The Company

One of the world’s largest consumer co-operatives and owned by millions of members, the Co-operative Group (Co-op) is the United Kingdom’s sixth biggest food retailer, with more than 2,500 local, convenience and medium-sized stores. The organization is also the UK’s number one funeral services provider, a major general insurer, and a growing legal services business.

Before vx Observe, a store colleague would have to raise every single job. Now about 20% of jobs are raised automatically, making their jobs easier and allowing them more time with their customers.
— Ian Smithyman, Head of Contract Management and Service Improvement

 

The Challenge

Convenience retailing in the UK is a highly competitive market. Before using Accruent solutions, the Co-op was unable to deliver to the same standards and cost model as its competitors because its system was inefficient, logistically difficult, and costly.

  • Preventive maintenance management was dispersed among four external providers
  • 11 different compliance systems meant convoluted legal compliance
  • Bundled invoicing in large amounts caused a lack of data transparency
  • Manual cabinet monitoring led to wasted employee hours and food spoilage

 

The Solution

The Co-op selected vx Maintain to address the group’s maintenance and work order management needs, and vx Observe for remote monitoring of its refrigeration assets.

  • Shift from time-based to condition-based activity, the most efficient way of maintaining assets
  • Granular data on 600,000 assets to inform asset maintenance over its lifecycle
  • Critical issues raised automatically by the system and managed to resolution

The use of the Accruent solution enabled the Co-op to free up colleague time in its stores, move the decision-making process to an automatic one, and to utilize the benefits of a technical service bureau to resolve technical issues. Better data insight and connected facilities drive efficiency, providing the critical information the Co-op requires to make decisions that will improve the business for the future.

  • Maintenance cost visibility
  • PPM compliance increased to 95%+ certainty
  • 33% reduction in service providers
  • 5% savings through invoice and maintenance streamlining
  • Reduced food wastage
  • 99.8% asset availability