How Centrum Plus standardises operations in PSB Mrówka stores
Running several large DIY stores means coordinating hundreds of recurring tasks every day. In the home and garden sector, seasonal product rotation, fast-moving promotions and health and safety procedures make it hard to keep one consistent standard across multiple locations.
Centrum Plus Sp. z o.o., which operates stores in the PSB Mrówka network, implemented cHow, an operations platform for multi-location networks and field teams, to gain a reliable basis for management decisions. With cHow, guesswork and delayed reports have been replaced by an up-to-date picture of what is happening on the shop floor, which makes it possible to react on the day a problem occurs rather than after the fact.
The challenge: scattered information and the cost of getting to the facts
Before cHow, day-to-day operational communication between management and store staff relied on traditional channels: phone calls, messaging apps and email.
This model created specific management problems:
- No shared status of tasks: Arrangements made by phone required follow-up questions about whether a task had been completed on time and to the right standard.
- Time-consuming display checks: Verifying that aisles were properly stocked or that promotional zones were ready often required managers to visit each store in person.
- An incomplete picture of faults: Information about equipment failures, stock shortages or damaged infrastructure reached decision-makers in an unstructured way – usually without a precise description or a photo, which meant more back-and-forth messages.
- Editing instead of managing: Managers spent a large part of their time collecting data from stores, checking its reliability and manually arranging it into a format that could be analysed at all.
The solution: a structured flow of tasks on the shop floor
Centrum Plus implemented cHow as its main environment for organising work on the ground. The system is not a simple tick-box task list – it is a structured process for managing standards, procedures and the flow of information from the shop floor.
1. Structured daily and periodic procedures
Store managers and staff use a mobile app in which they receive clear instructions. Tasks are not general slogans; they contain specific guidance on display standards, correct price labelling, entrance zone preparation, and technical and health and safety procedures.
2. Quality checks at the source (photo context)
Operational documentation is an integral part of the process. Key tasks are completed with a photo taken directly in the app. This gives the person coordinating the stores a reliable visual context without spending hours driving between locations.
3. A fast track for deviations and faults
When an employee notices a damaged shelf, missing promotional stock or a technical issue, the report goes into the system immediately. The information, with a photo and location, is sent directly to the person responsible for fixing the problem, cutting out a string of unnecessary phone calls.
The mechanism: Information → Decision → Action
The value of the implementation at Centrum Plus lies in shortening the path from noticing a situation in the store to resolving it.
Instead of losing time searching for messages across different channels and chasing teams for details, management bases its decisions on facts. Information coming in from the stores is not an end in itself – it provides ready context for immediate action.
Operational results
Implementing cHow in the stores run by Centrum Plus has led to concrete changes in everyday practice:
- Management time recovered: Managers no longer have to manually collect, verify and format information from different sources. They receive a ready, consistent picture of the situation, which has made it possible to reduce routine inspection visits and spend the time saved on supporting sales and developing the business.
- Less communication noise: Dozens of daily calls and ad hoc messages between the stores and management about routine matters have been eliminated.
- A repeatable retail standard: Bringing consistent procedures into one tool means the PSB Mrówka network guidelines are carried out systematically and transparently.
- Clear priorities for staff: Shop-floor employees now have a tool that clearly sets out their tasks for the day, removing uncertainty about the scope of their duties and the standard expected.
The experience of Centrum Plus shows that an operations platform delivers direct value not only in nationwide chains, but also for independent businesses running a few large retail sites.
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