Foodservice Equipment & Supplies magazines is an industry resource connecting foodservice operators, equipment and supplies manufacturers and dealers, and facility design consultants.
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22 • FOODSERVICE EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES • MAY 2015 consultant's viewpoint Collaboration Breeds Success M ost of today's foodservice projects seem to share two common traits: they are all more complex than ever before and operate on a fast-track develop- ment schedule. Factor in tighter budgets and higher than normal customer expec- tations and the project has no room for error. In this environment, these projects often require the specialized expertise and experience of both design and manage- ment advisory consultants to not only make the most effective and effcient use of the resources available but to also position the operation for long-term success. Such was the case with Salem Hospital, one of Oregon's largest acute care facili- ties with more than 450 beds. In addition, Salem Hospital operates one of the busiest Emergency Room facilities in Oregon, ac- cording to consultant Ray Soucie, RSA Inc. Food Service Consulting. The hospital has more than 4,000 full-time employees. It was Soucie who felded a call from the architect charged with building a new Salem hospital kitchen. Upon looking at the scope of the work and the timeline, Soucie reached out to fellow foodservice consultants Char Norton of the Norton Group and Tim Stafford of Stafford Design Group. The trio worked collabora- tively to deliver a state-of-the-art foodser- vice operation for Salem Hospital. FE&S; talked with Soucie, Norton and Stafford about the lessons they learned from working collaboratively on this project. The trio shared their experi- ences during a panel discussion at the pre-NAFEM Show symposium hosted by FCSI-The Americas. FE&S;: The three of you had known each other for years but had not yet teamed up to work together as a group. How did this come about? RS: This was a fast-track, design-build project between the architect and the con- struction company. They wanted the best team to get the foodservice component done in a short amount of time. The timelines and demands made it important to work collab- oratively. There were going to be meetings going on with operations and architects at the same time. You can't be in two different places at the same time. Add in the room ser- vice component and working collaboratively was a natural decision. I recalled Tim and Char had some success in healthcare, includ- ing the recently completed Reading Hospital. So things progressed naturally from there. FE&S;: How did you get started? TS: Step one was to put a package together to win the project. Ray contacted me and he took the lead in this area. We reviewed what they were looking for and realized the project required a MAS consultant. FE&S; Editorial Director Joe Carbonara (left) moderates a panel discussion on collabora- tion featuring (from left to right) Ray Soucie, Char Norton and Tim Staford. Photo courtesy of FCSI-The Americas, Bret Robertson, Faded Pictures LLC