|
PUBLISHER'S VIEWPOINT
August 2002
Think Globally, But Get It Done
Locally
Getting
foodservice equipment and supplies out to thousand of units
around the world is the toughest job in our business. Providing
after-sale service is the most critical job in our business. At
the intersection of these two activities lie hundreds of crashes
and lots of frustration for all concerned.
This all
comes up because I spoke to the European Foodservice Equipment
Distributors Association in June in Oslo, Norway. Many, though
by no means all, of their partners are American manufacturers.
As primary distributors, these firms are usually responsible for
after-sale service, and this is where they get involved with the
big U.S. chains. This involvement can be difficult.
In
preparation for my EFEDA presentation on how the big U.S. chains
buy, I called Bill Hallett at McDonald’s, Dave Brewer at Yum!
Brands, Mark Finck and Barry Barnett at Burger King, Tony Nieves
at Hilton Hotels, Orlando Espinosa at Aramark, Don Fontana and
Pete Goodman at Domino’s, Kevin Golden at Allied Domecq, and
Bryan Brown at Carlson/T.G.I. Friday’s. While each chain does
things it’s own way, the trends are clear. The chains are moving
toward:
-
More
central influence (“We don’t like the word control,” said
Hallett) over core equipment, particularly cooking and holding
items.
-
More
locally based suppliers, whether they are an American company
with an Asian plant, an established European supplier or a
local fabricator. (“The local and regional supply issue is
what we’re all working on,” said Brewer.)
-
A strong
emphasis on serving unit needs, including after-sale service.
The problem,
say our EFEDA friends, is that they often don’t even know
certain equipment is in their markets. Since orders are often
placed through U.S. headquarters or a chain’s purchasing arm,
the in-country distributor has no financial stake in the
equipment. And there are liability issues above and beyond the
financial ones. “We’re liable for any problem with a piece of
equipment from one of our partners,” says Steve Snow, outgoing
EFEDA chairman and a distributor in the U.K. “When it gets
dropped shipped from wherever, you can see the danger for us.”
No easy
solutions exist for these disconnects. Chains have a right to
hold the manufacturer responsible for service. Distributors have
a right to get paid for keeping stuff running and for their
liability insurance. And understanding the other guy’s problems
helps, but doesn’t solve every problem.
Cheers,
Robin Ashton
Publisher
|
