Just a few weeks before fall semester classes were set to begin at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) in Laredo this year, Aramark Facilities Management was selected to manage the maintenance program and team members.
“With a very quick transition, we began overseeing maintenance operations with little to zero gaps in service,” said Joel Burnias, General Manager at TAMIU, Aramark Facilities Management. “We are honored that TAMIU has put their trust in us—and are working to introduce programs and technology that maximize client satisfaction and ensure students have the best possible experiences on campus.”
A new corrective maintenance system was introduced to manage work orders and workflow.
The team incorporated a computerized system that houses information on all maintenance assets on campus, which is used to develop preventative maintenance schedules and to track work requests/work orders.
The software also manages and tracks all data around work completion, timeliness, labor, and costs for completing the work orders to provide immediate feedback to TAMIU. The system periodically surveys maintenance requestors for feedback to ensure quality control and customer satisfaction.
An internal quality control app provides real-time monitoring and assessment on completed work orders, including quality assurance/quality control inspections conducted by frontline managers and supervisors to ensure compliance within the Aramark Facilities Management program.
For maintenance work orders, this monitoring involves checking the quality of the work and ensuring the work was completed in a timely manner with technical notes describing the work done, as well as labor and material costs being documented in the work order. The data feeds key performance indicators that are shared with the TAMIU client in weekly and monthly reports.
“We are already seeing positive changes with Aramark,” said Juan J. Castillo, Interim President, TAMIU. “Service levels and responsiveness have been high—and we appreciate the steps the Aramark Facilities Management team is taking to proactively ensure operational efficiency and transparency.”
To demonstrate future capabilities to the client, the team has performed a digital “twinning” at one mechanical space on campus. A digital twin replicates rooms and physical assets like equipment so the maintenance team, clients, and contractors can record, assess, and plan behavior, performance, and repairs or updates.
In that same mechanical space, components of Aramark’s AIWX™ intelligent workplace technology have been introduced to monitor and analyze equipment vibration, which can be a sign of necessary maintenance, and refrigeration temperature. Read more about AIWX Connect.
TAMIU also partners with Aramark Collegiate Hospitality to provide dining services to its approximately 8,500 students, staff, and guests across the 300-acre campus.
