The Power of Preventive Maintenance


brokenkitchenWe’re reminded of the importance of preventive maintenance and the idiom “penny wise, pound foolish” after reading “How to Save Money on Restaurant Equipment Repairs” in Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN).

At Sintel Systems, we’re keenly aware of the importance of preventive maintenance to avoid crippling malfunctions and system breakdowns, which is what drives our dedication to ongoing customer support. We essentially partner with our customers to assure their POS system never lets them down. We are the only full-service POS provider, forming lasting partnerships with our clients that you simply can’t get from a reseller.

Sintel helps you plan your POS system to avoid deadly downtime. We offer high-reliability SSD drives, cloud backups, and 3- and 5-year warranties, plus optional loaner programs to get you back up and running fast if something does happen.

Restaurant chains are sensitive to all types of equipment failure, especially in high-impact areas such as refrigeration, HVAC and hood systems — the big issues that can shut an operation down.

The NRN post makes clear the importance and long-term value of regularly maintaining equipment rather than repairing after failure, while also acknowledging the difficulty of changing people’s point of view on the subject.

“We had an exhaust fan go out on a Friday night in one of our Cheddar’s, and that’s scary because you’ve got just minutes until the smoke fills up the kitchen,” said Steve Pottinger, vice president of operations at the Greer Companies, a Lexington, Ky. franchisee of 50 Cheddar’s restaurants. “It was a fan belt that broke, something that could have been eliminated if it had been checked closer.”

Outsourcing maintenance is one option, but it can be difficult to ascertain what is actually being done to equipment. Before Greer developed their own in-house maintenance team for a large portion of their properties, Pottinger said, “We started joking that the best thing about our maintenance company was that they really had the billing down … we’re glad we put our own staff together for [repairs and maintenance].”

The President of the Commercial Food Equipment Service Association, Joe Pierce, likens preventative maintenance on equipment to tune-ups on cars. “You can drive a car a long time without changing the oil, and you’re saving money, but once it needs repairing, that cost will be much larger than the cost of just changing the oil like you should have. Preventative maintenance can increase the longevity of equipment tenfold since it’s performing optimally. That’s where the real savings come in, but that’s the real challenge of educating operators: convincing them that staying ahead of the curve is the way to go for the long term.”

From Sintel’s unique perspective, we see power surges as the worst enemy of a Point of Sale system. A simple solution is a high-quality battery backup and surge protector with at least a 350 joules rating such as the APC Back-UPS Pro 1000 Battery Backup System. Each POS system requires one of these and a simple surge protector is not sufficient. Obtain a unit and charge it for at least 24 hours before connecting it to your POS system.

A slowed-down POS system is another bothersome issue. Here are some options to consider if you are experiencing slowdowns:

-Restart your POS on a daily basis, and also during the day after a peak in traffic.
-Upgrade your POS software to the latest version.
-Equip your location with two terminals. Obtain a high-quality POS terminal as terminal 1, and make your existing one your terminal 2.

Read the full Nation’s Restaurant News post here. Read our earlier post on power surges here; and our blog post about slow downs and solutions here.

Is your current POS system penny wise and pound foolish? Sintel Systems is the only full service provider of tailored Point of Sale systems across retail, restaurant and service industries, including frozen yogurt shopspizzeriassushi restaurantscafés and retail stores.

As a single source for business solutions, our experienced, knowledgeable team negotiates the complex POS landscape for you to enable you to find the right POS system for your business and budget. Hardware – Software – Support

If you are interested in learning more about Sintel’s POS systems and how our inside knowledge and support can impact your future, call us for a complimentary phone consultation.

Questions or Comments: Contact us 855-POS-SALES www.SintelSystems.com

 

 

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