Supermarket Perimeter - September 2021 - 68

OPERATIONS
EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE
by Andy Nelson
WITH MANY CORNERS of the
retail food industry facing labor
shortages, it's more important than
ever that commissaries, central
kitchens and other offsite providers
of foods to grocery stores have the
right equipment to take the burden
off of human hands.
And to ensure that equipment
is working as well as it can,
preventative maintenance is
essential.
Torrance, Calif.-based Bakon
Food Equipment's approach
to equipment maintenance
has always been to supply its
customers with high quality
equipment that is easy to
operate, clean and service,
said Luc Imberechts, the
company's owner.
" We also focus on using high
quality and easy-to-source
components, " he said. " And we
believe that it's important to
provide our customers with the
correct information about how to
best maintain their machines. "
Bakon is constantly working
on ways to improve its manuals,
checklists, videos, training, video
conferences and other methods
of educating its customers on
the importance of equipment
maintenance and how to
implement those ideals on a dayto-day
basis.
" Communication is key, "
Imberechts said. " We want the
customer to not hesitate to
contact us if they have questions
or need support. "
The Bakon showroom is often
used for both on-site hands-on
and remote video training
sessions. For the company's
larger machines, more and more
customers are taking advantage
of Bakon's Red Case service, a
subscription-based service that
allows Bakon to access machines
online to perform quarterly
systematic checks of the machine
or on an as-needed basis.
Services like Red Case,
Imberechts said, give users
the edge of taking a proactive
approach to the maintenance of
their Bakon equipment.
The number one maintenance
priority, Imberechts added,
is the proper cleaning of the
equipment, small or large,
Imberechts said. Some of
Bakon's larger machines have
the option of coming equipped
with cleaning assistant features
(onboard rinsing systems, e.g.) or
CIP capabilities.
Many happy returns
Sonia Bal, marketing director for
Delta, British Columbia-based
Unifiller Systems Inc., understands
that equipment maintenance
plays a central role in realizing a
mantra the company holds near
and dear: a happy customer is a
returning customer.
" We're not in the industry for
short term sales gains, " Bal said.
" We understand that building
a long-term and rewarding
relationship with customers
means working with them to
ensure that the equipment is up
and running successfully as we
promised and is supported with
reliable after-sale service. "
Too often, she added, other
companies in the industry
provide a good product but
" absolutely lose at the customer
service side of things. "
For Unifiller, proper
Using easyto-source
components
is
one key to Bakon's
high equipment
maintenance
standards.
maintenance starts with a simple
design and easy interface, with
the fewest parts to install, clean,
maintain or replace.
The company also supports
all equipment purchases with
manuals, quick start guides,
spare parts kits, preventative
maintenance programs and,
when possible, video.
Unifiller customers, Bal said,
have access to a wide variety
of support services including
standard service visits, onsite
guided installs and safety training
in English and Spanish. Service
support can be provided via
various channels including live
video for its global customers,
often 24 hours a day, seven
days a week.
Often, effective equipment
maintenance begins with
68 - SEPTEMBER 2021
supermarketperimeter.com
BAKON
http://www.supermarketperimeter.com
Supermarket Perimeter - September 2021

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