"We are honored that this fine luxury resort has selected WinTrack PM and thrilled that they are officially number 100," says Mark Sokol, director of product marketing for Dunedin, Fla.�based Mintek Mobile Data Solutions. "Our systems have been protecting the largest hotels in the United States for two years now and this is indeed a milestone." 

A little more than a month ago, prior to the installation of WinTrack PM, the staff of 14 engineers at Cheeca Lodge & Spa used eight different notebooks to schedule and track preventative maintenance.

"There was no time schedule for performing preventative maintenance on our equipment," says Russell Leger, chief engineer at the property located in the Florida Keys. "Equipment breakdown was frequent. Four months ago, the air conditioning system on our third floor broke down and was inoperable for five hours. That inconvenienced our guests. That all could have been avoided if we had a better preventative maintenance program in place."

Now, after installing WinTrack PM, the engineering department at Cheeca Lodge & Spa has significantly improved the way it plans, tracks and analyzes preventative maintenance and asset management. Instead of writing notes in notebooks, engineers use handheld scanning devices that read barcodes placed on equipment. 

Before a piece of equipment is checked, the associated barcode is scanned. The system then prompts the user to answer previously determined questions about the piece of equipment. After the piece of equipment is checked, the barcode is scanned again. Each step is recorded within WinTrack PM. 

"Everything the engineer does or does not do is identified by the barcode," Leger says. "This makes the staff more accountable. If a maintenance check is missed, I will know right away."

System automates rounds process

Leger says his staff not only uses WinTrack PM to schedule and monitor preventative maintenance, but also perform rounds. Water and gas readings are checked using the handheld. If a reading is out of range, the system prompts a warning message.

"We are just beginning to use WinTrack PM for guestrooms," Leger says. "The system is going to allow us to better monitor guestroom inventory."

Prior to installing WinTrack PM, Leger says guestroom maintenance monitoring was all done on paper. 

"I would have to keep checking on guestrooms five days a week," he says. "Now it is more of an automated process."

WinTrack PM also enables Cheeca Lodge & Spa to carefully monitor, maintain and extend the life of its equipment. That is especially important to the property�s owners now because of the current renovations taking place.

"Our owners expect our equipment to be kept in top shape," Leger says. "With WinTrack PM, we�ll be able to track the actual labor costs on each piece of equipment."

The maintenance history and parts numbers for each piece of equipment also are recorded within WinTrack PM. This allows engineers to generate parts requests from the system.

"Knowing the amount of labor and money put into an existing piece of equipment is significant," Leger says. "It gives us the ammunition we need to recommend a specific capital investment."

Engineers embrace automated system

Engineers at the Cheeca Lodge & Spa initially were hesitant to transition from a paper-based process to an automated one. Now, however, they realize the system enables them to better manage their time.

"A lot of the anxiety about the system was removed during the training process," Leger says. 

A Mintek representative spent three days training the Cheeca Lodge & Spa�s engineering staff.

Now, more than a month after Cheeca�s engineers first learned the WinTrack PM system, Mintek�s Sokol says he expects the property to experience results comparable to those of the company�s 99 other customers.

"We anticipate that over time Cheeca will realize the same benefits our other customers are experiencing: increased profitability and accountability, labor savings, extended asset life, lower energy costs, a safer environment and a better guest experience," he says.

About the Cheeca Lodge & Spa:

The Cheeca Lodge & Spa, located in Islamorada, Fla., is owned by Cheeca Lodge, LLC, and is managed by Vail Resorts, Vail, Colo. Cheeca is a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World and is part of the RockResorts portfolio of fine hotels. The resort offers 201 guestrooms and suites, brand new deluxe beach front bungalows, a 1,100-foot white sand beach, nine-hole golf course and a 525-foot wooden trademark fishing pier. The property also features the award-winning Atlantic�s Edge restaurant, Curt Gowdy Lounge, complete meeting facilities and a 4,200-square-foot conference center. For more information, call (305) 664-6622, or go to www.cheeca.com.

About Mintek Mobile Data Solutions:

Mintek Mobile Data Solutions, based in Dunedin, Fla., is the developer and maker of WinTrack® PM, a mobile property maintenance solution for lodging engineers. WinTrack PM uses barcodes for equipment identification and mobile, handheld devices for data collection. WinTrack PM, now used by more than 100 hotel properties in the United States, automates data capture for recurring maintenance, rounds, unscheduled work and room inspections. The Wintrack PM Management Portal provides managers online access to property maintenance data. For more information, call Mark Sokol, director of product marketing, at (727) 734-9175, or go to: www.mintek.com.

WinTrack is a registered trademark of Mintek Corp. Third party product and brand names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Meet Mark Sokol at booth 907 at this year�s HITEC, June 21-24, at the Dallas Convention Center.