Retail Facilities Maintenance: The Circle of Management

FOREWORD

During my last 20-some years in the facility maintenance industry, I can look back at a handful of special moments where I received a gift. Now I’m not referring to a nicely wrapped package with a bow, but the type of gift that is often overlooked – Knowledge. The uniqueness of this gift is that it’s everywhere, but it can only be received when we allow ourselves to be open.
Chances are most of your professional achievements and advancement can be related to the acquisition and practical application of your knowledge.
How many times have you come across an individual whose knowledge and passion for self-improvement can transform your perspective, or alter the way you process information? Throughout our life most of us can usually think of a few individuals who had a significant impact on our growth, personally and professionally.
I can remember my first meeting with Al Tierney well. He greeted me in their corporate lobby and brought me into a large, glass walled conference room. As owner of a medium sized national facility services company I was excited about the prospects of working for this company and what a positive impact this could have on my business.
During our meeting Al was providing an overview on department expectations and the principles on which their programs were founded. Through his measured and engaging delivery, Al explained how every component of their locations was managed as well as the management structure in place to support their efforts. This was the most detailed and logical program I had been exposed to date, and there was a moment when I thought “This makes perfect sense, why doesn’t everyone build programs this complete and well thought out!?!?”
After the meeting Al took me to his desk and gave me two articles on facility management programs he had written almost five years earlier for an industry publication. These articles tied in to the vision discussed during our meeting. As I looked at the publishing date on his articles I was convinced this man was a visionary, a man operating ahead of his peers.
I left the meeting more excited about the depth of knowledge I had just discovered and the open invitation to learn more than I was about the revenue for my business.
During the months and years that followed there were many more lessons of the critical components of successful Facility Management Programs. Al had a way of always tying the components into the master strategy of the program in play, a symphony of information that I had not yet been exposed to – and I was all ears.
There were several recurring themes along the way but the main theme continually placed emphasis on the importance of Predictive and Preventive Maintenance programs and the associated benefits. With a qualified Director or Manager these programs can provide considerable savings, predictable expenses (for many years ahead), and operational efficiencies.
Not to be overlooked is the importance of building top and middle level management support as the pieces of these programs are developed and strategically pieced together. Having internal management as an ally is key to the life of the program, and not many understand or have more experience in how to navigate this than Al Tierney.
Al has successfully built two such programs at large national companies over the last 30 years. Many of the principles detailed in this book will be of great benefit to the reader. Whether applied in current or future positions, the lessons contained are a key piece of knowledge that will benefit Facility Professionals throughout their career. Many who will read this may be just getting started, or have successful careers. However, you all share a common goal – Knowledge.
In closing, I hope readers enjoy the detail provided and are open to receiving a gift from a passionate professional who can always be depended upon, Al Tierney.

Peter Mohrhauser, President
Ascential Corporation

INTRODUCTION

After nearly 40 years of employment – 30 in Facilities Maintenance Management, I am writing this book to foster discussion, development and deployment of management decisions and direction that affect facilities maintenance of a company’s restaurant, retail or wholesale multi sites. We, who labor in this field, need to begin a collective ‘white-boarding’ process to share and improve upon tried decisions and directions. We need to have a well thought out and effective facilities maintenance narrative that allows upper management to better understand the ramifications and benefits of maintaining their point of sale locations. In this way, the Director’s / Manager’s of Facilities Maintenance will have greater influence with their company’s facilities maintenance program.
What is contained in this book is my management experience garnered over a 30 year career in Facilities Maintenance with concepts developed and processes tried. Below is a quick synopsis of my work history.
My last day as the Director of Facilities Maintenance for Company A was December 21, 2012. My working resume is shown in the Appendices.
Prior to facilities management, there were a couple other management experiences that I would like to mention. First, there was my role as the Resident Engineer on an Illinois Department of Transportation highway and bridge construction project. Next, was starting the Civil Engineering Department for a Village in the Western suburbs of Chicago.
I graduated from the University of Dayton in April 1973, with a Civil Engineering degree. My first position was with a large engineering firm in downtown Chicago. This company had many disciplines of engineering services. I worked in the Civil Engineering Land Development department. I started preparing the engineering drawings for single family and multi-family Planned Unit Developments. This entailed the grading plans, the municipal utilities plans, the detention or retention plans and the Right-of- Way plans for the roadways and sidewalks.
This company reassigned me to the above mentioned highway and bridge project. After the completion of this project, I left to begin work as the Village Engineer for a Western suburb of Chicago; I was their first in-house engineer. As such, I established the engineering procedures for the land developments.
After two more working positions as Director of Engineering and Transportation Engineer with two separate companies, I became interested in Real Estate Development. I enrolled into a Realtor-In-Training program. I took this class successfully and it lead me to look for Real Estate positions within Corporations.
My first Corporate Real Estate job was with Company B. I started out as a New Store Project Manager. As such, we would find the site within a City where the company wanted to place a new branch, coordinate the development of the construction plans and then oversee the construction of the branch. After a year, I was asked to start a Facilities Maintenance area for the company. A year later, I was working full time as their Facilities Maintenance Manager.
I was with this company for over 19 years. After about 10 years, the Operations Department Manager came to me and asked me to develop a Predictive and Preventative maintenance program for the company. This was accomplished with the help of two Project Managers. Details about this program will be discussed later.
After eight years of administering the Predictive and Preventative maintenance program, I left this company to start my own business. This company was Regal Alliance. Many of the vendors I had previously used paid me to represent them. Also, I wanted to share with other companies the principles of a Predictive and Preventative maintenance program.