A handheld gadget made by a Dunedin company allows hotels to deal with maintenance issues quicker.
By PAMELA GRINER LEAVY
Published August 11, 2004
DUNEDIN - If a Dunedin company's new gadget catches on, toilets will always flush in ritzy hotel rooms, and the cable television, air conditioning and bathroom lights will work every time.
Mintek Mobile Data Solutions developed and markets WinTrack PM, a handheld maintenance data-scanning device for hotel engineers.
Developed by the company in 2001, the handheld monitor, which costs about $15,000 per hotel, allows engineers to bar code and track everything that could need preventive maintenance in hotel guest rooms, meeting rooms and recreational facilities. The WinTrack PM Management Portal also gives hotel managers online access to property maintenance information.
The device was first tested in a Wyndham International hotel in New Orleans with good results, said William McCleave, vice president of engineering for Wyndham International.
"The property is a large high rise hotel, a very complicated system for a hotel, and that's why we picked it to pilot the program," McCleave said. "We've seen paperwork management reduction, efficiency improvements, and improved guest services scores so we are very excited about what it has added to our ability to do maintenance."
The WinTrack system focuses on what hotel engineers call "back of the house" functions - the equipment rooms, guest rooms, and public areas seen by guests.
"We are able to go in and scan the room with a checklist . . . to see that the plumbing systems, heating and ventilation systems are working properly," McCleave said.
Dallas-based Wyndham International first tested the WinTrack PM at its hotel in New Orleans' French Quarter, and then decided to forego paper tracking and filing systems to use WinTrack in 50 of its hotels and resorts nationwide, including the Wyndham Westshore and Wyndham Harborplace in Tampa.
The device is expected to be installed in Tampa in the next two weeks, said Mark Sokol, Mintek's director of product marketing. Mintek, which started in 1987, develops mobile applications and software mainly for the hotel and cable industries. The WinTrack PM took a year to develop, Sokol said.
Engineers in New Orleans were receptive to the new tool, McCleave said. "Naturally being a new item, some of those that were really not computer savvy were amazed at how quickly they adapted," he said.
"The system was very well received by the whole engineering staff. In fact, this is one of the reasons we picked the Mintek product, because of the ease of use."
Wyndham is not the only hotel chain using WinTrack, Sokol said. Two years ago, Marriott International started using it and plans to extend the tracking system to more than 240 of its properties.
Sokol said hotel engineers can regularly scan rooms with WinTrack to reduce the number of maintenance calls regarding televisions that don't work or air conditioning systems that need correcting.
"WinTrack walks him through the process and if he sees channels are fuzzy, maybe he can correct it at this time," he said. "It would automatically generate an alert or work order for someone to take care of it."
McCleave said hotels in cities that see a large number of conventions would benefit from a device that aids preventive maintenance.
"Any time you have high capacity in any property, there will be greater demand on all the engineering operations," he said.
