By Drew Holst
The challenging hurricane season is ending soon, but many business leaders have another potential nightmare on their hands — winter’s crippling storms, ultra-low temperatures, and power outages. Multiple states may experience warmer than average winter days this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). However, organizations still need to prepare for that one cold snap that bursts pipes, or that one blizzard that shuts down all the power. That’s especially important for facilities that operate 24/7, such as restaurants, convenience stores, and school or college cafeterias that need to serve students except in the most dire circumstances.
Even if they can’t control Mother Nature’s impact, organizations with dozens or even hundreds of locations are using technology like IoT (Internet of Things) to minimize resulting business interruptions. Connecting equipment — such as HVAC, lighting, freezers, refrigerators, ovens, and dish machines — can help businesses stay operational and safe while reducing waste. The data from this connected equipment provides managers with new insights and keeps them in control. They can preempt risks and keep their operations up and running, even when the radio blasts, “Let it Snow.””
Preparing For The Deep Freeze
Consider a Midwest chain of convenience stores that are about to encounter below-zero temperatures and want to prevent burst pipes. New IoT platforms that integrate weather-monitoring software are preempting these disasters, which can result in seven-figure losses. Not only do they alert managers in real time; they automatically turn up the heat in affected locations to keep pipes warm and intact.
Safe Food. Healthy Students
Or, consider a public school cafeteria that families depend on to serve their children warm and nutritious meals. The school is responsible for ensuring that the food is safe, but it’s easy for conditions causing spoilage to go undetected. A winter storm could hit on a Friday night and knock out power until Sunday morning, ruining some refrigerated perishables without anyone’s knowledge. But when walk-in coolers or reach-in units are connected using IoT, the game changes: Managers receive alerts about outages in time to restock for Monday morning and prevent food-borne illnesses.
Maximizing The Customer Experience; Increasing High-Margin Sales
Those are just two examples of the many ways that a connected equipment strategy can help organizations perform at their best without downtime. Others include:
- Maximizing customer service in all conditions: Picture travelers pulling off the highway during a storm for a French fry break at their favorite 24/7 fast-food chain. They walk in only to discover that the fryers are completely out of service, and drive to the competitor at the next exit. IoT platforms are designed to detect subtle signs of fryers’ declining performance in time for preventative maintenance. This has an additional benefit: a reactive overhaul can cost three times as much as proactive servicing. Moreover, routine maintenance keeps machines out of landfills and improves brands’ sustainability.
- Increasing high-margin item sales: Coffee is a high-margin item for 24/7 convenience stores, and on a stormy day it can be the one item shoppers really crave. Connected coffee makers are providing stores with the data and analytics to perk up every coffee aficionado. By staying on top of the right stocking level for beans, and shoppers’ preferred flavors by time of day, stores can be ready to please no matter what the weather holds.
- Automating routine tasks: Employees can inadvertently forget about routine tasks like food temperature checks and HACCP (hazard analysis critical control point) logs when facilities are short-staffed. Automating them using IoT can be especially helpful when bad weather forces some team members to stay home.
- Reducing electricity usage and costs: Even in the winter, southern states can experience a sudden heat wave that has everyone cranking up the air conditioning. Artificial intelligence-enabled solutions that integrate with IoT platforms help facilities to avoid this reflex, which can contribute to massive outages. They optimize air conditioning use during times of peak business demand, when utilities charge much more, and reduce stress on the grid at the same time.
Despite Mother Nature’s power and fury, IoT enables businesses to continue operations — safely and profitably — while providing customers with an oasis from the outside. Even in a deep freeze, their revenues and service can continue to heat up.
Drew Holst is Vice President of Sales & Marketing with Powerhouse Dynamics, a leading Internet of Things (IoT) solutions provider for eliminating waste in the operations of multi-site foodservice and retail facilities. Its IoT platform, sold under two different brands — Open Kitchen® for foodservice operators and SiteSage® for retail and other commercial operators — provides control over key equipment for reduced waste and increased cost savings, actionable insights for more informed decisions on equipment and operations, and improved processes for consistent, positive experiences in their facilities. The platform is connected with over 50,000 pieces of equipment across 15,000+ locations. Contact Drew Holst at drew@powerhousedynamics.com.
