TFI Canada Transforms Quick Service Restaurant Support with Instant Remote Equipment Repairs

Industry

Manufacturing

Challenge

TFI Canada relied on costly on-site service calls to diagnose and repair specialty foodservice equipment for major quick-service restaurant chains. Equipment downtime costs their customers revenue, and phone-based troubleshooting often leads to misdiagnoses, unnecessary parts shipments, and extended repair times.

Results

With Blitzz's app-free video support, TFI's service technicians can now diagnose equipment issues remotely in real-time, significantly reducing on-site visits, accelerating repairs, and helping restaurant operators get back to serving customers faster.

Key Product

Blitzz Concierge (Visual Remote Assistance)

www.tficanada.com

40%

Faster Issue Resolution

30%

Lower Operational Cost

70%

Increase in Remote Support

With Blitzz, we’re able to resolve service calls faster and more efficiently than ever before. Our technicians can guide customers remotely, cutting downtime and improving satisfaction. It’s truly transformed the way we support our clients.

Michael Cheung

President @ TFI Canada

Meet TFI Canada

For over 70 years, TFI Food Equipment Solutions has been Canada's largest supplier of specialty foodservice equipment and programs. Headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, TFI serves virtually every major foodservice operator and thousands of independent restaurants as the leading supplier of Taylor®, Henny Penny®, LightFry, Franke, and ICETRO equipment.

TFI has supported the rollout of many of Canada's popular menu items, including the McDonald's McFlurry®, Wendy's® burgers, Tim Hortons® smoothies, and 7-Eleven® Slurpees®. The company works with eight national quick-service restaurant chains, including Tim Hortons and McDonald's, and supplies over 94% of convenience store chains across the country.

As a recognized leader in specialty foodservice equipment, TFI helps restaurants, convenience stores, and foodservice operators develop profitable menu programs that drive customer satisfaction and increase revenue.

The Challenge: Equipment Downtime and Costly Service Calls

For quick service restaurant operators, equipment downtime is more than an inconvenience—it's lost revenue, disrupted operations, and disappointed customers. Whether it's a soft serve machine malfunction during lunch rush, a pressure fryer breakdown during dinner service, or a slush machine failure on a hot summer day, every minute of downtime impacts the bottom line.

TFI Canada's traditional service model for equipment maintenance and repairs created several pain points:

High Operating Costs: Dispatching service technicians to restaurant locations was expensive and resource-intensive. Each on-site visit required travel time, labor costs, and vehicle expenses that added up quickly across TFI's vast customer base.
Extended Downtime: Scheduling service calls often meant restaurants had to wait hours or even days for a technician to arrive. This extended downtime meant lost sales opportunities and frustrated franchise owners.
Communication Barriers: When restaurant workers attempted to describe equipment issues over the phone, the lack of visual context often led to misdiagnoses. Without seeing the equipment firsthand, technicians struggled to accurately assess problems, leading to unnecessary parts shipments and repeat service visits.
Inefficient Resource Allocation: TFI's skilled technicians spent significant time traveling to sites for issues that could potentially be resolved remotely with proper visual guidance.

TFI needed a solution that could provide immediate visual support, reduce costly truck rolls, and help their quick service restaurant customers minimize equipment downtime while maintaining their reputation for exceptional service.

The Solution: App-Free Remote Diagnostics and Repair Guidance

TFI Canada selected Blitzz Concierge—an app-free mobile video platform—to transform its service delivery model and provide instant visual assistance to restaurant operators across Canada.

Key features utilized by TFI Canada:

App-Free Access: A TFI service technician simply sends a link via SMS text message to the restaurant manager or restaurant workers. When they click the link, the technician instantly gains a secure, real-time view through the restaurant worker's smartphone camera—no need to download third-party apps like Zoom, Teams, or FaceTime.
Real-Time Visual Diagnostics: Service technicians can immediately see the downed equipment, identify troubled parts, read model numbers, and assess the situation accurately. This eliminates the guesswork associated with verbal descriptions over traditional phone support.
Augmented Reality (AR) Collaboration: Both the technician and restaurant workers can use AR features to draw, highlight, and annotate directly on the live video stream in real-time, making it easy to guide workers through troubleshooting steps or simple repairs.
Instant Problem Resolution: For many issues, TFI technicians can walk restaurant workers through fixes on the spot, getting equipment back online in minutes instead of waiting hours or days for an on-site visit.
Smart Triage: When visual assessment confirms that an on-site visit is necessary, technicians arrive prepared with the right parts and knowledge, eliminating repeat visits and reducing overall repair time.

TFI Canada launched Blitzz through a pilot program with Tim Hortons and McDonald's locations across Canada, with plans to expand to smaller retail customers in 2025. Blitzz's app-free nature made adoption seamless—restaurant workers could connect with service technicians instantly without installing or learning new software.

By leveraging Blitzz's technology, TFI can maintain its high standards of service efficiently and effectively, while also fostering a more knowledgeable and capable workforce.

— Rama Sreenivasan, Founder and CEO @ Blitzz

The Results: Faster Repairs, Reduced Costs, and Elevated Customer Experience

By integrating Blitzz Concierge into its customer service operations, TFI Canada transformed its approach to equipment support, leading to measurable improvements across multiple dimensions:

Significantly Reduced On-Site Visits: Visual remote assistance eliminated the need for many unnecessary truck rolls, allowing TFI to reserve on-site visits for truly complex issues that require hands-on service.
Minimized Equipment Downtime: Restaurant operators can now get help instantly during critical service periods. Issues that previously required waiting hours or days for a technician can often be resolved in minutes through guided remote support.
Faster Resolution Times: Real-time visual diagnostics enable TFI technicians to identify problems accurately on the first interaction, dramatically reducing the time from issue report to resolution.
Improved First-Call Resolution: With the ability to see equipment issues firsthand, TFI technicians can provide accurate guidance and solutions during the initial service call, reducing callbacks and follow-up visits.
Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: Quick service restaurant operators experience less revenue loss from equipment downtime, leading to stronger partnerships and increased loyalty to TFI as their equipment provider.
Lower Operating Costs: Reducing truck rolls directly translates to lower travel expenses, fuel costs, and technician labor hours spent on the road rather than serving customers.
Empowered Restaurant Staff: Restaurant managers and employees gain confidence and capability by successfully troubleshooting equipment issues with expert guidance, reducing their dependence on emergency service calls.

Key Success Metrics

Metric	Before Blitzz	After Blitzz (Impact)	Value Proposition
On-Site Service Visits	High volume of truck rolls for diagnostics	Significantly reduced	Visual remote support eliminates many unnecessary site visits, reserving truck rolls for complex issues requiring hands-on repair.
Equipment Downtime	Hours to days waiting for technician arrival	Minutes with remote guidance	Restaurants can address issues immediately during peak service periods, minimizing revenue loss.
Resolution Speed	Delayed by scheduling and travel time	Real-time problem solving	Technicians can diagnose and guide repairs in real time, getting equipment back online faster.
First-Call Resolution Rate	Lower due to communication failures and misdiagnosis	Increased significantly	Visual confirmation ensures accurate diagnosis and guidance on the first interaction.
Operating Costs	High expenses for travel, fuel, and technician time	Reduced	Fewer truck rolls translate directly to lower operational expenses and more efficient resource allocation.
Customer Experience	Frustration with delays and extended downtime	Improved satisfaction	Restaurant operators receive immediate support, protecting their revenue and maintaining service quality for their customers.

Conclusion

By integrating Blitzz Concierge into its service operations, TFI Canada eliminated the time and cost barriers associated with traditional on-site service calls. Service technicians can now see exactly what restaurant operators see in their kitchens, enabling instant, accurate diagnostics and guided repairs that resolve issues in minutes instead of hours or days.

This transformation has enabled TFI Canada to strengthen its partnerships with major quick-service restaurant chains like Tim Hortons and McDonald's, reduce operational costs, and uphold its 70-year legacy of exceptional customer service. As TFI expands Blitzz implementation to smaller retail customers in 2025, the company continues to set the standard for operational excellence in specialty foodservice equipment distribution.

Blitzz has become an essential tool in TFI Canada's mission to help restaurant kitchens operate efficiently and boost productivity—ensuring the right equipment stays running at the right time, every time.