Transforming Facilities Management for a National Food Product Retailer

A national food product retailer operating hundreds of locations faced increasing challenges in facilities maintenance, vendor coordination, and service response times. 

Previously, the company managed all facilities operations in-house, requiring a small, overstretched team to handle vendor sourcing, cost negotiations, service follow-ups, and emergency response.

With locations open late into the night, facility disruptions significantly impacted operations. The internal team operated on a rotating on-call schedule, leading to burnout and inefficiencies.

The retailer sought a scalable, technology-driven solution to streamline vendor management, improve service response times, and allow their internal team to focus on strategic priorities.

NEST implemented an Integrated Facilities Management (IFM) strategy, providing 24/7 support, vendor performance tracking, and cost optimization tools to help the retailer transition from an in-house model to a fully managed solution.

24/7 Service Model & Operational Relief

• Transitioned the company from an internal rotating on-call model to NEST’s 24/7/365 facilities management team, allowing employees to move to a three-day weekend schedule.
• Provided real-time escalation support, ensuring urgent issues were addressed immediately without requiring direct involvement from the client’s corporate team.
• Enabled the internal team to focus on strategy rather than day-to-day facility disruptions, improving overall operational efficiency.

Vendor Management & Performance Measurement

• Consolidated vendor relationships to drive cost savings while ensuring consistency in service quality.
• Provided performance measurement tools, allowing the retailer to compare NEST-managed vendors versus preferred vendors across key trades such as HVAC and refrigeration.
• Developed customized Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to set clear expectations for vendor response times, service quality, and cost efficiency.

• NEST and the client utilized NEST Facilitate, a work order management system to centralize service requests, track performance, and provide real-time reporting on facility operations.
• Implemented triage tools and workflow management solutions, ensuring only necessary service calls were initiated, reducing unnecessary maintenance expenses.
• Provided cost-tracking visibility, helping the client budget more accurately for preventive maintenance (PM) versus reactive repairs.
• Reduced the provider base technology costs.

By implementing a structured, technology-driven facilities management approach, NEST successfully delivered:

• An internal rotating on-call schedule, improving work-life balance for corporate employees.
• 30% reduction in service response times, ensuring urgent repairs were addressed faster.
• Greater cost control and budgeting visibility, helping the client make data-driven financial decisions.
• Optimized preventive maintenance programs, allowing the company to evaluate the cost-benefit of servicing versus replacing key equipment.
• Improved decision-making on vendor allocation, leveraging data analytics to determine whether NEST-managed vendors outperformed the retailer’s existing preferred vendors.

By transitioning from an internally managed facilities operation to a fully integrated model with NEST, the retailer gained greater efficiency, cost control, and improved service quality. NEST’s 24/7 support, vendor management tools, and performance tracking solutions allowed the company to focus on strategic growth rather than daily operational disruptions.