Dive Brief:
- Ecotrak has introduced a suite of inventory, dispatch and technician management solutions for its facilities management platform that is designed to provide multisite businesses with real-time visibility to inventory levels, dispatch operations and internal technician activities.
- The tools offer operators insights into which components or parts are being used for specific orders and assets, real-time location sharing services for internal technicians, forecasts on labor demand and reorder needs based on usage analytics, mobile access to information and automated order creation, tracking and fulfillment services, according to the company’s news release Monday.
- "A lack of visibility into inventory levels, technician activities, and asset performance across multiple locations often leads to inefficiencies and unplanned downtime of assets,” Ecotrak CEO Matt Singer said in an email. “Without real-time data and analytics, businesses struggle to optimize resource allocation, resulting in excess inventory, underutilized technicians, and higher maintenance costs.”
Dive Insight:
Supply chain disruptions and labor shortages rank among the top three risks to facilities management procurement operations, according to CBRE’s 2024 Facilities Management Procurement Perspectives report. To combat these risks and mitigate rising costs — including those associated with HVAC maintenance and mechanical, electrical and plumbing contractor services — 15% of respondents in CBRE’s survey said they are implementing service-level optimization, while 8% said they are “leveraging innovation” or implementing “smart contracting."
The Irvine, California-based Ecotrak, which announced last month that it had raised $30 million to accelerate its go-to-market efforts, aims to help enterprise owners and operators with these challenges through its web and mobile application-based platform. The software-as-a-service platform combines automation, predictive analytics and granular, asset-specific data with a large network of service providers, the company said last month.
For businesses operating across multiple locations and warehouses, effectively managing inventory levels, dispatch schedules and technician workflows is crucial for ensuring equipment uptime and efficiencies, Ecotrak said in the news release Monday.
By analyzing usage data, businesses can not only forecast labor demand and reorder needs, but also identify underutilized assets or technicians for better reallocation, it said.
The newly launched solutions can also streamline inventory management through automated order creation, tracking and fulfillment, while reducing manual errors through “digitized inventory,” Ecotrak said.
“Automated inventory management, stock distribution across locations, and optimized technician dispatch based on skills and proximity help minimize excess inventory costs and streamline maintenance workflows," Daniel Castleman, director of product management at Ecotrak, said in an email.
Additional features in the new suite of tools include low stock and urgent task notifications, which help prevent stockouts and unscheduled maintenance, and the ability to identify underutilized assets and technicians so that operators can reallocate resources more efficiently, the company said in the release.
Singer says Ecotrak is targeting multisite businesses with over 20 locations, particularly in the restaurant, convenience store, grocery, gym and retail industries.
The company said its customers include Dave & Buster’s, Dutch Bros Coffee and franchise companies Inspire Brands and Flynn Restaurant Group. Restaurants owned by Inspire Brands include Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Drive-In and Dunkin’ Donuts, while Flynn Restaurant Group’s brands encompass Applebee’s, Taco Bell, Panera, Pizza Hut, Wendy’s and Planet Fitness.