Executive summary
Over an 18-month period, Ken Green led a comprehensive transformation of repair and maintenance (R&M) operations across a 670-location petroleum retail and convenience store portfolio spanning the Western and Central United States.
By converting a predominantly reactive maintenance culture into a disciplined, planned-maintenance operating system — with supporting vendor accountability frameworks, KPI governance, and contract restructuring — the program delivered an 18% reduction in total R&M spend, equating to approximately $4.7 million in annualized savings against a $26 million baseline budget.
This case study documents the problem environment, the strategic approach taken, the operational execution sequence, and the measurable outcomes achieved. It illustrates the breadth and depth of operational expertise that MCK Horizons brings to petroleum operators, fueling contractors, and PE-backed energy platforms seeking sustainable margin improvement.
Section 1The situation — a reactive baseline
Portfolio context
The portfolio consisted of 670+ company-operated fueling and convenience retail locations across California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Missouri. Facilities included underground storage tank (UST) systems, fuel dispensers, monitoring equipment, point-of-sale, carwash, signage, lighting, lot improvement, brand conversions, HVAC, plumbing, roof, flooring, and remodel/renovation needs. Annual R&M spend had grown to $26 million, with capital expenditure managed separately at $24 million annually.
The core problem
At assessment, roughly 72% of all R&M work orders were reactive — initiated in response to equipment failure or customer-reported issues rather than scheduled preventive maintenance. This created four compounding problems:
Emergency repair premium
Reactive repairs carried a 25–40% cost premium over scheduled maintenance for identical scope — driven by emergency dispatch rates, parts surcharges, and contractor overtime.
Uncontrolled vendor billing
Vendor invoice accuracy was running near 81%. Overbilling, duplicate charges, and unapproved scope additions were eroding an estimated $800K annually in controllable spend.
Compliance calendar failures
Sites without proactive scheduling saw deferred UST test deficiencies, containment sump certification lapses, and unfavorable CUPA findings — creating multi-jurisdiction regulatory exposure.
Workforce mismatch
Field technician utilization sat at ~64% billable time, with non-billable hours lost to inefficient dispatch routing, parts delays, and repeat visits on prior reactive repairs.
Combined exposure from these four areas was estimated at $5.5M–$7.2M annually — roughly 21–28% of the total R&M budget — across emergency cost premiums, uncontrolled vendor billing, compliance penalty risk, and labor inefficiency.
Section 2Strategic approach — four pillars
The transformation was structured around four interconnected pillars, each designed to address a root cause identified in the assessment.
Pillar 1 — Planned maintenance conversion
- Built a site-by-site equipment inventory with age, condition, and PM-interval data for all UST systems and facilities equipment.
- Established PM frequency standards by equipment type — monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual — based on manufacturer specs and portfolio failure-rate data.
- Migrated eligible recurring work from reactive dispatch to scheduled PM routes, cutting unplanned call volume by ~44 percentage points over 12 months.
- Implemented a work order management system that generated PM tickets automatically, tracked completion, and escalated overdue maintenance.
Pillar 2 — Vendor strategy & contract restructuring
- Developed a vendor scoring matrix across 12 criteria — response-time compliance, first-visit resolution, invoice accuracy, safety record, and pricing vs. market benchmark.
- Consolidated 80 contractors to 62 preferred-tier partners under negotiated MSAs with performance guarantees, standardized rates, and termination-for-cause provisions.
- Implemented invoice-audit protocols requiring line-item work order matching before payment — recovering ~$800K in year one and raising invoice accuracy to 97%.
- Established quarterly business reviews with top-tier vendors, using scorecard data to drive continuous improvement.
Pillar 3 — KPI framework & operational governance
- Six core KPIs tracked at site, regional, and portfolio level: technician utilization, work-order completion, first-visit resolution, days-to-invoice, compliance adherence, and cost-per-work-order.
- Monthly performance dashboards with variance analysis and action-item tracking.
- Regional-manager accountability for KPI attainment, tied to performance reviews and incentive compensation.
- Exception reporting that surfaced outlier sites for intervention before problems compounded.
Pillar 4 — Compliance calendar governance
- A master compliance calendar for all 670 locations — UST testing, spill bucket, overfill protection, leak detection, vapor recovery, containment sump, dispenser inspections, APCD permits, and EHS audits.
- Automated escalation notifications to site managers and regional compliance leads for approaching deadlines.
- Pre-inspection readiness checklists deployed to field teams 30 days before scheduled agency visits.
- A corrective-action tracking system that logged findings, assigned owners, and monitored remediation to closure.
Section 3Execution timeline — 18 months, three phases
Phase 1 · Months 1–4 — Assessment & foundation
- Completed site-level equipment audit across all 670 locations.
- Deployed vendor scoring matrix; initiated MSA renegotiation with top 10 vendors by spend.
- Built compliance-calendar infrastructure with all site-specific deadlines.
- Established baseline measurements for all six KPIs.
Phase 2 · Months 5–12 — Conversion & stabilization
- Migrated 65% of eligible work orders to PM scheduling by month 8.
- Completed MSA execution with all preferred-tier vendors.
- Launched invoice-audit protocol — recovered $620K in overbilling in the first 6 months.
- Achieved 94% compliance-calendar adherence; technician utilization rose from 64% to 76%.
Phase 3 · Months 13–18 — Optimization & governance embedding
- Achieved the 72% planned / 28% reactive target ratio.
- Invoice accuracy stabilized at 97% across the vendor base.
- R&M spend reduction of 18% confirmed — $4.7M annualized savings realized.
- 100% compliance-calendar adherence achieved and held for 6 consecutive months.
Section 4Results at the 18-month milestone
| Metric | Baseline (Year 0) | Post-implementation | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| R&M annual spend | $26.0M | $21.3M | −$4.7M (−18%) |
| Reactive vs. planned ratio | 72% reactive | 28% reactive | +44 pts planned |
| Vendor invoice accuracy | 81% | 97% | +16 pts |
| Avg. days to repair completion | 4.8 days | 2.1 days | −56% |
| Compliance audit pass rate | 88% | 100% | +12 pts |
| Technician utilization rate | 64% | 81% | +17 pts |
Additional qualitative outcomes
- A 36% reduction in CUPA enforcement actions during the program period, versus twenty-eight notices of violation in the prior 18 months.
- Improved vendor satisfaction — preferred-tier contractors reported higher work-volume predictability, enabling better crew scheduling.
- Operations leadership redirected an estimated 6–8 hours per week per regional manager from reactive "firefighting" to proactive portfolio management.
- Outcomes presented to ownership as a sustainable EBITDA improvement — not a one-time cost cut — because of the governance infrastructure built to sustain them.
Section 5How this applies to your operation
The four-pillar framework is directly transferable to any petroleum retailer or fueling contractor — at any scale. The principles that drove 18% reduction in a $26M environment apply equally to a $2M R&M budget across 50 sites, or a $500K program across 10 locations.
The KPI governance, technician-utilization framework, and invoice-accuracy protocols translate directly into higher productivity, faster billing cycles, and better job-costing accuracy. MCK Horizons can deploy these in a 90-day engagement.
The planned-maintenance conversion and vendor-scorecard system apply immediately — whether you run 10 sites or 500+. The 18% benchmark is a realistic target for operations currently in a reactive posture.
The compliance governance, KPI framework, and EBITDA track record are directly relevant to portfolio companies preparing for exit, integration, or recapitalization. MCK Horizons can serve as fractional VP of Facilities or interim program lead.