The Keg uses ResQ to inform decision making and save money across all 43 locations
Key successes
Average Time To See Return On Investment Per Location
Increase In Productivity Versus Managing Internally
Facilities and Finance team seeing the value of savings on R&M
Company background
Quality, comfort, and value are three key ingredients that make The Keg Steakhouse + Bar an experience like no other. The Keg provides an atmosphere that encourages guests to enjoy, relax and be themselves. With over 43 corporate locations from coast to coast in Canada and the US, The Keg invites guests to experience a steakhouse with a difference.
A key reason for The Keg’s success is the superior standards of their employees. They hire key talent and empower them with expertise and best-in-class tools and services to grow both professionally and personally. We sat down with The Keg’s Facilities and Sustainability Leaders, Greg DuBois and Chris Phelps, to learn more about how they are spearheading R&M operational improvements at scale.
Challenge
Focusing on strategic business initiatives while overseeing day-to-day operations from coast to coast
Greg and Chris have been working closely together along with the VP of Operations to manage the coast to coast operations during their combined 26 years at The Keg.
Greg and Chris are no strangers to masterfully juggling multiple projects at once but they found they were being mostly tied up by dealing with day-to-day operational issues such as repair emergencies across multiple stores that demanded their immediate attention. They were the main points of contact for every small and large repair issue from getting a technician on site, getting quotes for jobs, making sure the job was completed through multiple follow ups with techs and stores, to invoicing and payments.
That’s time and energy taken away from ongoing revenue-generating projects and sustainability initiatives.
With The Keg’s continued growth, the Facilities and Operations team’s scope of work had expanded quite a bit and they knew that getting additional headcount was not scalable and would be more of a band-aid solution. Greg and Chris needed a platform that allowed them to push some of that work back to the restaurant level so the staff didn’t require the Facilities Managers for every little thing from a faulty wall socket to a broken lock.
“Our finance team uses ResQ because it makes it easier for the team to pay invoices and look up any R&M financial records needed all in one place. For the facilities team, ResQ alleviates a considerable amount of pressures on time and resources. Our operations team reviews analytics and cost savings that impacts our business and our P&L. When you have all this data in one place, it’s a win for any company.”
Solution
1) Improved Efficiency & Productivity at Every Restaurant
By implementing ResQ, The Keg has enabled each restaurant to manage their operations more efficiently because they can now create, submit, and close out work orders while providing full visibility to facilities and operations teams.
“We decided to go with ResQ and not CMMS companies like Ecotrak and Service Channel because we were looking for a managed solution platform and not just some tools. What sealed the deal for us was the human aspect - with ResQ we have access to a great technology platform but we also have access to a team of people we can rely on from operations experts to dedicated Customer Success Manager.”
With ResQ, the restaurant staff open the ResQ app on their mobile phones, create and send the work order in minutes and they know that ResQ will dispatch a service provider and it’s done.
“We used to manage everything via email and lists and now we have a platform where everything we need is in one spot making it a lot easier for us. It’s definitely freed us up.” — Greg DuBois, Facilities and Sustainability Manager, The Keg
2) Making Better Decisions Faster
Greg and Chris believe that a strong R&M platform shouldn’t just address the concerns of one department or function such as facilities teams but it should also collect and collate valuable information for multiple functions, such as finance, operations, facilities, and leadership teams.
Not everyone across your business is looking for the same thing or information, but knowing you’re all looking at the same platform means less room for error, less miscommunication, and better and faster decision making abilities.
“So for example, if a salad oven is constantly being repaired at one of our restaurants in Phoenix and the exact same thing is happening in our Montreal restaurants and it’s the same salad oven, we can now look at the history of repairs for that brand of salad ovens with operations and purchasing teams.
By having everyone involved looking at the same information across the board, we can make smart decisions efficiently because we know that this particular oven quality is sub-standard. I find it very useful to be able to look at an issue on hand, like the salad oven for example, pinpoint red flags easily among all the data available to me, grab what I need and take action on it. So that's a huge positive that anyone in my position can use.”
“Just seeing everything in one singular portal for accounting, finance, restaurant operations and the facilities department has been a game changer. Everyone from the 100+ restaurant GMs, Assistant GMs, to Regional Operations Directors, all do things differently but to bring everything on one platform where everybody views the components of different business elements in the same way is critical to moving the business forward.”
There aren’t many restaurants that collate such detailed information on small repairs in addition to larger items. Most restaurants catalog larger repairs but mostly for capex accounting purposes but such information doesn’t necessarily give you insights to help with better decision making.
Results With ResQ
In just under 6 months, all R&M-related communication with stores is now directed and focused on larger issues that impact the bottom line more.
Now Greg and Chris don’t get 15 emails talking about a light fixture driver for example. They can now put time and focus on bigger ticket items such as deciding to repair the motor on an oven or replacing it.
ResQ’s detailed analytics has helped the team with specific cost savings such as denying repairs and going with replacements, and being able to look for multiple quotes for certain repairs to reduce our costs.
“We are definitely easily seeing the value of the contract each month so there are no issues there especially because of how much we use it and the savings in time for us.”
“Each restaurant is seeing savings within the first three months. And when it comes to the larger business P&L, our finance department is seeing the value of dollar-to-dollar savings.”
Looking Ahead
Keeping Restaurants Open and Operating
“As Facilities leaders, our job is to keep restaurants open. Most folks in the industry underestimate the impact of minor repairs on sales and revenue.
To keep the restaurant up and operating, you also need to look at equipment and programs that could be hindering your operations and in turn the guest experience.
All these pieces add up so why not have a platform to mitigate service interruptions and costs?”
“If you’re looking to offload your repair and maintenance headaches, ResQ is really good at taking these headaches off your plate and managing everything for you. ResQ is also great for those looking to scale and expand and move some of your repair and maintenance budget into more flexible terms.”
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