ATLANTA --RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. has improved maintenance and repair services across its distributed enterprise of more than 700 convenience stores by integrating the ServiceChannel portfolio within its operations. ServiceChannel, the leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) service automation platform for facilities managers and contractors.
Through service automation, RaceTrac has achieved a number of operational benefits and cost efficiencies for maintenance and repairs. These include more effective contractor management through advanced features such as mobile/GPS check-in on site, streamlined invoicing and payment process and more transparent service work orders management.
RaceTrac also gained advanced analytics and reporting capabilities to deliver more visibility and transparency to the spending/budgeting process, including resource allocation for specific repair and maintenance categories. ServiceChannel also provided RaceTrac with a new level of customization and self-sufficiency for more than a thousand active users who can create and track work orders to successful resolution.
These benefits helped the RaceTrac support organizations, which include facilities management and the field services teams, decrease the volume of unresolved daily service tickets by 50% without adding headcount or operational budget, ServiceChannel said. These improvements also helped these teams better meet their service level agreement (SLAs) and overcome some existing perception challenges internally and externally.
"Previously there was definitely a 'cost-of-business' mentality when it came to facilities repair and maintenance costs," said Jelani Headley, senior manager of field services support at RaceTrac. "Beyond the cost issue, we were constantly challenged to meet SLAs, which made it difficult for our store teams to deliver an exceptional guest experience."
RaceTrac selected ServiceChannel after searching for a solution that could deliver functionality, automation and flexibility and that can be accessed by anyone on any device, at RaceTrac's Store Support Center or in its stores. RaceTrac also required a solution with an analytics engine that can produce custom reports of any number of data sets.
Specifically, RaceTrac deployed:
- ServiceChannel Service Automation, a platform to automate key business and service processes such as sourcing and activating of contractors in every region of operations, consolidated management of invoices and payments and providing visibility and data for improved performance, compliance and risk management.
- ServiceChannel Custom Analytics, which provided the detailed visibility and transparency of repair and maintenance costs based on any number of criteria such as by contractor, by trade and by specific equipment.
- ServiceChannel Site Audit Manager, a mobile application that allowed anyone at RaceTrac to conduct fully guided yet comprehensive onsite audits of facilities using smartphones or tablets. This replaced a "pen-and-paper" site-audit model requiring surveys to be faxed and rekeyed into the appropriate databases.
"There has been significant improvement since we established a relationship with ServiceChannel," Headley said. "Our vendors appreciate the faster, more accurate process while our store teams and guests reap the benefits."
The successful deployment also made the RaceTrac Support organization more effective internally by enhancing their levels of collaboration and simplifying inter-department planning. Other departments at RaceTrac have begun to leverage ServiceChannel for their operations with the goal of the platform serving as the company's enterprise "system of record" for planning, budgeting, vendor performance management and analytics and reporting.
"Sometimes a tool does not have the capabilities to support various areas within a company, but ServiceChannel was able to engender support at all levels of RaceTrac," Headley said.
ServiceChannel, New York, provides facilities managers with a single platform to source, procure, manage and pay for repair and maintenance services from commercial contractors across their enterprise. By providing a real-time, web-based view of service data across all trades, locations and contractors, facilities managers drive brand equity and return on investment (ROI) for their organizations without outsourcing or investing in new infrastructure.
Based in Atlanta, RaceTrac operates approximately 380 convenience stores and gas stations in five states. Its RaceWay dealers operate more than 300 c-stores with gasoline in 12 states.
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