IrisCX

By: Guillermo Salazar • 26 May 2025

Splitting Demand and Supply is the Key to Centralized Maintenance

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In traditional property management, maintenance has been treated as a single, bundled service. A resident submits a request, a technician is dispatched, and we hope for a fix. This approach is based on guesswork.When we don’t have full or accurate information, we are betting that the initial request contains enough detail to solve the problem on the first visit. Unfortunately, that bet fails 70% of the time, and we average 1.7 trips per work order.This inefficiency isn’t just a cost issue—it’s a structural one. And the root cause is our failure to separate what should be two distinct functions: demand and supply.Understanding this split is foundational to building your centralization roadmap.

The Legacy Model: One Request, One Visit, One Guess

The conventional workflow merges everything into a single loop:
  1. A work order is created—often with vague or incomplete information.
  2. A technician is dispatched, hoping to both diagnose and resolve the issue in one go.
  3. The result is often a “diagnostic” trip, followed by a second or more visits to actually perform the repair.
These visits cost the same. But when the first visit doesn’t resolve anything, you're essentially paying full price for half a job.To hedge this risk:
  • Teams over-pack trips with a wide array of tools and parts, or
  • Accept that the first visit is for scoping only, resigning to a second dispatch.
By bundling diagnosis and resolution, we obscure inefficiencies and limit our ability to scale or centralize.

The Modern Framework: Demand vs. Supply

To centralize successfully, you must unbundle the problem. Think of maintenance as two distinct workflows:Demand
  • Resident-generated service requests.
  • Remote triage and issue classification.
  • Work order creation and prioritization.
Supply
  • Technician dispatch or vendor scheduling.
  • Parts procurement and delivery.
  • On-site resolution and quality control.
When seen this way, each component becomes a target for centralization, standardization, and optimization.

What Can Be Centralized?

Breaking down the model reveals clear opportunities for centralization:Centralize Demand
  • Centralized intake and triage of all service requests.
  • Remote diagnostics to improve data accuracy and reduce unnecessary dispatches.
  • Prioritization engines that sort by urgency, asset type, or resident status.
Centralize Fulfillment Coordination
  • Intelligent scheduling of techs and vendors based on availability, proximity, and expertise.
  • Centralized tracking of open jobs, SLAs, and performance metrics.
Centralize Parts Ordering
  • Systematized procurement tied to recurring work types and seasonal trends.
  • Shared inventories and replenishment systems across portfolios or regions.

What Still Happens On-Site?

Some steps will always require local execution:
  • Physical repairs and hands-on tasks.
  • Delivery and receipt of parts to the property site.
  • Resident-facing service that requires in-person resolution.
However, with clear demand inputs and coordinated supply flows, even these on-site tasks can be dramatically more efficient and effective.

The Payoff of a Split Model

Separating demand from supply unlocks a series of critical benefits:
  • Higher first-time fix rates, due to better technician preparation.
  • Lower trip volume, as unnecessary dispatches are eliminated.
  • Smarter inventory and procurement, driven by aggregated data.
  • Faster resolution, improving both resident experience and NOI.
Most importantly, you gain the foundation for long-term operational maturity.Demand becomes a domain of proactive management:
  • Scheduled maintenance is just structured recurring demand.
  • Predictive maintenance anticipates needs based on data.
  • Prescriptive maintenance recommends actions before issues occur.
These are all demand-side disciplines—and they can only be built once demand is separated from supply.Supply becomes a strategic supply chain function:
  • Service catalogues define task types, SLAs, and delivery standards.
  • Material catalogs align parts and tools with known job types.
  • Strategic sourcing drives vendor performance and cost efficiency.
This evolution transforms maintenance from a reactive service into a scalable, strategic capability. Centralization is no longer about doing the same thing from a distance—it's about doing better things with better structure.

What If We Don’t Separate Demand and Supply?

Failing to make this distinction leaves organizations stuck in reactive mode:
  • Work orders continue to arrive with incomplete or poor data.
  • Dispatches remain inefficient, often requiring multiple trips.
  • Inventory waste persists, with unnecessary parts ordered or unused.
  • Technicians spend time diagnosing instead of fixing.
  • Residents experience delays and inconsistent service.
Most critically, organizations miss the opportunity to mature. Scheduled, predictive, and prescriptive maintenance can’t thrive when demand is buried inside supply. Centralization becomes harder to imagine—let alone implement—because the system lacks modularity and control points.In other words, without separating demand from supply, you're left managing chaos, not a system.

A New Operating System for Maintenance

The key to centralizing maintenance isn’t more tools—it’s a revised model.When you stop treating maintenance as one giant workflow and instead view it as demand and supply, the opportunities to optimize, automate, and scale become clear. You can centralize where it counts, localize where it matters, and create a system that supports smarter growth across your entire portfolio.This shift—from blended chaos to structured control—is how modern operators build high-performing, centralized maintenance functions that are ready for scale.

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