Implementation of QRmaint CMMS: How did Bartkowscy Bakery improve UR operations at more than 20 facilities?

When we think about the food industry, about food production, we have before our eyes many challenges that producers struggle with. We mean not only regulations, HACCP, health and safety, but also challenges related to maintaining high efficiency. The bakery industry, like many others, operates on rather low margins, where in production not only quantity is extremely important, but above all quality.

To ensure quality, companies must ensure not only the efficiency of their production operations, but also the facilities where they sell their products.

In this article, we talk about the implementation of the QRmaint CMMS system in the Bartkowscy bakery , which uses the system to maintain traffic in 23 locations of its stores, where it sells excellent quality products made in its bakeries. We talk about the implementation with Mr. Tomasz Bartkowski, Brand Manager, who is also responsible for improving and improving operational activities in all areas of the Bartkowscy Piekarnia company. It is important to mention right from the start that the QRmaint CMMS system will soon also include maintenance operations of the bakery and confectionery facility itself.

Check out more in the article and find out how much difference digitalization with the QRmaint CMMS system makes in the bakery industry, but also in commercial facilities, which include a chain of bakery stores, a real leader in the local market. More below.

Challenges in Maintenance in Commercial and Manufacturing Facilities

As mentioned, the Bartkowscy bakery decided to implement the QRmaint CMMS system, starting with commercial facilities. Therefore, the company wanted to streamline operations and standardize service work in facilities to ensure that end customers receive the highest quality service in the best place.

Maintaining the flow of commercial facilities involves many challenges that have a direct impact on operational efficiency. It also affects customer comfort and operating costs. So what were the challenges they faced? Let’s take a closer look below:

Ensuring business continuity – failures of installations, devices or systems lead to downtime. They negatively affect customer experience and generate financial losses. The same problem, to a greater or lesser extent, also affected the Bartkowscy bakery.

We simply need efficient communication and a single place where we will collect information about faults and device locations to have a complete picture of the situation. We have stores, so for our segment, it is crucial to improve communication and quick flow of information, especially in communication between employees responsible for a given area. This applies to both technicians and store staff, because contact with technicians is easier by phone. In addition, store employees need a very simple way to report problems. In our case, these are whistleblowers, i.e. salespeople.

Tomasz Bartkowski

Brand Manager at Bartkowscy Bakery

Effective service management – ​​Mr. Tomasz, who has long been responsible for managing UR employees, coordinating the work of service technicians out of necessity, has long noticed that supervision over inspection schedules and quick response to faults are key elements of effective maintenance. Until the implementation of the QRmaint CMMS system, notifications were communicated via WhatsApp, which meant that many notifications were not completed because they were lost in the thicket of messages.

Optimizing maintenance costs – ongoing maintenance, repairs and upgrades require a budget, so it is important to find a balance between costs and infrastructure reliability.

Technical Infrastructure Management – ​​There is no doubt that commercial facilities have many systems (e.g. HVAC, electrical, plumbing) that require regular inspection and maintenance to ensure they are running smoothly. The bakery was no different, having to deal with many challenges in this area.

Food storage safety – stores and bakeries must ensure that refrigerators, freezers and ventilation systems are working properly. Multiply that number by 23 and you have quite a few devices. To maintain proper storage conditions and meet sanitary standards, they must operate almost constantly.

Digitalization and automation of processes – the challenge at the Bartkowscy bakery was manual monitoring of the technical condition of facilities. It was time-consuming and prone to manual errors. Hence, the need within the company grew to find a system that would facilitate maintenance management and allow for ongoing monitoring of the condition of devices.

Employee engagement is key to efficiency. Unfortunately, without the right tools, keeping them motivated is extremely difficult. We often encountered problems related to incomplete orders and lack of transparency regarding their status. The lack of information about the start and end of tasks made it difficult to monitor progress and required additional communication with technicians. As a result, I had no current insight into the execution of orders. Introducing a system that provides transparency and allows tracking the status of tasks from start to finish is essential to improve communication and efficiency.

Tomasz Bartkowski

Brand Manager at Bartkowscy Bakery

Technical support at the Bartkowscy Bakery facilities

In the context of fault and repair management, efficiency and speed of response are key elements. The QRmaint CMMS system, which was implemented in the network of facilities belonging to Piekarnia Bartkowscy, allowed us to focus on what is most important. In this context, we could say that it is mainly about communication and notifications regarding the removal of faults.

Although the system offers the possibility of generating detailed reports, the bakery and confectionery administration focuses on ongoing monitoring of the status of reports. Regular reviews of the problem list allow us to quickly identify and solve faults. This is something that translates into minimizing downtime and increasing the satisfaction of our customers.

To sum up, we can clearly emphasize that the QRmaint system has facilitated work in these areas:

Improved communication and information flow: The system created a central place to collect information about faults and device locations, which facilitated communication between employees. It also enabled a rapid flow of information, especially between technicians and store staff, which is crucial for companies with multiple locations. It is also worth noting that QRmaint provided a simple and effective way for store employees (signalers/salespeople) to report problems, eliminating the need for time-consuming phone contact.

Previously, due to the lack of precise information, we experienced significant difficulties in determining the exact location of individual devices and their current repair status. This lack of knowledge led to delays and inefficiencies. Implementing the QRmain system with status tracking enabled us to gain full control over these aspects. Now, with a few clicks, we can immediately determine where a device is and at what stage of its repair.

Tomasz Bartkowski

Brand Manager at Bartkowscy Bakery

Improved task management and tracking: The system made it possible to track the progress of work, tasks and their completion. This in turn provided insight into whether tasks were started and completed. There is also no doubt that it eliminated the problem of lack of knowledge about the status of repairs and task completion. This was a factor that eliminated the need for constant calling to obtain information.

The implementation of the QRmaint system significantly increased employee engagement. Providing an intuitive tool for reporting issues and monitoring their status made it easier for each employee to participate in the fault management process. Each employee gained the opportunity to actively participate in identifying and resolving issues, which directly translated into an increased sense of responsibility and improved overall operational efficiency. Previously, we used the WhatsApp platform to report and resolve faults, which led to significant information chaos. Key data and conversations often got lost, which made it difficult for us to effectively manage issues. Transferring this process to the QRmaint system turned out to be a breakthrough solution. Each fault now has its own dedicated conversation, which provides us with transparency and order in communication. Thanks to this, we have full insight into the history of each case and can track the progress of work in an organized manner.

Tomasz Bartkowski

Brand Manager at Bartkowscy Bakery

Device location: QRmaint’s CMMS system has enabled Bartkowscy to quickly locate machines and devices, which is very helpful for companies with multiple stores.

One of the most valuable features of the QRmaint system for us turned out to be the ability to comment on reports and attach photos and videos. This visual form of communication significantly sped up the process of diagnosing problems. Instead of describing the fault in words, employees can now present it in a pictorial way, which eliminates misunderstandings and allows for faster understanding of the problem. Thanks to this, technicians can remotely assess the situation and prepare for repair, which shortens the intervention time.

Tomasz Bartkowski

Brand Manager at Bartkowscy Bakery

Summary

It is safe to say that the implementation of the QRmaint CMMS system at Piekarnia Bartkowscy turned out to be a key step in streamlining maintenance operations. The system improved the management of faults and repairs. For Mr. Tomasz, this is a solution that eliminates communication chaos and introduces transparency into processes. Thanks to the centralization of information, mobile access and visualization functions, the company has gained full control over its facilities. Looking at the benefits again, this is something that has translated into time and cost savings.

Mr. Tomasz, when asked what your expectations are for the coming year in the context of the system, added at the end:

Our goal is to extend access to important system functions to a wider group of employees, especially in the context of monitoring temperatures in cold stores, which is crucial for compliance with HACCP requirements. However, we need to find a solution that will not generate excessive costs related to the need to grant managerial rights to everyone. We are looking for an effective way to allow employees to record temperatures on an ongoing basis, while maintaining control over the budget. I assume that we can use the QRmaint system for this. As for QRmaint, if I talk to someone, I would definitely recommend this system, because it helped me, so I can’t say that it is helpful.

Tomasz Bartkowski

Brand Manager at Bartkowscy Bakery

If your company also struggles with the challenges of maintaining traffic across multiple locations, QRmaint’s CMMS system may be the perfect solution. Contact us to learn how we can help you streamline your operations. Optimize costs and increase the efficiency of your team with us.