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Running a kitchen is a time-consuming and sometimes costly effort with expenses that are often overlooked. A few proactive steps to understanding cost-saving for your business includes educating yourself, gaining awareness of the operations within your kitchen, and most importantly—speaking with one of our seasoned experts to guide you in the right direction. It can be vital to know your equipment lifecycle because older equipment can waste a lot of your business profits and bleed into your ROI. After all, if your oven at home stops working it’s inconvenient and you may have to order carry-out for a few days until a new oven arrives. However, when a piece of commercial equipment stops working in a cafeteria, hotel or restaurant, it can have a major impact on the business itself, including the customer experience—which impacts customer loyalty. This can certainly sound unnerving, so if you’re ready to talk with one of our experts, we’re right here ready to listen.

Identifying Aging Commercial Equipment

The first sign to knowing if it’s time to replace equipment is when the product begins to require routine maintenance and costly repairs, over and over again. Noticing routine repairs in your equipment? Here’s some other top identifiers we often see:

Equipment isn’t Energy Efficient

When your equipment is driving up the costs of your utility bills, it’s a sign that your commercial ranges or refrigerators have run their lifecycle. Granted, many pieces of equipment made within the last decade were created to be energy efficient but even those pieces have a lifespan.

Production Slows Down

If you’re used to cooking in high volumes, you’ll notice when your production becomes sluggish. Your cooking equipment just doesn’t work like it used to, which is a sign that your equipment is aged and may be beyond repair.

Equipment is No Longer Safe

By the time equipment safety becomes an issue, repairing the piece of equipment is not recommended.

Outdated Equipment

Sometimes your equipment is just outdated and there’s an opportunity to upgrade with new commercial equipment. As technology evolves, commercial cooking equipment gets better and more energy-efficient, and can also multi-task with multiple different functions that outdated equipment simply can’t do.

Starting to sound like your troubles? By answering a few simple questions about your needs, we’ll match you with the perfect piece of equipment to get your operations back in tiptop shape.

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Replacing vs. Repairing Commercial Cooking Equipment

When you consider the equipment lifecycle, the issue of repairing or replacing equipment can seem very easy but it’s truly multi-factored. Most kitchen equipment requires a quick fix here or there. However, when there are frequent repairs, this can be the first warning sign that it’s time to replace your product. Frequent equipment repairs cost more and more as time goes by, and often times, the cost of fixing one faulty commercial range can add up to a similar cost of a new piece of equipment.

On top of the rising cost of repairs, there’s another factor to think of—parts availability. As pieces of equipment age, they become outdated and it becomes a struggle to find parts to fix what’s broken. New commercial equipment often comes with a warranty, which can reduce maintenance costs and ensure that repairs won’t add up too harshly over time.

While nothing lasts forever, even with meticulous maintenance, commercial equipment can fall prey to everyday usage at some point. Power surges, rust and grime, and everyday use that can wear down the equipment can all become hazardous to employees and consumers alike. When a piece of equipment starts interfering with preparation and production, it’s eating into your ROI and it’s time to replace faulty equipment. Notice an overall change in your food quality or kitchen workflow? If so, you may want to take a look here at our extensive research on commonly overlooked issues in the kitchen.

How Long Does Commercial Kitchen Equipment Last?

The truth is, there’s no magic equation that tells us how long commercial ranges last or the lifecycle expectancy of a commercial dishwasher. It certainly would make things easier if there was, but each piece of equipment is unique, and the life expectancy of commercial appliances depends on the make, model, and general maintenance. In high volume commercial kitchens, the equipment lifecycle is often shorter due to appliances being utilized more often and in larger volumes. If your business is growing or you’re moving to a larger kitchen space soon, we recommend you take a look at our business expansion research and how this could effect your equipment productivity and costs.

There are uncertain standards for product lifecycle. For example, some appliances may only last five to eight years, while other well-maintained pieces of equipment can last longer than 10 years. While unlikely, some equipment pieces can last up to 25 years. While appliances like dishwashers, ice machines, and coolers will likely have a shorter lifecycle, commercial refrigerators on the other hand can last an average of ten years depending on how much wear and tear they endure. For maximum longevity, we recommend our line of Turbo Air refrigerators. They’re complete with a new self-cleaning condenser patent, meaning less maintenance for you, and a far longer lasting product. While it seems like repairs may be a cost savings measure, new commercial equipment can actually reduce maintenance costs which lowers costs in the long run. It can also prevent equipment malfunctions and breakdowns during peak hours, which can cost you more money in diner wait times and lack of table turnover.

Reduce Maintenance Costs & Increase ROI

With new commercial equipment, you can increase ROI with the help of cost savings measures. It’s a no-brainer that newer pieces of kitchen equipment can reduce maintenance costs, but newer units are also better suited for assisting in pushing out high volumes of delicious foods and decadent beverages while using a fraction of the energy their predecessors used. As your menu evolves, replacing items like commercial ranges can also influence the food you produce and how it tastes. Additionally, your menu may also give you a reason to invest in new commercial equipment for your kitchen because the needs of your menu may change.

When patrons dine with you, they expect a great experience. Older units can leave your customers waiting longer to be served, which can cause some minor distress to your back of house staff and reduce customer satisfaction. When your patrons are happy, you increase your customer loyalty, which has a huge effect on your bottom line and ROI—which ultimately keeps your business running. If your commercial kitchen is sluggish and costly, it may be time to consider replacing your older commercial equipment for energy-efficient kitchen equipment that increases savings for years to come and helps provide a better ROI for your business.

If this sounds like the trouble you’ve been having, try answering a few simple questions about your needs, and we’ll match you with the perfect piece of equipment to get your operations back in tiptop shape.

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