Designing a Better Pizza Shop in 3D
Whether it is pepperoni or double cheese, Brooklyn style or crispy thin crust, pizza-lovers can agree on one thing: fresh and hot is the best way to enjoy their favorite pizza pie. Since it opened more than 40 years ago, RPM Pizza has focused on getting the ideal pie into customers’ hands. Its commitment to being ‘the Dominant #1 Pizza Company in the World and in Every Neighborhood’ with delicious pizza and fast, friendly customer service, helped RPM become the largest Domino’s pizza franchisee in the US, operating close to 175 stores across five states.
A consistent goal at RPM is to reduce the average delivery time (ADT), the time between receiving an order, and getting the order into the hands of hungry customers. A store’s layout, facilities, and equipment, impact ADT and the ability to meet the company’s service goals.
“Improving store design and layout lets us better serve our customers,” explains Nate Lee, Facilities Manager for RPM Pizza. “Two of our key principles for serving our facilities clients are reasonable cost and on- time response. To meet these goals, we needed to improve their space at a reasonable cost as quickly as possible. Matterport helped us achieve that.”
As Lee considered the best ways to renovate stores that needed upgrades, he became intrigued with the potential of 3D photography and scans to create floor plans. “We live in such a technological age, I knew there must be a way to use 3D imagery for construction projects that would save travel time and costs, by enabling virtual site views and collaboration,” he says.
His search for a modern solution took him to several 3D platforms. Matterport stood out, offering the best value, accuracy, and ease of use.
Better-Quality Listings for Faster Decisions
RPM first incorporated Matterport for small-scale renovation and store refreshes, such as painting, fixtures, and finishes. “Matterport helps us see a store’s current state in complete detail,” says Lee. “When we give a contractor a Matterport scan, they can see everything that a project entails, and there’s clear resolution on how to best address the changes to get the space into tip-top shape.”
Optimizing a store’s space to improve ADT prompted RPM to undertake more ambitious renovation projects, known as capacity projects. The purpose of the capacity projects was to update, and in some cases, expand stores’ production capability. This included modernized pizza production areas, effective equipment layout, and improved store workflow. RPM wanted to renovate existing stores to increase sales, but outdated designs caused production bottlenecks. The capacity project included some stores that were nearly 40 years old or were not originally built by RPM. Rather than looking for new locations or potentially building from scratch, RPM decided to repurpose existing stores with an open, clean design similar to the “pizza theater” concept introduced by Domino’s Pizza.
Using Matterport, Lee generates accurate floor plans, which is especially valuable for stores with outdated or non-existent original blueprints. Without good data and current information, RPM might have needed to hire retired contractors familiar with the older buildings to serve as consultants—dramatically impacting the schedule and budget.
The 3D floor plans help RPM weigh certain options, like moving walls, with confidence, ensuring that they will not result in unexpected and time-consuming issues with building renovations. After importing floor plans into the SketchUp 3D modeling program, Lee and his team are able to reimagine the space. RPM has renovated 30 stores in six months—without Matterport, the process might have taken up to a year.
Matterport’s digital measurement feature ensures accuracy when installing the right fixtures and equipment. “Thanks to Measurement Mode, everything we purchase for the store has the right dimensions. Accuracy is essential, because if a $9,000 piece of equipment doesn’t fit properly into a space, even by two inches, it’s a huge mistake that wastes time and money,” explains Lee. “Having Matterport scans on the front end prevents costly errors.”
Clear Communication Makes Work Faster, More Efficient
RPM’s drive toward greater speed and efficiency isn’t limited to pizza-making. The ease of capturing the store interiors and creating scans with Matterport reduces the time to initiate projects by 50 percent. It also reduces the load on the small team handling maintenance and projects for 175 RPM stores.
With the scans on-hand, RPM also bypasses lengthy bidding processes, and can hire multiple contractors to simultaneously start renovations at different stores in each region. Sharing the updated store data and scans reduces lead time for contractor proposals and supports greater business continuity. If a project manager becomes unavailable, RPM can simply provide a new contractor with the information to pick up the process.
“Matterport enables us to communicate more clearly and consistently with our contractors and leadership,” says Lee. “Using Matterport allows them to visit the store without needing to travel, so we can work together in real time to make informed decisions about the project.” The virtual visits reduced on-site tours even before COVID-19 curtailed most travel—which prepared RPM and its contractors to work smoothly throughout the pandemic.
Even after renovations are complete, RPM relies on Matterport as a tool for ongoing collaboration. If an individual store has computer problems, that store’s digital twin can easily be accessed. Knowing exactly where to find the equipment in question helps troubleshoot the issue on the spot—which gets the store back to what it does best, making pizza and “creating smiles while making life easier”.
“Our leadership team is excited about how the store upgrades make food prep faster and easier. I recently received an email from the company owner expressing ‘kudos’ for the results of the capacity project and the increased productivity of the store,” says Lee. “With Matterport, we have an easy-to-use, accurate 3D technology to help design and implement store upgrades that translate to better, faster customer service. We can take on more complex renovations with one simple goal, to “sell more pizza and have more fun!”
About RPM Pizza LLC
RPM Pizza, the largest Domino’s Pizza franchisee in the U.S. for over 40 years, is family-owned and operates over 175 stores in five states, including Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. https://www.rpmpizza.com/
HEADQUARTERS
Gulfport, Mississippi
INDUSTRY
Retail - Quick Service Restaurants
CHALLENGE
Streamline the design and renovations of RPM Pizza stores to speed the making of pizzas.
PRODUCTS
Matterport Pro2
SOLUTION
RPM Pizza uses 3D digital twins for faster, more efficient renovation and facility management of stores.
Results
- Improved food prep efficiency with renovated store layouts
- Streamlined design and remodel of stores, reducing time from one year to 6 months
- Cut time to initiate projects in half
- Virtual collaboration and review enable staff to take on more projects
https://matterport.com/industries/case-studies/rpm-pizza-uses-matterport-help-redesign-stores-and-deliver-fresher-hotter