MISSION: ACCOMPLISHED
M AT T K A U T Z K Y
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D I R E C T O R O F FA C I L I T I E S
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BLACKHAWK CHURCH
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MIDDLETON, WI
QUICK FACTS ABOUT BLACKHAWK CHURCH
Capabilities beyond bricks-and-mortar
Importantly, Blackhawk Church was also able to incorporate every
piece of audio / video / lighting equipment into AkitaBox. For example,
Matt worked with AV and tech personnel to know where every projector
is located and when its bulb was last changed.
He’s even able to track maintenance on guitars, soundboards, and
much more.
“When you think about church, there’s a lot of theatrical production
that goes into it,” Matt points out. “Our end goal is a system that’s not just
facilities-based, but also lets us work alongside our worship teams.”
The AkitaBox software platform uses color-coded asset pins placed
on a building’s digital floor plan. Matt says that this feature has allowed
his team to easily identify asset types and locations without disrupting
workflow in the worship facility.
“For example, my team members can see the pin dropped exactly
where a variable air volume box is,” he explains. “They aren't searching
in three or four rooms and hallways, disturbing a pastor, disturbing a
meeting and so on, just to find it.”
All this data input and customization represented a slight price
increase on the front end of system implementation. However, Matt says
he’d do it all over again — and he urges other facilities managers to do
the same.
“Facilities managers have a tendency of saying, ‘I'm going to carve out
an hour or two to add more [QR codes] to the system. I’ll get to it.’ And I’m
guilty of that, as well,” he explains. “But it’s hard. We just opened a new
42,000-square-foot building (which also implemented AkitaBox); there’s
always something else that needs to be done first.”
As another benefit of frontloading all this data, Blackhawk Church
experienced zero downtime during implementation. Matt says this
is partly due to spending a few months fine-tuning and familiarizing
himself with the AkitaBox system before releasing it to the entire
staff. Now, staff members can input their data via a portal, or even on
their cellphones. And if they have questions, Matt feels confident to
answer them.
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CHURCH EXECUTIVE | JAN / FEB 2020
Year established: 1965
Location of main campus: Middleton, WI
Number of locations: 3
Combined weekly attendance: 5,000 (4,000 adults +
1,000 children)
Monetary, ministry payoffs
Matt says that with a more predictive (versus reactive) approach to
facilities management and maintenance comes a welcome byproduct:
cost savings.
At Blackhawk Church, the ability to prevent sprinkler system leaks
and frozen pipes has been particularly beneficial. “They used to freeze
about three times per year during the winter, and it was $10,000 to
$15,000 to fix each time,” Matt explains. “So, we’re able to establish
a predictive maintenance program in conjunction with lowering
budget impact.”
In relation to budgeting, the accounting team also appreciates the
ability to assign a price-per-square-foot metric to campus spaces. This
is especially helpful when it comes to utility bills; now, the accounting
staff won’t just notice if the bill goes up — they can decipher the
factors behind that increase.
Ultimately, this new mindset regarding facilities management and
maintenance has enabled Matt and his team to get its reactive-to-
preventative ratio down to almost 1:1. This means that facilities aren’t
hindering ministry in any way.
“Our maintenance people are happier,” Matt adds. “They can plan their
days better. They can even start to focus on predictive maintenance.”
Finally, Matt and his team are better able to support a guiding
principle for the church: providing a peaceful place of worship.
“It’s not that there are never any challenges; it’s just that there
aren’t recurring challenges — a door that won’t lock, or a cleaning
procedure that’s routinely overlooked,” Matt explains. “It's the little
stuff that makes a big difference.”