Taking great care of an asset fleet is a direct way to drive customer loyalty. Our guest today’s job is just that. This episode features an interview with RJ Zanes, Senior Director of Facilities Maintenance at Sam’s Club. Sam’s Club is a warehouse club with 597 locations across the U.S. Prior to Sam’s Club, RJ held operations roles at JLL, Daifuku, JBT Aerotech. On this episode, RJ discusses maintaining a billion dollar asset fleet, how he drives accountability through quality assurance, and why his number one goal is providing member delight.
Taking great care of an asset fleet is a direct way to drive customer loyalty. Our guest today’s job is just that.
This episode features an interview with RJ Zanes, Senior Director of Facilities Maintenance at Sam’s Club. Sam’s Club is a warehouse club with 597 locations across the U.S. Prior to Sam’s Club, RJ held operations roles at JLL, Daifuku, JBT Aerotech.
On this episode, RJ discusses maintaining a billion dollar asset fleet, how he drives accountability through quality assurance, and why his number one goal is providing member delight.
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Guest Quote
“We operate with the mentality of a member obsession. And what that means for us is keeping our fleet of assets at the optimal state from a physical aesthetic appearance perspective, as well as operations perspective” - RJ Zanes
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Time Stamps
*(0:23) About RJ
*(1:29) RJ’s responsibilities
*(1:56) RJ’s journey into facilities
*(5:34) A Rotisserie Chicken Fun Fact
*(6:18) Segment 2: Across the Goal Line
*(9:30) RJ’s Asset Management Strategy
*(15:05) Greatest Challenges RJ’s Seen
*(20:30) Segment 3: How We Do It
*(26:00) RJ’s best investments
*(28:56) You will fail before you will succeed
*(30:44) Segment 4: Future Forward
*(34:00 Consumer shifts that are here to stay
*(36:52) Fixing the labor shortages
*(38:38) Final words of advice
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Sponsor:
Wouldn’t you like to rest easy knowing that your brick and mortar locations are offering the best possible guest experience? It’s time to partner with ServiceChannel for peak facilities performance. Check out Servicechannel.com to learn more.
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Links
Welcome to Elevating Brick and Mortar.
A podcast about how operations and facilities drive brand performance.
This episode features an interview with RJ Zanes, Senior Director of Facilities Maintenance at Sam’s Club. Prior to Sam’s Club, RJ held operations roles at JLL, Daifuku, JBT Aerotech.
On this episode, RJ discusses maintaining a billion dollar asset fleet, how he drives accountability through quality assurance, and why his number one goal is providing member delight.
But first, a word from our sponsors.
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Here’s your host, Industry and FM technology thought leader and Chief Business Development Officer at ServiceChannel, Sid Shetty"
Sid: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the show. Thank you for being here. Really appreciate it. I'm here today with RJ. Zane's RJ. Welcome. How are ya?
RJ: Not too bad. Thanks for having me said.
Sid: Absolutely. Thank you for being here. So, Uh, let's dive right in, uh, RJ. What's your role and what are you responsible for?
RJ: Uh, I said, so my role is senior director of facilities maintenance for Sam's club falls under the real estate platform. Uh, I'm here at Sam's club. We're responsible for all facilities maintenance and the strategy. They around for 597 operating clubs. We also have, uh, several e-com fulfillment centers, um, and, uh, and then all of our dark club portfolio as well.
Sid: Nice, uh, before we talk about Sam's club, right? Um, I, I love asking all our guests, um, how they ended up in facilities because you hear some of the best stories, right? So RJ how'd, you end up in facilities.
RJ: Well, I said that's a long road, a lot of, a lot of, uh, Off the beaten path journey, um, along that road, but, uh, no, so I I've been in construction facilities, maintenance my entire career. Uh, my father was a, um, a master electrician. Um, so I kind of followed in his footsteps down. The electrical path, started my career as an electrician.
Um, then got into project management as I grew in leadership and, uh, you know, furthered my education and, um, I was doing a ground power. Project that the Memphis international airports. Um, and, uh, at that point, Delta airlines and Northwest airlines were big getting to merge and they, uh, they, you know, asked me to jump in and run their facilities program.
And, uh, at that point I transitioned from any electrician, um, project management and overseeing large construction projects to running a facilities maintenance program. So it was a shift in my career. A pivoting point, um, began to run a facilities maintenance program didn't know much. So, um, got into, to build a CMMS or a computerized maintenance management system for the first time.
And, um, you know, made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot and grew, um, in the, in the technology area from an FM perspective. Um, and then, uh, you know, I worked, uh, there in, in the airline industry, running, uh, baggage handling systems and ground support, equipment maintenance. Um, as well as airport infrastructure maintenance for, for many years.
And, um, then I was recruited up to, um, run maintenance for, uh, fulfillment centers for a large retailer out of the Pacific Northwest. And, uh, learned a lot about, a lot more about, uh, conveyance systems and robotics and built out maintenance platforms for that retailer before coming over here to say,
Sid: Nice. so tell us more about Sam's club and, about the program that you run within the organization.
RJ: Yeah, Sam's club is a, uh, a big box retailer, right? We operate under a membership model. So people, um, you know, members pay to shop with us. Um, we, we run a fleet of 597 operating clubs, which is a, you know, made up of. Boxes that we described a few minutes ago. Uh, but we operate an omni-channel environment.
And what that really means is that we operate, um, you know, with online sales, with, uh, you know, ship from club, with curbside pickup, as well as the brick and mortar stores that we, that we actually maintain. And so, uh, we maintain all of that for, um, for Sam's club here under the FM platform.
Sid: That's great. We'll talk about that a little bit more later because, Sam's club is a, membership warehouse club, right? So customers pay to. Have a membership and avail of the great product, and prices that sounds compatible.
RJ: Exactly. Exactly. So it's important that we maintain, um, you know, uh, great facilities, right? We, we operate with the mentality of a member obsession. And what that means for us is keeping our, um, our fleet of assets. Um, at the optimal state from a physical aesthetic appearance perspective, as well as operations perspective.
And so it's, it's vital that we operate with that member obsession from a real estate platform perspective to ensure that, um, that we drive member delight. Right. I mean, um, I want, uh, our, all of our members to have a delightful experience as they, um, you know, as they shop with us and. Yeah. From the time that they pull into our parking lot and they see our building facade to the time that they walked through our doors and experience a nice, bright, clean environment, uh, to the time that they walk over to our refrigeration equipment.
And our product is readily available on time. Every time that they walk into our facilities.
Sid: that's awesome. Before we double click on, on that. I want to end this segment by, asking a question about, you know, as surprising or an interesting stat about your company, all the industry in, in, in your career that you think is, is, is worth sharing or fun to share,
RJ: Uh, well, I, I think, uh, everybody loves a great Sam's club, rotisserie chicken, right. And, uh, uh, pretty cool stat as one. Uh, we produce around 40, um, Bill or a 40 plus million, uh, rotisserie chickens per year. Um, and we, um, in every, uh, about 1% of Americans have a rotisserie Sam's club, rotisserie chicken on the table every night for dinner, which is pretty unique.
And any given night, 1% of America has a Sam's club, rotisserie chicken for dinner.
RJ: 1% of American households have a sand club, rotisserie chicken for dinner. That's
Sid: Right, right? Yes. Yes, yes. Perfect. Uh, that's a pretty cool stat. all right. Let's jump into our next segment. let's talk about some big picture objectives and the way teams can move them across the goal line. So, RJ, what are Sam's club's goals for the type of customer experience you want to deliver?
And. Do you think that, that our highest standards considering Sam's club is like we mentioned a membership warehouse club.
RJ: Yeah, of course, of course. Right. So our goal is to one, continue to serve our members, right. Uh, in any way that they want to shop. Right. Whether that be, you know, come into our club to, um, to shop inside the club, whether that be to order ahead and pick up a curd side, whether that be to order online or have things shipped to them.
Right then, um, our goal is to, um, That member obsession and provide that experience and any, um, you know, way that the, that the member wants to shop. And I think it is it's vitally important that we set a higher standard for, um, for our members, as they are paying to shop with us. We want to ensure that, um, when they come to shop with us that, um, like I said, it's a delightful experience, um, that, uh, that when they come to our club, it's a neat, clean, safe environment, um, that when they come to shop with us and they're coming to.
You know, shop with us and, and purchase a member's mark brand, um, that, uh, that it's readily available to them. Um, every time that they come in, we do not want to disappoint. And our goal is to ensure that, uh, that we get 100% member satisfaction. Um, and, and the way that we go about that is, uh, is driving consistency, right?
And, and that means, uh, quantifying the conditions of, of our fleet, understanding where the gaps lie and, uh, putting programs in place to close those gaps and sustain the closure of those.
Sid: Yeah, I, I love that you mentioned, member obsession, And you talk about customer delight. that's so important, right? I mean, in retail in general, you want to have the customer feel special when they walk in and that you care. but that expectation, I think, is even more when the customer is choosing, to pay you.
for the ability to walk into your, into your store, into your club. and so that, you know, they're basically changing their shopping habits so that they come into a Sam's club. And they buy everything for the whole family, right, It's you buy your children's clothes, you buy your food. Um, you buy, you know, all the items you need in your to run your household.
Sid: You're pretty much spending. And an hour. Uh, I know cause I do it with my family. right.
And, and it's like an outing, you buy everything and, and in stock up. Right. Uh, so there's, there's, there's an expectation that when they walk in, uh, the facility feels warm and welcoming. Um, RJ, you and I have actually walked a Sam's club together.
And, I say this the same way you said about member obsessed. I think you are also very obsessed about making sure that your assets are always up. Um, so no are low downtime, uh, because they essentially hold, the biggest assets that you have in the location, which is your product.
Sam's club locations are, are as large as they get. So what does your asset management strategy look like?
RJ: Yeah, no, I said, I'm glad you brought that up. I mean, members come to shop with us to buy bulk, right? I mean, you think about the changing economy. With COVID and the way that it impacted the way that individuals purchase products, right. Um, they purchased in bulk because, you know, they shifted from working at a brick and mortar office to working from home.
Um, and even in today's environment, uh, you know, working from a hybrid situation, it's still that demand and then there's supply chain issues. And so people are going to stock up to offset the supply chain issues and they'll continue to, and it's important that our product is readily available. Uh, to them on time, every time.
And so our asset strategy is really a hundred percent around, um, providing that member delight. Right? I am, I'm a hundred percent obsessed with, uh, with maintenance. I'm very passionate about it. Um, I've done it for a long time and I absolutely love it. And I wouldn't want to do anything else other than one ID today.
And, um, if you think about an asset strategy and you think about life, uh, life cycle, asset management and life cycle, asset modeling, and really working to lower, the total cost of. By optimizing, um, your uptime, um, you, you talked about, uh, reducing downtime and, uh, you know, getting to, to no downtime, right.
But there's, there's a pivotal moment, um, in, in that lifecycle, um, asset strategy. Um, where it, you know, you can, over-invest in an asset to try to get to a hundred percent, um, you know, uptime, which, uh, may cause a higher, uh, total cost of ownership than what's needed. And so you've got to work to find the optimal uptime for a specific asset.
And what that really means is balancing. Um, investments into an asset against the cost of downtime and finding out where those two meet to identify what your optimal uptime state is for that specific asset. And so that's what we work on here. Um, quite heavily is, is identifying the optimal uptime states, um, through all of the means of investments.
Proactive maintenance to reactive maintenance, to predictive maintenance, to condition-based monitoring, to spare parts programs, all of that kind of stuff from an investment perspective, and then determining how each of those are going to offset downtime and what the cost of that downtime is. Right. And that's things like lost product, lost sales, lost productivity hours, right?
And so we work to balance all of that to identify that optimal uptime state, um, for our. Right. As we want to ensure that we are hitting that optimal uptime state. So when they come shop with us, it's there. Right. Um, and, and further, we want to ensure that we are quantifying the conditions of our assets, right?
We want to ensure that we understand exactly where those opportunities lie within our buildings. Whether that be lighting levels, whether that be, um, you know, floor gloss scores, whether that be our restrooms, um, and the need for updating from a fixture perspective or whether it be out in our landscaping and we've got dead trees or, or other, right.
We want to ensure that we quantify those conditions and understand exactly where those gaps lie. And so we can work to pinpoint investment, but then also drive accountability through means of quality assurance.
Sid: So it that's fantastic, right? I mean, you, you talk about floor gloss score, and lighting levels. Cause clearly. I mean, that makes an impact on what the customer, fields in, in the club, um, lighting levels affect how produce can look, um, how any product can look, uh, the floor levels. you know, it can make a store feel, clean, or vice versa, right.
or either, or, or the other way around. Right. You're pretty scientific about how, and what is the ideal state? How do you, how do you go about that? Who do you work with within the organization to understand the impact of, of these different physical assets or spaces on the customer experience?
RJ: Yeah, that's a good question. Yeah, we do get very scientific with it. I mean, you know, we're in the day and age of technology and we're able to pull assets to, uh, to get all types of information out of specific assets. And, and then we, we build asset condition, quantification audits to get out, to understand the fiscal appearance and state of our assets as well.
Um, and so we work across our entire organization, right? The, you know, every, everything from reliability engineers or asset managers to our facilities managers to then third parties that come in to, to help us, right. Uh, to build out these strategies, um, whether that be building an optimal uptime, um, model, um, for a specific asset or whether that be executing a, um, a non-biased, uh, asset condition, quantification audits, um, I surround myself with a lot of smart people.
There is a lot of smart people and, uh, and you know, we worked together to build, um, these models and these specific products to quantify those conditions, utilize that data to make better data-driven decisions. And it's important to do so otherwise, you know, You know, you think about maintenance for all of those years where we've been doing preventative maintenance, right?
It's an, and, uh, and you ultimately can have false positives. You may be doing a PM on a specific piece of equipment, um, where it may not be needed. Uh, we can get a little bit more granular with that and focus our maintenance activity and the costs that are around to exactly where it's needed when it's needed and why it's needed versus just doing a PM for a sake of.
Right. And so we try to get down to that level, um, to, um, to pinpoint investments, optimize our uptime and optimize our, spend into the business, to lower our total cost of ownership.
Sid: That's great. Hey, I want to talk about. How you've developed those partnerships in our next segment. But before that, I want to ask you about some challenges. what do you think has been some of the challenges that you've seen in your program? in living up to the full potential, of, of the impact you can have on,the brand and.
You can, you know, we'd love to hear generalities as well in terms of what do you think our industry faces in terms of challenges and making the impact that, that they can have, on their respective brands.
RJ: No, that's a great question said, and you know, we're always gonna run into challenges. We're always gonna run into problems and that's what we're here for. Right. We're here to solve problems. We're here to overcome those challenges, um, as a team. And, um, I think, you know, from my perspective, um, an individual challenges or challenges with my, within my organization, um, they're broad and they're pinpointed.
Um, you know, obviously I'm, I'm seeing the same challenges as everyone else, right? Uh, in this, uh, Day and age with the way the economy swings are happening and how rapidly they're happening from a supply chain issue, um, standpoint to, uh, an inflation standpoint, fuel costs, right? Um, things are, um, you know, they're not getting cheaper, right?
And they're continuing to become more expensive. So you, you get a lot of pressure from a cost perspective. Um, there's delay in supply chain, which is limiting our ability to maintain spare parts levels that the. The levels that we'd like them to, um, find, or even build spare parts programs for specific pieces of equipment.
Cause you can't hardly get the parts there, uh, to build a supply internally. And so I think those are some of the bigger, uh, broader challenges, I think, uh, you know, if you think about internally and not so broad, um, you know, we continue to run into resource challenges, right. And that's natural. Um, and that's, uh, it'll happen within any organization, but we're challenged with it just as well.
Um, The operating from a lean perspective. Um, you know, you want to move things very fast. You want to get things accomplished. You've got these big broad goals, um, but you got to sit back and be realistic. What can we actually accomplish? Um, and in what timeframe, and then work to, uh, to prioritize each of the actions.
That you want to take to get to that north star, right. It's important to, uh, to get that north star out there, keep that north star out there, plan to get to that north star with specific key actions and then work to prioritize those actions based on the resources that you do have. Um, and that's what we do here.
As a team, we've got specific, we get that specific north star out there to become the worlds, um, you know, most, uh, reliable and sustainable real estate platform on earth. And we've got specific. Key strategic actions that we take and we keep in front of us on a daily basis. And we worked down each of those actions and we, we part reprioritize those actions as, as the dynamics continue to change as a, you know, there's, there's, short-term wins that come that, Hey, we need to make right then, or spare parts challenges.
That hit us, that we've got now have to pivot on and, and things like that. But it's important to, to set that north star out there and really work through those actions and reprioritize around those actions as the dynamics.
Sid: That's awesome. I mean, I love that you said, being the most reliable. Realistic platform or program in the world like that. that's a, that's a big goal. and I love that your north star is that kind of ambition, right? It's it's that's that's fantastic. You know, one of the things that you mentioned also is about supply chain issues.
It's a very relevant issue, in today's world. I see that happening, you know, across all sorts of brands, and programs, and it's not just affecting facilities, it's affecting all industries. do you think that are any other changes? You know, good or bad, right. That have happened.
in the past three years, worth talking about, you know, some things have gotten better. and some things have become more challenging. Um, any, anything that comes to mind.
RJ: Yeah. I mean, there's, there's many things that have changed, um, that have caused us to pivot and, or dig deeper into certain areas. I think one of the biggest, from, from my perspective, anyway, in the facilities maintenance organization or facilities, maintenance industry is technical. Right.
Technology continues to move forward. Um, and it's important to embrace those technological changes, um, to capitalize on those technology changes. Uh, that's everything from the way that we're building out computerized maintenance management systems, these days to, um, condition-based monitoring systems and digging into leading indicators, uh, versus monitoring.
Indicators like in my area, right? Some in a temperature on a refrigeration unit that is a lagging indicator. If we're only monitoring temperature, uh, it's too late, right. Um, you know, by the time temperature rises, I'm losing product, I'm losing sales, um, you know, not meeting the expectation of my member.
And so it's important to embrace that technology and start to overlay condition-based monitoring systems on our equipment to monitor leading indicators instead of temperature we're monitoring gap drill, we're monitoring vibration we're monitoring. Uh, Door switches. Uh, we're we're monitoring float switches to, to ensure that we're identifying, uh, condensation drain pans that are, um, you know, about to overflow.
Um, all of that kind of stuff is really what we need to be looking at, and we need to embrace that technology.the advancement of technology these days is really where we need to focus and start to. Pull on that data, that's available to make those data-driven decisions, to make those scientific, uh, driven decisions that you described earlier.
Sit to, to really, um, allow us to focus where the value actually is versus, um, driving false positives. Um, we, we start to mitigate those false positives with that data. So I think that's one of the biggest key drivers.
Sid: that's great. So, so let's move to our next segment and talk about, um, how you do it, How do you make facilities? Relevant across the organization, across all conversations. you do a lot within your organization partnering with different teams, um, to have this scientific approach,to managing your facilities and your assets, um, and understanding what kind of optimized levels lead to better outcomes for your consumer. You know, do you think other facilities teams across different organizations are able to articulate their value in the same way? How do you do it?
RJ: Now great question. Um, say it, I think, you know, yes. Other facilities, uh, programs are able to, but are they right? I would ask that question. Um, you know, I think, uh, it many times over and I'm guilty of it as well. Um, especially earlier on in my career, um, we're focused on my line, right? Uh, in facilities, unless you're.
Um, you know, a for-profit facilities program, uh, you're an expense line, right? And so you're monitoring that expense on you're looking to reduce facilities, cost as many others are, if you're looking to reduce it. So were others. Right? And so it's important to portray, um, you know, what facilities is all about and exactly where that value comes in.
And it's not about reducing, um, maintenance costs, not solely, right. It is in, in, in a sense, but it's really about the overall impact, um, from a maintenance investment perspective. And as I described earlier, as you start to identify, um, you know, the optimal uptime state for your assets or. Deal, um, facilities, condition of your facility, um, identifying where those returns come from, because they're not always on your maintenance line right there a lot of times.
And the biggest impact is, you know, from an operations perspective, loss, sales, loss, product loss. Activity hour, identify where those, where those returns are truly going to come from as you work to invest in your business. And so I think, um, from my perspective, as I described earlier, it's really about working across the broader team, right?
To develop all of this it's it's not, um, us here in facilities. Um, and from a reliability engineering standpoint, dreaming all of this stuff on our own and going to execute it. It's gaining buy-in from merchants. It's gaining buy-in from operators. It's gaining buy-in buy-in from our, um, you know, leadership committee where we bring the data to the table to showcase where we need to pinpoint.
And. As I talked about earlier, we can quantify the lighting levels across every bit of 597 clubs. I can quantify the gloss score, quantify how many dead trees, how many linear footing offensing. And I take all of that and I show it to them to showcase, Hey, what this looks like, where we need to invest, why we need to invest in how it's going to drive value back to our.
Sid: I love that you, you mentioned the word invest so many times because I couldn't agree with you more. our industry has a massive PR problem, right? RJ, you and I have spoken about this,many times our facilities teams too, like, like you just mentioned.
Don't focus on investments and the ROI of those investments and how they ultimately impact the, the brand and the consumer experience, uh, because you're always behind the eight ball, like you're putting out fires. And so you're, you're trying to cut costs more than you're trying to, elaborate on.
What impact you have or articulate, uh, what it will cost you if you don't fix up certain things, or if you don't have the right, um, physical space and experience that a consumer walks in expecting. Uh, and so you're always doing. More with less, which is good. I mean, all departments and all industries should be efficient and do more with less.
Um, but I think it's also about, you know, making your voice heard about why. Your team exists and the value they create and ultimately the impact it has on the brand. And if you can make that argument and if you can, stand up on your soapbox and talk about it, then you can have conversations about investing, in the team.
In the program because it makes a huge difference. You know, when, when a customer walks into a physical space and they look around, they're seeing the brand and part of that brand is the physical space itself, which is managed, maintained and preserved by the facilities team.
RJ: Yep. Absolutely. I think you think about facilities maintenance. I mean, we're, we're like the utility company, nobody cares about us until the lights go out. Right. And then everybody's complaining. Right. So, uh, that's been, that's kind of the way I see it, but it's, it said I see it as our responsibility to help manage the broader PMs.
Right. And work across all of those lines to tell the story behind, um, the investment in facilities and the offset on other lines and help our operators, our merchants and others, our leaders understand and how to balance that P and L because ultimately we're only one line, but we impact many other lines on that PNL.
And if we don't invest properly and scientifically there will be a miss. Right. And it's important that we get. Together with all of those, um, mentioned, uh, to balance that P and L.
Sid: I love it. So, speaking of investments, you know, can you share the kind of investments or the biggest, investments you've made that have the biggest impact in your organization?
RJ: Yeah. I mean, there's, there's a, there's a lot of them, right? It's everything from, uh, technology, uh, condition-based monitoring systems where we're starting to invest a little bit more heavily now to, uh, preventative maintenance, um, where we didn't have it before and, and working to, uh, to build the business cases behind those, uh, preventative maintenance programs, uh, to asset condition quantification, I guess maybe I can, I can elaborate there a little bit more.
Um, you know, we've. Built out a specific asset condition, quantification audits. Um, that is very objective. Um, and I kind of hinted to it a little bit earlier, um, where we were able to quantify the lighting levels in every corner of our building. As we take lighting level readings. Points within a building, uh, to how many dead trees to the gloss scores, to how many linear footing of cocking and a restroom is bad and needs to be replaced.
Um, we've built that out. Um, and we have auditors a non-biased third party auditors go out to, um, to quantify those conditions twice a year. So we can work from there. Pinpoint where we need to make investments, um, from a physical appearance perspective, as well as an operations perspective, uh, we gained a lot of our operation, um, the equipment operation data for, you know, equipment uptime and other, um, from condition-based monitoring systems as well as, um, our CMMS system.
That an optimal uptime, uh, decision, but we don't often get the physical aspects of those specific pieces of equipment. So if you think about refrigeration and you think about refrigerated boxes, um, I can only see so much from an operations perspective. I can't see, um, that this box needs a Baton reseal.
Right. Um, I can't see that kind of stuff. And so. You know, box being split, needing a Baton reseal, um, I'm losing, uh, you know, temperature, um, um, wasting, uh, utility, right. And continuing to drive an unsustainable, um, operation. And so, uh, it's important that, uh, that. Invest in that manner that we quantify those conditions.
And as, as we repair those conditions, we reaudit and watch our facilities, condition, index, um, continue to head in the right direction. Right. So, um, and, and one of the ways that we've built it out is, um, we've got four key areas. We've got 36 specific systems that we identify in 378 individual elements that we work to quantify in each of those systems to create an overall facilities, condition, index score.
Um, and, uh, from that standpoint, we can pivot it, filter it, identify where we need to invest. Invest and, uh, you know, identify where the value is with that. Um, audit. I can also identify, you know, where the deferred maintenance, um, capital and or opics actually lies. So not only can I see it from a, uh, facilities, condition, index score perspective, um, we can also identify how much we're going to need to invest.
And so we work through that to pinpoint that investment. And then from there, As we, uh, as we quantify that and we invest and we watch our facilities, condition index grow or not grow and head in the wrong direction, we drive accountability, uh, through means of quality assurance with that audit as well.
It's been, uh, a pretty big investment and a big strategic move and how we quantify the, the conditions of our fleet.
Sid: So, I mean, that's pretty phenomenal, right? I mean, you're talking to. You know, 590 plus clubs all around the U S and you know, it's so much change happening in the world. So before we jump into our final section, um, I always love asking our guests, about fun, crazy, interesting stories that they can share from their career, because, in facilities, there's a lot of fascinating stories, right?
RJ: Yeah, there is, there is. I, I thought about that a little bit soon, and I was thinking about that this morning. What, uh, what are, what are some of those interesting stories? Yeah. I think one of them for me was, uh, I talked about earlier and kind of how I got into facilities and my career path there a little bit.
Um, the first time I ever built out a computerized maintenance management system, I failed big. Like I got in to build an asset module set and I built the asset module down into every light fixture was an individual asset within that asset module. And my technicians absolutely hated me for it. There RJ.
There's no way we're going to be able to operate like this. Um, and, and fundamentally I had to take it all out and rebuild our entire asset module as a, as a young leader in the facilities maintenance organization. I laugh now. You know that I have become an expert in this area, per se. Um, as I look back at the mistakes I made, but, uh, I would tell everybody else out there don't be afraid to make mistakes.
You're going to do things like that. And you're going to look back and guess what I learned from it. Um, you know, it, it was a big investment to get them in there in the first place, just to ball it up and toss it out to then re uh, implement and re-upload, um, All of those assets and, um, but it was, it was funny, um, as I look back on it, but it was a big learning experience for me and I learned a lot.
And I'll tell you, I learned more about a Siva MES system than I ever thought I would when I first started that up. And I learned down into the details of its and was really able to, to build a reliability centered maintenance program, um, from that learning, um, you know, and, uh, uh, that helped me along in my career.
Sid: no, I love it. I agree with you a hundred percent. I mean, if you're not. And making mistakes. It just means that you're not pushing yourself enough. Right. You're not, you're not going to learn anything. So, yeah. That's awesome. Love it. All right. Let's jump into our final segment and, um, let's talk about the future, but, but before we talk about the future, let's talk about the past, right?
RJ. Um, how do you think the industry has evolved over the past 10 years?
RJ: Over the past 10 years. Um, I think, uh, the industry has evolved quite substantially, right? I mean, I mentioned it earlier. Uh, some of the biggest changes, um, as tech right now, we've continued to refine technology. Uh, we've continued to identify ways to gather, um, specific component level data to make better data-driven decisions.
I think that's the biggest game changer. Um, if you think about. You know, 15 years ago, um, many companies and this, there are many companies out there now that, that were know, doing work orders via a paper methodology. Right. And then people start to get into a computerized maintenance management systems.
Um, and, uh, and then, you know, they would log all of their stuff on a, on a piece of paper during the day and then go back. Floated into a same, a mess system. And now it's evolved into a mobile technology where we're scanning asset tags and collecting data against individual assets and, and working to identify performance levels of our associates, our technicians out there in the field to how long it's taking on individuals.
Um, you know, pieces of equipments at form reactive proactive work to then even starting to move into standard operating procedures, embedded into CMMS systems, um, with videos, right? So you bring on new technicians and if they're going out to do a PM, it's a video right there that they can pull up to look at, show them what tools they need, how long it should take, what moves to make, um, to now condition based monitoring systems, to overlay against your specific assets to, to gather that component.
Data and, and really, um, help you make optimal decisions, uh, and, and moving away from preventative maintenance, because now you're monitoring conditions and pinpointing where you should go fix things versus just going out there, um, to, to perform a PM and, and, you know, I'm getting hit with false positives.
So I think technology is the biggest game changer, um, that, uh, has evolved, um, and the facilities maintenance realm, and there's so much more out there that's been, you know, that hasn't been explored, um, you know, from a technology perspective. And I think it's only going to get better, um, you know, within like you think about kind of where things are.
The virtual reality space. What does that look like for, uh, for maintenance in the future? I have no idea like it, it's going to be pretty cool. Um, I know that, uh, I've explored with, uh, with other companies like training, uh, via VR and. That, but, um, I mean, imagine, you know, putting a VR on here and the home office and walking through a facility and seeing the controls on your specific refrigeration equipment and seeing exactly what it looks like.
Um, but sitting here in the home office, I can only imagine what it's going to look like. And, and the, you know, the changes that are going to be made as technology continues to evolve.
Sid: No, I couldn't agree with you more. I think technology has come a long way. we're in a transformational era, the challenges that we face today are happening because of the environment we live in.
and with COVID and all the different challenges that relate to the labor shortage, all of that has an impact on our space and technology and. our, our what's going to help us get through it. Right. any thing that you see in terms of rising trends in consumer behavior or COVID related shifts that you think are here to stay.
RJ: I think that there's a lot, uh, that's here to stay. I mean, like I kind of talked about it a little bit earlier. But, uh, you know, when we, when COVID first hits, right, everybody went home and everybody had to figure out how to work from home and the zoom environment and, uh, you know, came about and the teams environment came about.
And, uh, but people change habits and how they bought product. Right. Um, you know, they went out and started the bulk buy right to, um, Hey, you need a more toilet paper at your house now, but you know, you're not using it at work like you were. So, uh, you think about all that kind of stuff. So, um, there was a fundamental shift and, and even in today, um, you know, today's work environment, um, a lot of companies are going, uh, more hybrid or remote, right.
And so, um, some of those habits from a purchasing perspective, or are here to sell. Um, you know, so I think, um, you know, that's been a fundamental shift that, uh, that will continue to be around again, you know, with the evolving supply chain issues. People are, you think about the baby formula situation right now?
Um, where there's a big. Everybody's trying to buy as much as they can. And so guess what, that's going to be a habit that they make into the future. And so I guess what Sam's clubs does, right? We sell in bulk, right? So people are going to go to Sam's club and others that they can buy in bulk, um, because they don't want to have that same situation arise again for their families, for their children.
Um, so I think those are gonna be things that are, that are here to stay and, um, you know, I'm excited. 'cause it's, uh, you know, it's fun, it's fun overcoming those challenges and, and working to solve those problems. And it's going to be on us, um, from a facilities perspective on a spin it back into to facilities.
Um, you know, I think it's, it's fun to, to be challenged with ensuring that we are, um, optimizing or uptime, uh, creating the, the consistent environment for our consumers and ensuring that it's a neat, clean. Safe environment for our members and our customers abroad.
Sid: That's great. I wanna also add to what you mentioned as well earlier about. You know, AR and VR, technology that, that could help solve a lot of, problems in our space. I think that one area that may be, where there's opportunity is, know, there's a lot of labor shortage in our space, right?
there's a aging talent. that's kind of going to retire in the next few years, and there's not enough, new talent coming in. I think providers, and, facilities programs are feeling it right. costs are going up, um, and then combine that with supply chain issues.
it's a challenging time and I think that, We're going to see some technological advancements that help solve those problems, in the long run. And I think to your point, those technologies will help us make data-driven decisions, but it also help us, address some very specific challenges that we have, today not in our industry.
And across industries. and so I think it's going to be an exciting few years for.
RJ: Yeah, I absolutely agree. Say it. I couldn't agree more. I, you think about, um, the labor shortages, the technology, or. The technical capabilities shortages. Um, I was on a board for the national science foundation, um, to try to solve the labor shortages, um, and the, um, the skilled labor industry for a long time.
And, um, ultimately we're seeing a sort it's then we've got to get creative with how we, uh, markets, um, you know, The skilled labor, um, area to high school students, to college students and others to bring more supply into the industry. But because we have that shortage, right, we've got that shortage of, of knowledge, of fixing things, right.
Turning wrenches, and, and getting out there and getting dirty. I grew up in the industry. I loved it. Um, you know, and it's, it's on us to, to build that passion back in our young, to, to push them in that area. But, but it's also on us to your point to, um, to lean on technology, to help those that are coming into this industry, pinpointing exactly where they need to focus on that specific piece of equipment.
You think back in the day, when a refrigeration tech or an electrician went out to a building. The equipment was down. They had to go on diagnose it. They had to go find it and figure it out what the technology, these days we can pinpoint exactly where that problem lies and tell the technician exactly where to go.
One, it mitigates the time factor and drives efficiency, but then two, it's going to help these, uh, those, those that are newly coming into this industry, learn and fix things more efficiently, more effectively.
Sid: That's great. RJ, any last words of wisdom or advice that you'd give to our audience, folks that are in your position. but are part of programs that maybe aren't as mature as the team or our program that you've built at Sam's club, what would you say is a good way for them to start on this journey?
RJ: Yeah, I think, uh, said one. Um, and I say this often be patient. You can't, you can't eat that whole elephant at once. Uh, but I, I think to, um, start with the foundation, um, you, you've got to tag your assets, understand, you know, your spend your age, your downtime, uh, the models that you have out there. Um, That are failing more often than others.
And, um, you've got to start to overlay condition-based monitoring systems. You gotta start to quantify the conditions of your assets. Um, you know, think down those lines, but really identify your north star. What is it that you're trying to do for your organization? Identify that north star and build a specific action plan with your team.
And then work that action plan daily, like, and keep that in front of your people. I think it's important to, uh, to keep the mission, the vision and approach in front of your team. Um, so they continue to focus on that north star and the actions that they're taking are directed to that north star, um, and then work those actions, reprioritize that reprioritize those actions as the dynamics are going to change, they are going to continue to change.
Work to reprioritize those actions, but stay focused and be patient and work things one at a time. That'd be my
Sid: it. I love it. Uh, well with that, RJ, just want to say thank you. I have thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. it's always great talking to you. really appreciate you being here.
RJ: Awesome. Appreciate you said thanks for the.
Sid: Thank you. And, um, to all in our audience, thank you for being here and we'll see you next time. Thank you.