Industrial

Frequently Asked Questions

As with any major business decisions, you are bound to have questions and concerns. We have outlined the most common questions regarding outsourcing your facility services below in order to help you determine whether contracting is the right decision for your organization.

Q: What services do you provide?

A: SSC Service Solutions? core competency is providing high quality custodial services. We?re industry experts! However, in our Industrial Division we also utilize our unique mobile Handy Man unit to offer other facility services including general repairs, painting and carpentry, landscaping, parking lot maintenance, pest control and much more. Whatever your specific needs, we can customize a facility management solution for you.

Q: What will happen to my current facility staff?

A: That depends on the type of contract you choose. If you decide on a Management Only contract, your staff will remain on your payroll and will be supervised by a qualified contract manager employed by SSC Service Solutions. If you prefer a full service contract, your current staff will be asked to apply for employment with SSC. It is our hope that all of your staff will opt to continue in their current capacities as SSC Service Solutions employees.

Q: What happens to my equipment and supplies?

A: In order to provide a truly turn key operation for you, we prefer to provide and own all the supplies and equipment used in the daily cleaning of your buildings. If you currently own equipment and supplies in stock, we will offer to pay you fair market value at the onset of the contract. Thus, there is never a question of who owns the equipment or who is responsible for replacing it.

Q: How can I be sure you?ll provide adequate supervision and accountability?

A: We understand that we are only as good as the contract manager we elect to operate your facility. Therefore, most of our managers are college educated and go through an extensive training program where they gain practical experience in a specific type of cleaning whether it be industrial, colleges, K-12 schools, or retail. For additional supervision, a supervisor is hired to oversee the evening cleaning activities.

Your contract manager is asked to live in close proximity to your facilities and can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via cell phone or pager.

Q: How can a for profit company do a better job for less money?

A: As a leader in the facility service industry for over 37 years, we?ve learned a few tricks to improve quality and productivity through training and utilizing the latest industry techniques. We know exactly how long it takes to clean each facet of your organization and provide high quality equipment and supervision to get the job done in the most efficient and effective manner. In fact, the average cost savings you can expect if you are not currently contracting is 20%.

Q: What does my cost include? Will I be surprised by extra billing after the contract is signed?

A: We are interested in long term relationships with all of our customers. Our partnership would surely suffer if we were to nickel and dime you at every turn. So, we work very hard to anticipate all of your needs and offer one price for the general cleaning and any other applicable services for your facility from the start.

Q: Will I lose operational control by hiring a contractor?

A: We want you to feel as if we are part of your team. Our contract manager will work closely with your designated representative on a daily basis to ensure that tasks are done to your specifications and satisfaction. And, our staff is trained to never say ?no?.

Q: What is the average length of a typical contract?

A: Depending on your industry, we suggest a 12 month contract with options to renew up to four (4) consecutive years. That way, you don?t have to hassle with a re-bid process if you are satisfied with your service.

Q: How do you measure Quality Assurance?

A: Quality is SSC?s top priority. Without satisfied customers, we would not be able to utilize our great references to generate new business. Because the satisfaction of our customers is so important to us, SSC developed our Quality Assurance and Inspection Program (QAIP). This program includes regularly scheduled comprehensive walk-through inspections as well as random computer generated inspections to constantly track quality assurance on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

Q. How long will the entire outsourcing process take from initial information gathering to signing a contract?

A: The timeline to successfully outsource your facility service operation can sometimes be lengthy. Depending on your current situation, political obstacles, and preferred evaluation process, it could take up to 6 months from the time you decide to move forward with outsourcing. Following is a sample schedule of the events that lead up to a final decision to privatize your current facility support operations.

Step 1: Consultation/Information Gathering (2 Weeks)

Consult a professional facility management contractor who has experience working with your specific type of facilities. In this stage, the contractor will assess your current operation to determine your needs, areas of improvement and possible cost savings associated with outsourcing. A discreet walk through of your facilities will be part of this process and you will be asked to provide information regarding your building square footages, employee populations, current staffing levels and average applicable staffing wage rates.

Step 2: Presentation of Recommendations/Evaluation/Decision (2 Weeks)

After the initial information gathering stage, your professional contractor will present an overall analysis of your current operations along with recommendations for staffing, equipment and supply needs, management needs and of course, the price for providing the type of service you have chosen. Some time should be set aside during this phase to allow others to evaluate the information including all of the decision makers and your end users. If you don?t have everyone?s buy-in, it could mean a rocky start to the contract.

Step 3: RFP (2 Weeks)

After making the decision to outsource, an RFP should be carefully crafted to invite competitive proposals. Your professional contractor can help you write an RFP that communicates your organization?s specific needs to interested vendors. It should include cleaning specifications, require references in similar types of facility support and outline any other requirements. Your RFP should be thorough enough to provide ?apples to apples? comparisons when evaluating the proposals but open enough to allow for vendors to be competitive in their offering. In our experience, we recommend that you allow yourself to choose the ?best value? for your facility as opposed to the lowest responsive bid. In facility support decisions, you really do get what you pay for.

Step 4: Advertise (2 Weeks)

In most states, it is mandatory that all RFPs are advertised in some way for 2 weeks. You can determine where you advertise whether it be locally or on a wider scale.

Step 5: Host a Pre-Bid Meeting and Facility Tour/Vendor Response (2 Weeks)

You can decide whether you will host a pre-bid meeting and facility tour. It is recommended in most circumstances so that you can communicate your needs and clarify your RFP at one time to all interested vendors. You will also need to provide enough time for the contractors to tour the applicable facilities and craft a response to your RFP.

Step 6: Evaluate the Proposals (2 Weeks)

Depending on how you decide to evaluate the proposals, this process may take 2 days or it may take 2 weeks. If you have a committee involved, you will need more time to carefully evaluate the proposals than if you are awarding solely based on the lowest responsive proposal. In all cases, checking references is of the utmost importance and you should allow adequate time to contact and hear back from all references. You may also want to allow time during this phase to do a ?best and final? interview with the top respondents. A tour of the facilities currently serviced by your top respondents is recommended as well.

Step 7: Final Decision/Award of Contract

After you have chosen a contractor, you may have to get final approval from your board of directors. Your decision should coincide with their monthly meeting and it is optimal to give your awarded contractor a minimum of 30 days before the start of the contract to properly transition your current operation.

Step 8: Transition Period (1 Month)

The transition phase is one of the most critical periods of the process. During this period your chosen contractor relocates management to your community, holds employee meetings to discuss employment opportunities, place initial supply and equipment orders, hire and train staff, and job slot each facility. As this phase progresses, your contractor?s manager should be meeting with your administration to communicate regular updates.

Step 9: Contract Begins!

Depending on the time of year your contract begins, your contractor will either begin an extensive ?deep clean? of your facilities or begin daily custodial operations. Your contract manager should meet with your designated contact regularly as well as communicate with individual facility personnel to discuss concerns and schedule events. Your chosen vendor should be doing regular quality control inspections and scheduled staff training for the life of the contract.

Q: Are there any major barriers to outsourcing our facility services?

A: Contracting with SSC can save your organization money and improve your current level of service. However, a decision like this is often political with the biggest consideration being for your current staff. Whatever the issue, rest assured that we have seen it and dealt with it in our experience in commercial facilities. So, if outsourcing your operation is the best option for your company, we can help you get there with a minimum political impact.