, Delfield and Crem. They manufacture, install and maintain customised kitchen solutions to optimise space, reduce energy consumption and meet the increasingly discerning tastes and preferences of diners. Their solutions encompass almost every piece of professional kitchen equipment you could think of: speed ovens, pizza ovens, microwaves, fryers, griddles, chillers, ice machines, coffee machines, beer coolers, serving systems and more.
Welbilt implemented Tesseract in 1989. For many years they used the same version, not leveraging the benefits of Tesseract’s improving functionality and flexibility for the catering equipment market. All that changed seven years ago when Welbilt decided to upgrade to the most current version of Tesseract. The upgrade, linked with an internal systems/process review, streamlined their operations to such an extent that it’s now easier for them to grow. This is why we’re seeing the addition of more and more brands to the Welbilt family in recent times.
Automatic Call Logging
Previously, all service calls that came in via email were logged manually by the service team. This took about three minutes per call and was a problem during peak periods when there was a particularly high call volume. Resources had to be shifted from other areas to cope with the demand.
These emails were integrated with the Tesseract system using a sophisticated application programming interface (API), which allows information to be transferred electronically between Tesseract and countless third-party software products. Now, when a call comes in, Tesseract reads the email and automatically converts it to a service call. This happens 24/7 with no human intervention involved.
Mick reveals, “Around 16,500 calls a year were coming in by email and our service teams spent approximately 825 hours logging them all. So, thanks to Tesseract, 825 hours are now being saved. It also means our customers get better response times since they don’t have to wait for an email to be read and a call logged manually before someone attends to it. This is especially crucial for emails received outside of normal office hours.”
Faster Stock Management And Auditing
Welbilt used to have to freeze all van stock movements for up to three days while they audited it. This meant stopping parts going out to field engineers and, in effect, stopping them from doing any work. This was because their teams were required to handwrite parts numbers and quantities into the system, a process that was slow and prone to human error. Tesseract was intergrated with Welbilt’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system so that all stock orders could be imported directly into Tesseract using the API.
Day-to-day stock management is more efficient too. Mick explains, “Prior to integration, the majority of van stock management was paper-based and required a significant amount of manual intervention in order for parts consumed to be replenished.”
Tesseract has assisted in automating these processes. Now engineers raise parts requests and record parts used electronically using the mobile solution, and the API transfers the data across to the ERP system. Then, once an order has been processed, the API pulls the information back into Tesseract to say that it’s been packed and shipped.
“That’s the power of integration,” says Mick. “We have information flowing seamlessly all over the business. It’s very slick.”
“Tesseract is a very flexible and adaptable system,” says Mick Bradley. “Thanks to its wide scope for integration, we’ve made some powerful efficiency gains and been able to change and grow with confidence as a result.”
A 96% First-Time Fix Rate
Scheduling is another area where Tesseract has been able to make a huge difference to Welbilt’s operational efficiency. Welbilt used to manually schedule every maintenance visit for every piece of equipment. The onus was on the service team to remember when visits were due and make evaluative decisions about which engineers were the best fit for a job.
Tesseract batch-generates preventative maintenance visits based on contractual rules and asset data, automatically inputting them into the live diary so that they can be planned and agreed in advance. Mick explains, “We have a huge volume of preventative maintenance calls and, thanks to Tesseract, we don’t miss any of them. We have a lot more control over planning than we ever used to and, as a result, our percentage of overdue calls is extremely low.”
With these efficiency gains, Welbilt have been able to improve their response times for preventative and reactive maintenance work by 20%. The company is also achieving a 96% first-time fix rate, which Mick believes is largely down to the overhauled scheduling.
Meeting Foodservice Equipment Challenges
Fast response times and high first-time fix rates are essential for manufacturers and suppliers of professional kitchen equipment, particularly those expanding their portfolio of products and services at pace, like Welbilt. According to Mick, this is what makes Tesseract a great partner for the industry.
He says, “Tesseract is particularly strong on contract management and preventative maintenance—fundamental requirements for this industry. Being able to see the full history of our customers’ equipment is essential for determining cost of ownership and cost of warranty. And then there’s the obvious point of if we don’t maintain the equipment properly, our customers can’t serve food. Tesseract helps us make sure that they can. We look forward to continuing to work with Tesseract to explore opportunities for further integration and further simplification of our business processes.”
“Full integration of our ERP system with Tesseract means that stocktaking only takes three to four hours from count to reconciliation, and engineers can be back on the road the same day.”
Mick Bradley, Regional Service Manager – UK and Northern Europe for Welbilt