Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58508
A Day in the Life continued ager or the assistantmanager and check every item on the list in front of them. When you've got anywhere from100 to 200 items, it takes a little longer but the customer appreciates the effort and it saves us from having to drive 100 miles for four spoons. Because even when you check the order at the warehouse, and you know you have everything on the truck, there's still a possibility a cus- tomer will say they did not receive something. Checking it together erases that possibility." Abraham has been with Dixie the longest;25 years and eightmonths."This type of work is not for everyone; com- mercial means heavy," he laughs. "But these guys make the job fun. We're a tightknit family and we get along well. It's not about who's overwho, it's about who has the best information to get the job done in any given situation." Like most of the guys on the crew, he learned the contract side of the business by shadowing someonewith roots in the industry. Retired contract head Dan Swinkwas the onewho taught himhow to read blueprints—and how to start a job by locating the kitchen back door on the plans.That's the starting point, says Abraham. "There's no school to teach you what it takes to get from A to Z. It starts with the installation of the walk- ins and hoods.Then we have to wait on the person who installs the flooring. Next comes the U.D. system, which is another part of the hood, followed by the equipment that goes under the hood.The shelving is the last item in the book. From one to 200, the book tells us every item that needs to go into a kitchen. They're checked off as we put them in, so we know that we put item one in on the ninthmonth and 12th day." Something Every Supplier Should Hear What's not as clear cut is the process of assembly, a part of the job that's grown significantly for two reasons: the industry's reliance on imports and its efforts to provide customized solutions. 1 4 FEDA News & Views Customization with clear cut instruc- tions is great for the customer but cus- tomization without themoftenmuddies the benefits, says Cypress. And he, along with the rest of the crew, can pluck a story out of the air to sup- port the claim— but he won't. That's not Cypress' style. Although, he does concede that it's all-too-common to receive product changes and new parts without the most basic of instructions, like where to place the unattached parts."There's no book, no instructions and you don't know where it goes," he says. "You've just got to figure it out on your own and it's often critical to the per- formance of the equipment [not to mention costly to the one who's forced to call the service agent if there's a problem]." Granted,there are a number ofman- ufacturers that provide steps to con- nect the dots—a fact that no one in the crew disputes. Even so, they say, more information is needed just to keep up with the vast number of design changes. Take product manu- als for example. If a manufacturer does provide one,saysAbraham,many do not include equipment dimen- sions, which ultimately determine point of entry. And what would be evenmore helpful,says the crew, is an assembly class—be it online or in the factory—although there's not a guy at Dixiewhowouldn't love to tour a line and actually see where the equip- ment they handle is assembled. "Over the years, I've seen equip- ment get smaller, bigger and then smaller again,"saysAbraham."Itwould be nice if suppliers offered training to Over the years, I've seen equipment get smaller, bigger... . It would be nice if suppliers offered training to show us how to properly put it together and take it apart. Crew Member Abraham Cotton show us how to properly put it together and take it apart. One week they could host Dixie,another week they could host BRESCO. That would cer- tainly help us save time in the field. It's amazing how much is wasted try- ing to figure out how to get fromA to B." How much time could be recouped if suppliers redirected just a fraction of funds toward a dealer's delivery staff? In some instances, as much as a week-and-a-half, accord- ing to welder Gary Nix, who's often called out to the field to modify equipment on contract jobs or fix damaged equipment for customers. That's howmuch time he says Dixie lost on a job a few months ago while trying to fix a worst case scenario: stacking a combi oven with special tubing and brackets. "They sent directions," says Nix,"but we couldn't make heads or tails of it. So we had to call the rep, and he didn't know how to put it together. Then we called the factory technician and he spent awhole day trying to figure it out. By the time we finally got it assembled, we had already set in place three-fourths of the kitchen." AWin-Win for the Industry Time is one thing but equipment per- formance is another—something sup- pliers should know is also compro- mised, at times, due to a shortage of information in the field. Case-in-point: the aforementioned combi oven,a piece of equipment that was routinely mis- handled by crew members until they discovered that turning it on the side that houses the control panel can cause significant damage, according to Abraham. "We need some kind of pam- phlet or flier that gives usmore specifics continued on page 16