Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/571132
September/October 2015 35 20 years experience shipping equipment to the Food service industry Zero administrative expenses or fees Custom freight solutions utilizing super-regionals and national partners Rate shop the best carriers in US for most desirable service lanes at reduced rates Deliver to more 1-2 days points with LTL's lowest claims rates When you MUST have a truckload, you MUST have ATS Explicit delivery receipt to eliminate unplanned accessorial charges Full-visibility on web routing with immediate vendor compliance Real invoice audit including weight & class comparison to spec sheets In transit expediting & damage control sage, and movement have been well documented by bar equipment manufacturers and in books like the Henry Dryfuss classic The Measure of Man and Architectural Graphic Standards. Following these guidelines creates facilities that work for your customers and their employees, whether it's front-of-house or back-of-house. Staff-friendly design should follow through to the equip- ment and systems chosen. I recently had a restaurant operator show me an amazing new European POS system that he pur- chased. The POS vendor was a well-respected brand in France, but had a limited installed base in the U.S. While this operator believed the system was superior to the ones commonly used in the U.S., his choice became a moot point. The additional training required for staff members, more familiar with com- monly used brands in the U.S., killed any productivity he had hoped to gain. A similar case could be made for training chefs on a combi oven or high-speed ovens that have limited distri- bution in the U.S. In addition to training issues, using non-standard equipment can also create major issues with spare parts and service. The Internet is a wonderful research tool, and owners and their chefs often search for solutions all over the globe. However, finding a piece of equipment from a manufacturer outside our industry, or sold only overseas, can become a huge nightmare. There are two particular areas of risk. Equipment designed and sold for industrial applications, but used in a restaurant or small bakery, often does not have the electrical or sanitation approvals required and/or may have controls and support sys- tems that are not common for a restaurant or bakery. Industrial baking and food processing equipment is not required to have NSF or UL approval, and often doesn't. Industrial equipment may require specialized cooling systems and compressed air common in a food-processing kitchen or bakery but not to the scale where a customer operates. Most large bakery and food processing plants do their own maintenance and repairs, so there isn't a service agency network to support customers without this capacity. Secondly, imported equipment that isn't sold in the U.S. may seem like a tempting choice for adventurous chefs or designers looking for a unique solution, but products not sold here will not have UL approved wiring, NSF or ETL sanitation ratings, and, most important, availability of service and spare parts. Finding parts for equipment with outsourced compo- nents like refrigeration compressors, gas burners, and controls, may be impossible for a unit designed overseas. Many of these components are only sold in Asia or Europe. In the spirit of doing the right thing for customers and avoid- ing grief and hassle for everyone involved, spend the extra time to educate buyers and designer/specifiers about the risks associated with going down an unfamiliar path. Sometimes there are valid reasons to experiment with a unique item of equipment or unusual installation, and everyone can benefit if all goes well. All things being equal, the best advice is to avoid potential pitfalls by following industry standard practices. Foster Frable continued