Mark This! is a podcast in which we peel back the corporate curtain to reveal the cool and innovative people, programs, and projects that are happening all over Aramark’s varied lines of business. These remarkable initiatives happen because we have remarkable people behind them--building opportunity, building innovation, and building community.
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Mark This! Podcast, Episode 22, Facilities Innovation
Host: Heather Dotchel, Corporate Communications
Guests: Katie Boyle, AIWX Program Director; Barry Drayton, Vice President, National Service Center; Matt Judge, Sr. Director of Facilities Program Development; Don Pyles, Vice President for Program Development and Capability
It's time to Mark This. A podcast in which we peel back the corporate curtain to reveal the cool and innovative people, programs and projects that are happening all over Aramark's varied lines of business. I'm Heather Dotchel. As a member of Aramark's communications team, I see and hear amazing things that are happening across our company every day. These remarkable initiatives happen because we have remarkable people behind them, building opportunity, building innovation, and building community. Aramark's businesses are constantly evolving to meet client and customer needs, and as we are all aware in our daily lives that evolution is often driven by technological innovation. For today's episode, we will be speaking with four members of our facilities business, about four different programs that are driving change in the facilities industry.
We will be speaking with Katie Boyle, AIWX Program Director, which delivers smart buildings for on demand services. Barry Drayton, vice president for the National Service Center, providing facility management services for clients with multiple locations, small and large, through technology-based programs. Matt Judge, senior director of facilities program development, promoting efficiency and cost savings through twinning technology and Don Pyle, Vice President for program development and capability, using robots to service partner needs. Let's tackle these innovative solutions one at a time. Katie, let's start with AIWX. First, I'm going to ask you to tell us a bit about yourself and then what exactly is AIWX and why is it a difference maker?
Thank you, Heather. I'm really excited to be here and talk AIWX. So I started with Aramark almost exactly eight years ago to the day, actually, right after graduating college. So as many folks know, there are so many opportunities and growth paths here at Aramark and I think that my journey is really a testament to that. I began in the IT organization within the food service business supporting a national deployment of a new, at the time, procure-to-pay system. And it was the enterprise's, really, first engagement with this type of platform, so I certainly, early in my career, learned a lot about change management and cross-functional collaboration. So I was in that role for about a year and a half to two years. From there, I took on more of a traditional marketing communications role where I supported primarily the higher education line of business, now known as collegiate hospitality.
After a few years in that role, a very niche, very interesting and very out of my comfort zone role caught my called AIWX director, which was a position charged with really starting up Aramark's Internet of Things platform. And I ended up taking that on. So as Don puts it, I came into the facilities line of business, hardly able to spell the word facilities, let alone lean into really any technical knowledge. But this team had faith in me to bring my strategic and business background to the technology and I had the incredible pleasure of helping build AIWX into what it is today. So I'm really happy to be here. I'm excited to talk some tech and facilities.
Fab. So talk some tech and facilities please. Let's hear more about AIWX.
All right, so AIWX, which is commonly mispronounced as AIWX, but that's okay. That's our first learning opportunity. It stands for, Aramark's Intelligent Workplace Experience. So three years ago, like I mentioned, when I joined the team, I guess whenever family or friends asked, what do you do for work? I would kind of explain, I'm basically in a startup in a Fortune 500 company. Three years has since passed and AIWX has very much started up. But I guess really to take it back very, very, very simply put, AIWX is almost like a smart home. So you can monitor, for example, your air conditioning temperature status or maybe your Christmas tree lights being on or off, think about that, but on a commercial building or even campus scale. So I guess in order to understand the value of AIWX, it's kind of important to understand just a little bit on how it works. So AIWX leverages sensor technology to continuously, meaning 24/7 around the clock, monitor conditions in a space and ultimately notify when a condition goes outside of whatever it is that we deem acceptable.
A very easy example that relates to both our food and facilities business is that when a refrigerator goes outside of an acceptable temperature range as we'll say, say under 35 degrees or over 38 degrees, and that could be due to a power outage or someone unplugging the unit or even accidentally leaving the door cracked open, which is really actually one of the main culprits we've found so far. But as I always say, sensors, AIWX sensors don't take off, they don't call out sick or they don't go on vacation, so they're working when we're not. And in any luck, using that refrigeration example, these things happen during non-operational hours, on nights and weekends or even over Christmas breaks, for example, causing ultimately major operational disruption and of course costs. So I guess AIWX in a way [inaudible 00:05:51] us avoid these situations in as near real time as possible.
As for how AIWX, I guess, is different in the market, right, at Aramark, as an operations organization with hundreds of thousands of employees, we know the importance of usability and ultimately scalability I guess, of this type of technology. So when we were vetting the right tech to employ for AIWX, there were a lot of, I guess you could say non-starters for us, which I think ultimately turned into what you could say is ultimately the AIWX value proposition. So a few examples of that is, for one, it's not a rigid alerting function, I always say it's about getting the right person the right information at the right time. So we ensure that our program allows for pretty extreme, I guess, granularity in the alerting, meaning maybe Heather, you get the alerts Monday through Friday, nine to five because you are the onsite person or the first responder, if you will. And then I get them on nights and weekends.
So I think that's one of the key differentiators again around, we understand, and in our businesses and across our clients' businesses, there's a lot of turnover and that we are again getting that right person the right information at the right time to make the right resolution. And that's something that I think a lot of software companies that explore this type of technology can't say. I think though, from an operational perspective, what truly makes AIWX different and what's really the core value of AIWX is that it's not just that alerting function, and it's not just 24/7 data for data's sake. It's data informing an enhanced service delivery and ultimately what we like to call a program. Okay, so a great example of this is our demand driven cleaning platform. We leverage space sensors to monitor whether or not a space has been used. So as we know, in a hybrid working and learning world, not all spaces are used on a daily basis.
This is a huge pain point for a lot of our clients. So space data essentially informs which space was used and which space was not used. Ultimately answering the question in our world to service or not to service, to clean or not to clean. It's a very, very simple high level concept, but what's not so simple is the AIWX algorithm that tells our manager at the start of a shift, in real time, exactly where to deploy their resources and how much time they get back by doing that dynamic scheduling. So again, it's easy as a concept to think about collecting data points and getting data, it's a whole nother, I think, world to leverage the data for decision-making and then ultimately driving whatever result, in this case, cleaning smarter, not harder, working smarter, not harder. And ultimately, what's that KPI, right? What's the return on the data collection?
In the case of demand driven cleaning, it's being more productive and using our resources more intelligently. I could go on for hours, but I guess one more example, I guess to get a little bit more technical too, is our vibration monitoring program. So we continuously monitor the health of equipment, saying critical pieces of equipment that run a building's HVAC system, for example. So AIWX doesn't just alert, the manager or whoever is the responder, that something is wrong with a piece of equipment. It informs based on the data, the action that's required to resolve whatever the issue is.
So it's not just sensor collects data, does an output of whatever that data point is, its sensor collects that real-time data point, translates that into an action to deliver on whatever it is, quicker response time, resolving any issues, cleaning smarter, ensuring that product is safeguarded in refrigeration units, leaks are not causing catastrophic water damage, et cetera, et cetera. So I think all that said, I guess the mantra at large for AIWX is that it's not just sensors and it's not just data points, it is data-driven decision making, and ultimately that service backed by a team of facilities experts, some of whom you're about to hear even more from on driving operational efficiency, avoiding costs, and ultimately increasing customer service and just creating, as I kind of started with, this idea of a smarter building and a smarter operations.
Well, that is fantastic, and for those of us who aren't up on the latest technological innovation, it sounds like The Jetsons kind of placed on top of a corporate facility, and that is fantastic. Thanks Katie.
Yes, yep. It is definitely, it's funny, 'cause it sounds, I guess in some cases, so futuristic, right? But then it's also crazy to me, it's 2024 and we have places logging temperature with pen and paper. So it's kind of bringing us to that Jetsons level with something that might seem so simple, but really is making huge strides across a lot of industries within Aramark and even outside of Aramark. So thanks for the time, Heather.
Okay, Barry, you're up next. Please introduce yourself and your position with Aramark Facilities to begin. And then let's talk about how the National Service Center and Associated Technologies supports our business outcomes. What outcomes have our partners and clients realized?
Well, thank you, Heather. Excited to be here with this team responding, talking about technology. My name is Barry Drayton. I'm the Vice President of the National Service Center at Aramark. This month is my 15th year at Aramark, all of it with our facility services business, specifically with our Center of Excellence team. Our team at the National Service Center extends our facility services across various markets for our client, including manufacturing, education, retail, and warehousing. Our core business is designed to use self-performed Aramark resources, but we also have to support smaller, more remote locations through third party vendor networks to match our client's needs. At the National Service Center, we leverage a specialized service delivery model focused on managing third-party vendors. Our technology program and platform is designed to handle thousands of third party providers, all the while ensuring efficient management, scheduling, and reporting for multiple services.
Typical services would include HVAC, plumbing, electrical, fire, life safety, pest control, and more. This platform offers real time visibility for our Aramark teams, our clients and vendors supported by a 24 by 7 call center, US-based in Nashville, Tennessee, which is also one of our Center of Excellence Aramark locations. This ensures we can deliver seamless and efficient services to all the clients. Today we service about 8,000 clients' locations across the US, a couple in Canada. By leveraging an extensive vendor network with over 45,000 active vendors today, our clients can initiate new service requests using a web portal or a mobile app, or by contacting our call center through a branded and dedicated toll-free number for their accounts. Each client gets a specific dedicated phone number so we can measure activity and report success against that. In 2023, we received over 30,000 calls and handled more than 150,000 new service orders and work requests.
For our clients, they've gained increased visibility into the services provided, and more importantly, the associated cost of their operations and maintenance. This access to detailed data, both at the site and aggregate levels, allows for better management and continuous improvement of services. Our work ultimately drives down the total cost of ownership, and these are the outcomes our clients expect. And finally, just, Heather, I'd like to add, I would emphasize that the strength of our program lies in our ability to adapt and tailor our services to meet the unique needs of each client. Each and every client we have always has a unique need, operates in their own way, and being able to match and align against their existing workflow processes and needs is critical to our success. Our technology and network of vendors are constantly evolving to provide the most efficient and cost-effective solutions. This flexibility is what sets us apart and ensures that we continue to deliver high quality service as our clients' needs exchange and change.
Barry, what is the range of kind of requests? You said service orders and work requests come into the center. What does that look like?
Yeah, so the range of those services can be, are mostly routine facility services, electrical requests, plumbing requests, HVAC services, but it also has the ability to expand for capital items, repair items, emergency preparedness. So we offer a wide range of scopes and services, over a hundred choices within the technology, but it's designed to be the primary service response technology for our clients.
Barry, after all of these calls and contacts into the center are logged and tracked over the course of the year, is there a report that's given to each of our clients so they can see patterns and improve overall operational efficiency for the next year?
Yeah, yeah, great question, Heather. One of the key elements of our platform is the access to this data. Every work order is tracked individually, the service, the vendor that provides it, and the access to this data is at the client level at our level. And quite honestly, the vendor access is the very same record, and all of these data points are fed into a master database, which allows us to manage, manipulate, organize, provide reports real time, and it's the data that comes out of those that allows Aramark and our clients to make some pretty critical business decisions about equipment, facilities, and services.
All right, fantastic, thank you. Let's pivot over to Matt. Matt, like your colleagues, I'm going to ask you to give a brief bio and then talk about twin optics in detail.
Thank you, Heather. Appreciate it. So I've been with Aramark for 24 years, I started off in our engineering solutions group with an electrical background, spent around 10 years there. And then I moved on to a position where my wife said is, Wow, as I became the director of innovation and expertise. And she asked me, what does that mean? It took a couple years to tell her what that means. And then I moved on to the director of program development and then ultimately to now to the senior director of program development. I work out of the headquarters in Philadelphia, and I have a few groups, I always say is my team is my brains. I'm just the orchestrator. I've really had some great teams, some great young minds, and we're there to provide technology solutions. We're not there to provide a technology, we're about providing solutions. So understanding our client's needs and then identifying the solution.
And as Katie was mentioning, AIWX, that was one of our solutions that we deployed a few years ago and it certainly was what we saw as The Jetsons, as you mentioned at the time. But now we're deploying twin optics. Let me describe that, what that is. What it is, it's a virtual model that accurately reflects that physical space asset system building. So it's creating that virtual model. So instead of being there, you're actually in a model and it enables you to then be able to see that physical asset space and be able to walk in.
It's not just a video, it's really, you can walk through that space, that asset and really see real time what is there, what is actually at that facility, that building, that space, that floor, and why is it unique now? And it continues to evolve and the way it evolves is now we're able to store and collect valuable data that can be applied to that physical asset in our space. That's when we start to be able to become twin optics. You're getting out of just being a digital twin, and the twin optics is about providing that solution for our clients.
And when you're in that model, another unique item is you're able to collaborate and interact with others. So especially during the pandemic where you couldn't travel in, this was a real good technology because you can interact virtually. And now, going out of the pandemic, now that we're back to somewhat normal, we're able to then still reduce that carbon emissions from a sustainability of people flying in, driving in, trains, planes and automobiles, and being able to do it virtually. You're able to talk, you'll be able to do documents, you have that visibility of that as-built condition. And be able to not just be able to see it on a 2D map, but see it on a 3D, 360 degree virtual model. So a lot of different areas and opportunities and personas that would leverage from this technology.
So what are some of those needs that we see? One is in the higher education, as I mentioned, is about recruiting, increasing that student enrollment, recruiting that best staff and athlete. We're able to provide that web-based virtual tour. And one of the ones that's really is, is growing legs, and we're actually doing around 20 million square feet for a client, it's around that asset and space management. Many clients around the country, no matter what market sector, they struggle with digitizing their assets. They really don't know what they have. They don't know if their spaces, their drawings are accurate. And this is a way to provide a digitalized asset in space data that they can manage at one place, in one place and visualize what they have. And ultimately when we're creating this model, we use a LiDAR 3D camera. And we do about eight to 10,000 square feet an hour with one person. Just by putting that camera in a space, using a smartphone with an app, we create that model on the fly.
And what I always say is underneath the hood of that is a BIM, a Building Information Model. Therefore, we can turn that Building Information Model or the Cat [inaudible 00:23:57] Model over to an architect where they can start to build out renovations. And then from an operations and maintenance perspective, clients need the opportunity to drive down costs, contractor costs, supply costs. Now having all the information at their fingertips and visibility, so when we place the assets in there with all the information about that asset, we're able to implement that and integrate it into their workflow process so that they can drive down costs. What's above those walls and ceilings that operations is going to operate for 20 plus years. Nobody knows at times.
This is a means where we take the 3D LiDAR cameras and we scan the walls and the above ceilings prior to closing. Now our clients know what's up there, they know where it's located, they know what are those different pieces of equipment that's there. So that's going to drive down costs throughout the lifecycle of that building. As I mentioned before is, clients are looking to drive revenue, rather it's in leasing space, event space, summer camps and higher education, now we're able to place these virtual models on their webpages to drive opportunities for revenues for our clients. And from the risk management I mentioned earlier, is clients are looking to reduce risk and liability and have a solid risk management plan. By providing a digital map for security, police and the facilities, they're able to start to drive, lower their risk levels and ultimately improve the campus environment.
Let me give a hypothetical kind of scenario just to make sure that I'm understanding exactly what you're saying, Matt. So let's say I own an antique mall and Aramark is my facilities partner to take care of that space. If I twin my business, there are ways for me just to kind of know that facility inside and out in ways that'll help. So if I have an HVAC system, very important to maintain the integrity of my antiques, it's logged that it's model X, serial number 12345, which has very specific components. So if that needs correction, the third party that comes in to fix the HVAC knows that right off the top.
I know where all of the various pipes and electrical wirings are in my walls in case there's some sort of situation that I need immediate response to. I have a space blueprint, so if I want to add more booths in to drive revenue for my business, I have that all spelled out there. So it's easily looked at by an architect. I have a security blueprint to know exactly where the best places are to place cameras and for response from emergency personnel. And then on top of all of that, I have a lovely virtual model that I can put on my website so customers know exactly what there is offered and entices them to come in. And all of that becomes part of this twin optics technology. Is that a kind of accurate summary of a hypothetical business?
You're spot on, you're a very good listener. One other item I didn't mention is we embed that Internet of Things technology, AIWX. So now you're starting to see, not only seeing that piece of equipment and the parameters around it, what are the voltage, the amperage, the size of the belts and all that, but also being able to place a vibration sensor in the model. Now you're seeing real time the health of that piece of equipment, where it's located and making decisions off of that. The key part of the virtual model for facilities management is driving efficiencies, reducing costs and risks by having all of this at one location and enables you to make those decisions.
All right, finally, Don, let's turn to you. Please give our audience your professional pathway and then let's dig into robotics. That's a large category. What does that look like in facilities?
Well, thanks Heather. So prior to coming to Aramark, I spent over 30 years in the manufacturing world in various management positions running various types of businesses. So I'm able to draw on a lot of that experience within Aramark and can relate to a lot of our clients about what they're actually doing with some of their facilities. Today I am the Vice President of the Facility Center of Excellence, really looking at how we operate, what kind of operating practices we use, what kind of practices that we would use to satisfy a client's needs, as well as what equipment that we use. And that's where robots really have started to build inside of our business. So we actually started looking at robots in 1988. As the technology has moved along, it has always been expensive. And so I would say that it's kind of, reminds me of when plasma televisions first came out and a 40-inch plasma television was $10,000 that you can now go into a big box store and buy for less than 200 bucks.
So robots are kind of in that same world. They're starting to come down in price, but at the same time, they're also starting to become more effective. And so the real drive behind what has made robots more effective in the last few years really centers around the actual robotic technology itself. So we've gone from very crude, be able to have a device that will move itself around a building to devices that can now anticipate that there's an obstacle, go around that obstacle, remember where that obstacle was, and come back and clean where that obstacle was once the obstacle's moved. So if it encounters a person, it will know to go around that person and stop so that we're not causing any risks to anyone's health or safety. The other thing that has really changed is the battery technology. So certainly with the advent of the electric car, batteries now are not what they once were.
You go back just five years ago or eight years ago, you could probably get a robotic scrubber that would run for maybe an hour and a half before it needed recharged, today they're running for five hours without needing recharged. And so those two things are really what's allowed us to start actually looking at and utilizing robots in the cleaning industry. By and large, the technology on how the actual robot scrubber worked, the actual scrubbing technology hasn't really changed much, but that is starting to evolve as well. So today there are machines out there that can either scrub a floor or vacuum carpet. The same machine has that capability, and that's a big deal today because it allows us to buy one machine and use it in different parts of the building. We now live in a world where just about everybody could use more help.
And so the robot is filling the role of where we're maybe not able to staff a third shift, as an example, a robot can operate on a third shift all by itself. So as the technology has advanced in these last few years, robots are now capable of turning themselves on, so they can sit dormant throughout the day, and at a prescribed time, they will turn themselves on, travel to the area that needs to be scrubbed or vacuumed, scrub that area until the water inside of the machine needs to be changed because the water gets dirty, it will return itself to a charging station, empty itself, refill itself, and it charged itself if it needs to recharge before it would return back into operation.
So what has really taken place in just the last few years is that robotic technology in the auto scrubber business has really become totally autonomous. And so we have scrubbers that are deployed today that long after everybody has left the building, the scrubber will turn itself on and perform its tasks to scrub the floor or vacuum the floor while nobody's around and operating completely by itself. One of the things that I find that is amazing is that now we have scrubbers that can call the elevator and put itself on the elevator and raise itself up or lower itself down to a different floor and leave the elevator and continue to scrub there. So the technology today in the robotic side of things matched with the batteries that are being utilized are really starting to make this a viable piece of cleaning equipment.
Want to know more about Aramark's facilities business? Visit our newsroom on aramark.com to access more information. I'd like to thank Katie, Barry, Matt and Don for joining us, and thanks to our Mark This listeners.
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