Loblaw is Canada’s largest food retailer with locations across Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia,
Loblaw, Canada’s largest food retailer with locations across Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia, selected Connixt iMarq, the mobile-first maintenance platform, to enhance, digitize and automate their facility management and maintenance inspections. The company has implemented iMarq across its network, covering almost all provinces in distribution centers from the East to the West.
Loblaw’s facility management team keeps their facilities safe and operational for their employees and customers amidst extreme weather conditions. While they did have a robust back-end system, their crew on the field were still using manual, paper-based processes with manual compilation, data entry and reporting. The mobile functionality of their current system fell short of expectations, proving to be difficult to use, inflexible, and unable to meet the dynamic needs of their operations.
Their search for a digital approach that could effectively revamp their operational processes while making adoption easy for their crew led them to Connixt iMarq.
Within their facilities, the company aimed to establish a unified platform for three functions: inspections, reporting, and work orders with the objective of making all three timely, paperless, and efficient. Specifically, Loblaw needed a system that could:
The journey of integrating iMarq for Loblaw’s facilities began with an initial pilot phase – a rigorous exercise conducted across a diverse range of inspection activities, such as snow audits, electrical audits, and roof checks. The variety in the types of inspections was deliberate, aiming to test iMarq’s versatility and adaptability to different maintenance scenarios. iMarq underwent a thorough evaluation based on stringent criteria, ultimately emerging as the preferred solution. iMarq’s intuitive design and functionality met Loblaw’s unique facilities maintenance challenges, demonstrating its out-of-the-box readiness.
The onboarding process was smooth, supported by weekly meetings to ensure Connixt iMarq's seamless operation. The team, led by Prabu Ekambaram, was exceptionally receptive, accommodating our custom requests and demonstrating a genuine openness to enhancing the application based on our feedback. This collaborative approach was key to customizing iMarq for Loblaw’s specific needs.
In a conversation with Adarsh Soomal, Senior Manager, Maintenance WEST, Loblaw, “We chose Connixt iMarq primarily for its customization capabilities, which were crucial due to the diverse inspection and reporting needs of our facilities. The iMarq team proceeded to implement further modifications to ensure the solution was fully aligned with our specific workflows and processes, marking it as a valuable enhancement to our operations.”
The implementation of iMarq marked a significant leap forward for Loblaw facility maintenance:
Loblaw witnessed a remarkable transformation in its operational workflow. Cumbersome, time-consuming manual processes that once bogged down the maintenance teams were done away with. Tasks that used to take hours, filled with paperwork and manual entry, were now accomplished with a few clicks, allowing teams to focus on more strategic initiatives that drive the business forward.
One of iMarq’s standout features for Loblaw was its ability to provide a bird’s eye view of all inspection activities in real-time. This increased visibility enabled the company to move from a reactive maintenance model to a proactive, predictive one. With all relevant data consolidated in one easy-to-access location, Loblaw’ facility maintenance teams could now anticipate potential issues before becoming problems.
The rollout of iMarq across Loblaw’ facilities was met with an overwhelmingly positive response from the field crews. Achieving a near 100% user adoption rate post-launch, iMarq was praised for its user-friendly interface, simplicity, and innovative features like photo annotation. These aspects made it not just a tool for the crews to use but one they wanted to use, marking a significant shift in how technology was perceived on the ground.
Before iMarq, compiling reports on facilities maintenance work was a laborious process for Loblaw. Now, reviewing the work completed by the crew has become a straightforward task, with a consistent and reliable capture of information. This simplicity and reliability in reporting enhanced the transparency of the maintenance operations, enabling management to make informed decisions quickly.
Loblaw facility maintenance has achieved nearly 100% paperless operations through iMarq, significantly reducing their reliance on physical documents. Numerous spreadsheets and various types of inspections have been successfully digitized, streamlining processes and enhancing environmental sustainability.
Loblaw wants to introduce a dashboard calendar within Connixt iMarq, providing an overview of each facility’s inspections and maintenance needs, further enhancing visibility for both field crews and head office. Additionally, the dashboard is designed to help users extract more value from their maintenance system, a feature that has received widespread acclaim from users for its effectiveness and ease of use.
Connixt is the simplest maintenance platform that uses a mobile app built for your crew. With its ease of use and real-time access to data, teams have saved up 20% of their time!
Sign up now for a demo and see how iMarq can transform your maintenance process.
