ECE Transforms Shopping Center Management with SINGU: Significant ROI & Strong Efficiency

Introduction

ECE is a European leader in managing and operating shopping centers, with a significant presence across multiple markets. To match its high operational standards with a platform built for portfolio-scale complexity, ECE selected SINGU as its facility management system of record for its CEE shopping center portfolio. SINGU was deployed to unify work orders, preventive maintenance, tenant communication, and real-time analytics within a single integrated environment, consistently across every property.

The Challenge

With a substantial portfolio of shopping centers across multiple markets, ECE set out to bring all facility management operations onto a single, unified platform for its CEE portfolio. Further standardizing and digitizing maintenance workflows, consolidating tenant communication, and enabling real-time visibility across all properties became the natural next step for a company operating at this level.

We had decided to use the SINGU platform to further expand the standardization and digitization of our operations, we found that a usable system could greatly support both technical managers and ECE staff and improve the flow of information. The pandemic period was the time when all investments paid off, and it turned out that the investment in software was a great idea because it allowed us to quickly adapt to change, introduce new solutions, and use those solutions that had already been developed over the years. Without software, it would have been much more complex to manage employees or continue to keep the facilities open.

- says Tomasz Polek, Technical Manager at ECE.

SINGU Implementation

SINGU was deployed across ECE's CEE portfolio with a full-scope integration that connected every layer of operations:

1. Automated Work Order Management: All maintenance requests are handled digitally through SINGU, enabling fast assignment, tracking, and resolution across all centers.
2. Preventive Maintenance Scheduling: Scheduled servicing across all facilities is managed proactively within SINGU, ensuring equipment remains in peak condition and unplanned downtime is kept to a minimum.
3. Property Inspections: Move-in/move-out procedures and tenant-related maintenance are fully documented and traceable within the system.
4. Real-Time Analytics and Reporting: ECE's technical managers access live operational data across all properties, enabling informed decision-making and continuous identification of improvement areas.
5. Integration with IoT and NFC: Utilizing IoT, NFC tags and beacons deployed at selected objects, ECE enables precise patrol tracking, real-time equipment monitoring, and accurate cost settlement at facility level.
6. SINGU Tenant App: All tenants across the portfolio have direct access to the platform via a dedicated mobile app, with all communication between ECE management, security, and cleaning services consolidated in one digital channel.
7. External Services Control: ECE maintains full visibility over the work of external service providers - tracking progress, verifying completion, and accessing current performance data to support contract negotiations.
8. Media Consumption Management: All meter readings across the portfolio are centralized in SINGU, enabling ECE to monitor consumption patterns, respond quickly to anomalies, and optimize media costs.
9. Warehouse: A complete database of material resources and spare parts is maintained within the system, with full transaction history and inventory tracking.

The Scope:

SINGU, a comprehensive facility management solution, supports the operations and management of 17 shopping centers across the Central and Eastern Europe region. This expansive coverage includes 26 buildings and serves a diverse user base of 6,872 individuals.

• Tenant Engagement and Efficiency: The SINGU Tenant App serves over 1,000 tenants, with approximately 100,000 work notifications processed through the platform. All documentation is fully digital - faster, traceable, and paperless.
• Facility Management Excellence: ECE has managed 347,782 property inspections and 157,900 tickets through SINGU. A live inventory of 20,000 devices enables real-time monitoring of infrastructure status, equipment condition, and inspection schedules across all centers.
• External Services Integration: The platform has successfully integrated almost 500 external services, providing them access to the system for seamless work accounting and management.
• Innovative Use of IoT: 527 NFC tags and 153 beacons form a fully integrated IoT network at selected objects, enabling precise patrol execution, equipment monitoring, and inspection verification at facility level.
• Warehouse Management: SINGU efficiently manages warehouse resources, currently tracking 1,000 inventory items. It has processed 43,041 warehouse transactions, enabling continuous monitoring of inventory levels and their values.
• Media Consumption Monitoring: The system adeptly handles the readings from over 1,000 meters, with 8,380 readings entered into the system. ECE uses this data to monitor consumption patterns, respond to anomalies quickly, and optimize media costs across the portfolio.

Results:

The implementation of the SINGU platform resulted in time and cost savings and significant ROI for ECE managing and improving the operational efficiency of properties in the following areas:

1. Enhanced Operational Efficiency: With SINGU's centralized dashboard, ECE manages work orders with full visibility and control across all centers, with reduced response times across the portfolio.
2. Preventive Maintenance Excellence: A systematic approach to preventive maintenance has extended equipment lifespan from an average of 10 to 12 years, reducing the frequency of breakdowns and delivering measurable cost savings across the portfolio.
3. Data-Driven Decision Making: ECE's technical managers make strategic decisions based on real-time data, with the time required for report preparation reduced from 3 days to just 1 hour.
4. Cost Effectiveness: Streamlined processes and a proactive maintenance strategy have delivered significant annual cost savings per facility.
5. Improved Tenant Relations: Tenant satisfaction has increased remarkably, supported by faster issue resolution and a fully digital work order process. Notification and approval time has been reduced from 2 days to just 3 hours.
6. Sustainable Operations: Efficient resource management through SINGU supports more sustainable facility operations and contributes to ECE's carbon footprint reduction goals.

Future Aspirations:

ECE continues to expand its use of SINGU, exploring further integrations and customizations to advance facility management capabilities, elevate the tenant experience, and reinforce its leadership position in retail real estate management.

The Conclusion:

ECE has built a fully integrated facility management environment that sets a clear standard for its shopping center operations in the CEE market at scale. Every workflow, from maintenance scheduling to tenant communication, runs through a single unified platform. With a significant return on investment, SINGU remains a core part of ECE's operational foundation, delivering measurable results across every property in the portfolio.

After all the positive experience, we can hardly imagine managing shopping centers without the SINGU system. The solution is deeply integrated into our structures that even during hard times like the COVID pandemic and including the partial closure of shopping centers, we never thought of abandoning it. Mainly because the system generates real savings. Shift workers, tenants, management - they can all communicate easily through the system or a mobile app.

adds Tomasz Polek, Technical Manager at ECE