For decades, Black Friday has been a day of high demand among consumers, with many shoppers starting to buy Christmas presents. Originally from the US, in recent years the day of shopping has been picked up by other countries and has been extended to weeks of deals and offers. Retailers face high demands during this time with 56% of people in the UK waiting for deals before making purchases. To support retailers during this season we collated tips to help increase operating efficiency, save on energy costs and start with new sustainability processes into the new year. Here are five tips to increase operating efficiency in retail:
1. Install smart devices and benefit from IoT
Installing smart devices throughout the store and enabling them to communicate via the Internet of Things (IoT) creates a network of assets. Rather than manually controlling individual devices, the entire infrastructure can be connected to a central control & monitoring system. Processes can be automated, freeing up time for staff during this busy season. Data from consumables can be analysed, trends established and operations improved, saving energy and streamlining processes.
2. Use effective monitoring software to streamline store processes
Monitoring software provides visibility of a store’s assets on a single platform, reducing the need for on-site checks, saving operating costs and labour resources. RDM’s award-winning remote monitoring software ActiveFM offers complete, worldwide visibility of store infrastructure 24/7. It consolidates maintenance, energy and incident management into a single dashboard, streamlining processes and rendering time-consuming manual tracking and monitoring unnecessary.
3. Establish predictive maintenance processes to protect assets
Including predictive maintenance in operational procedures is essential to prevent serious problems that can result in long downtimes and expensive repairs. Predictive maintenance is another feature offered by remote-monitoring software ActiveFM. Using this software, daily reports about the functioning of the equipment can be created, which enables the store or facility manager to identify issues and initiate repairs before serious problems occur and result in unnecessary costs.
4. Integrate an easy-to-use front-end control system to manage HVACR assets
Front-end control systems are essential to provide visibility and manage a store’s HVACR infrastructure from one central point. RDM’s DMTouch offers many features to reduce energy use, improve operating efficiency and support an organisation’s sustainability efforts. Metered consumables like water, gas and electricity can be monitored, which enables the system to provide consumption statistics, predicts budgets and displays trends.
5. Fully personalise PLC software to optimise BMS infrastructure
When smart devices are in place throughout the facility, having a well-tailored programmable logic control (PLC) strategy in place helps maximise their efficiency. Highly-flexible PLC software allows personalising the control strategy according to any facility’s needs. RDM’s PLC software TDB is easily configurable in an almost infinite number of ways to precisely meet the control requirement of any retail store. Available in multiple build options, including DMTouch, a TDB desktop editor version is also available for free download.
Celebrating Earth Day and Renewable Energy
Earth Day was first celebrated in the United States on April 22, 1970. In this blog we discuss its progress since then and focus on this year's theme of renewable energy.
Interview - Increasing A University’s Green Credentials
We spoke to Peter Ingram whose team was recently involved in creating new HVAC strategies that successfully reduced the energy use of student accommodations. This interview provides actionable tips for reducing energy use for universities.
The Unexpected Benefits of Reducing Emissions for Universities
Universities that reduce their carbon emissions to reduce their contribution to climate change and lower their operational costs, will benefit from another advantage: they will become more attractive to prospective students.