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case study

Franchisee of Leading Restaurant Brand Implements IoT to Aid in Equipment Management

Lavco Food Service owns and operates 17 Arby’s locations throughout eastern Kentucky. Lavco is using Open Kitchen® from Powerhouse Dynamics® as a food safety and energy management solution at all of its restaurants. 

Open Kitchen enables the franchisee to not only protect its products and quality but also achieve operational efficiency. In addition, Lavco credits the modular, easy-to-use platform with providing crucial preventative data that makes it possible to easily manage key equipment lifecycles.

“The data doesn’t lie. With Open Kitchen, you get actual results and not just what someone feels or thinks. This is invaluable for our team.”

Lynn Taylor

Director of Operations for Lavco

The Challenge

Lavco is using Open Kitchen to solve several issues. Aside from having limited visibility into the performance of its product handling and cold storage cabinets, employees were constantly adjusting the restaurants’ thermostats leading to excessive energy spend as well as unnecessary HVAC repair and maintenance costs. The franchisee knew it needed to catch equipment problems earlier to reduce downtime, but more importantly, to ensure the consistent quality of its products to keep customers safe.

The Solution

Installing Open Kitchen at all of its 17 locations has made it possible for Lavco to accomplish all of its food safety and energy management goals. First, Lavco saw an instant drop in HVAC repairs since the rooftop units are now running far less during unoccupied hours. Second, Open Kitchen makes it possible for Lavco’s Director of Operations, Lynn Taylor, to know if a food storage unit has performance issues in real-time. “The alerts let me know if a unit is down, which is huge savings for us and a way to make sure our product is always properly refrigerated. However, maintenance or repairs are not always what is needed, and Open Kitchen makes that clear,” said Lynn.

Most recently, Lavco added the Open Kitchen controller to help manage lighting for menu boards, parking lot lights, and signage. “The controller allows us to ensure that all of our lights are on when dusk hits and that they are all off when the team has cleared the building for the night. No more guessing whether a customer passed by our location thinking we were closed, but open and ready for business,” said Lynn.

The Results

Lavco has recouped the cost of installing Open Kitchen through the energy savings that come from being in control of every restaurant’s thermostats. Lavco has also reduced maintenance and repair costs with Open Kitchen through timely reporting and accurate performance logs.

Other Open Kitchen implementation benefits for Lavco:

  • Accurate and timely reporting
  • Real-time access to equipment data and performance logs
  • Ability to eliminate untrustworthy repair vendors

Explore the Impact of Our Solutions: Real Data, Tangible Results, and Measurable Success in Facility Performance

Lavco Food Service. Owner and operator of 17 Arby’s locations.

Reduce unnecessary HVAC repair and maintenance costs and energy spend.

Equipment and energy management solutions at all of its restaurants.

Decreased maintenance and repair costs and increased energy savings.

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