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Technical article · April 4, 2020

Facility-Operations Questions Raised During COVID-19

Written in April 2020, this discussion prompt collected operational questions grocery facility managers were confronting during the early COVID-19 pandemic. The author explicitly presented the list as unvalidated and not as expert pandemic guidance.

Facility-Operations Questions Raised During COVID-19 featured image

Editorial overview

What matters in this publication.

Written in April 2020, this discussion prompt collected operational questions grocery facility managers were confronting during the early COVID-19 pandemic. The author explicitly presented the list as unvalidated and not as expert pandemic guidance.

  • Topics included cold-bar shutdowns, customer flow, HVAC filtration, air movement, and refrigeration touchpoints.
  • The article also raised questions about checkout layouts, testing, and reduced-occupancy operating modes.
  • This is a historical operations record, not current public-health guidance.

Original publication

COVID-19: What Questions are You Asking as a Grocery Store Facility Manager?

Preserved from Singh360’s earlier website and presented with its original publication date. Copy has been cleaned for layout, while project-specific claims remain historical.

Work from home. Shelter in place. Reduce public activities. Practice social distancing. Be vigilant. These will forever be the 2020 buzzwords for the COVID-19 pandemic. How is your grocery store supposed to operate in the middle of a pandemic?

As Facility Managers or someone responsible for store operations, you’re very likely under intense pressure to keep your grocery store open for business, your staff healthy, and your customers safe.

COVID-19 Discussions with Singh360Not a simple problem with a simple answer or straightforward implementation.

  • What COVID-19 questions are you considering?
  • Are there corrective actions to take related to COVID-19?

Singh360 is thinking heavily on these same questions. We have some ideas …but, we’re not the experts in pandemic preparedness.

Like many others, we are wondering how we can help.

What steps are you taking to address COVID-19 in your grocery store?

Listed below are a few questions, challenges, and possible solutions to consider. This is not an inclusive nor fully validated list of questions.

It’s just a starting point.

We’d like your help with this discussion…

  • Cold Bar Cases — With contamination an issue, we see food being removed from cold cases. How are you decommissioning or taking these units out of service?
  • Retail Zones — Have you changed the shopping zones or customer flow patterns to reduce bottlenecks or areas where customers bunch-up?
  • Air Quality — Are you considering higher efficiency filters in your HVAC systems? Are your current filters in good shape?
  • Refrigeration — Have you started using protective coverings or strategies to reduce how much customers touch handles on the case doors?
    Air Flow — Would running HVAC fans continuously help with airflow? Change sales floor fan from Auto mode to continuous fan control? Is a conscious effort on positive and negative air pressure a way to “push out” bad air?
  • Point of Sale — Are you installing or configuring more self-checkout to reduce employee exposure? What are more ways you’re changing checkout lines?
  • COVID-19 Testing — Might you consider testing staff, customers, or suppliers for COVID before allowing entry into the grocery store?
  • Store Operations — Is there a possibility that you may stop customers from directly entering the store? If so, how might you “turn down systems” to retain food quality yet reduce operations costs?

…and many more questions we’ve not considered.

Let’s Collaborate!

Singh360 specializes in facility and energy management software and services. We’ve worked with the supermarket industry for 20 years. Now, we find ourselves in unprecedented times.

Let’s find solutions together that help as many people as possible. Let’s collaborate!

Please contact Singh360 and send over your questions. Perhaps, we’ll organize a webinar or additional case studies related to solutions that will address the challenges you’re facing in your grocery store.

Thank you and stay safe!