SIMA Best Practices Procurement Timeline: 52-Week Planning

Here at Xtreme Snow Pros, we don’t just power down our operation during the warm months. We adhere to a strict 52-week planning cycle, put forth by SIMA for a Snow Service Procurement Visual Timeline. As we know, the timing of the snow service procurement process is chaotic and often done last minute, which is why we work with a timeline that streamlines our services and offerings, while fortifying our systems in place before the first snowfall.

To arrive at the SIMA timeline, the organization underwent a review process that included recruiting 18 stakeholder reviews, representing snow service providers/contractors, facility managements, deicing material supply and equipment supply.

The timeline commitment is that it’s an open-access timeline to suppliers and consumers, available at no cost, educational in nature, comprehensive, and transparent in its findings and offerings. After serious reviewing and collaborating to arrive at the timeline, comprehensive information aggregation and collaboration went on to development a standard against which all winter weather cleaning and removal companies can measure against.

Our Timeline

We’re proud to work in adherence to the SIMA 52-week timeline plan, helping our operation to evaluate and expand upon our services for the next winter season. As we come out of the 2017.18 winter season, (just barely), the summer, warmer months are ahead of us, when it’s natural to push the worry and concern of snow to the side. However, as we all know, that winter weather comes knocking much sooner than we want to think about, which is why now is the time to plan. As part of the timeline, for this spring season, we will oversee vendor qualification, RFI distribution, responses, and reviews, confirmation of existing multi-year contracts, and kick-starting the RFP process.

By summer, we will meet the RFP response deadline, go through a Q&A walkthrough negotiate contracts and legal review, with the final contracts awarded by the end of the summer.

Come fall, training and preparation for staff will be all day and all night, with our services kicking back into gear by mid-fall. Then, come winter, our full suite of services, monitoring oversight, technological infrastructure, and pre-weather warning systems will be in full swing, helping everyone to safeguard their commercial properties moving forward.

Are you thinking about coverage for this winter? Now is the perfect time to start planning for the safety of your property. As we all know, 6-months can disappear in the blink of an eye.

Should I Sign the Dotted Line? 4 Things to Consider Before You Do

As a business owner today, there are a lot of things you need to consider before you go ahead with commitments to clients and other partners/providers. You’re tasked with total management and oversight, which means you basically eat, sleep, and breathe business. When it comes time to on-boarding another company that will augment your company, providing a service that is essentially required that you can supplement in-house, you have to sign the dreaded dotted line.

We all know the dotted line: the final confirmation of a contract that may come back to haunt you in the end.

Well, before you sign that dotted line, we’re going to go over 4 things you should extensively consider and have a final answer to prior to pulling out the pen:

Am I Basing My Decision on Price Alone?

This is the most important question to ask yourself. We are always looking for bargains today to adhere to strict budgets, it just makes sense. However, if you’re choosing a company simply because it has lower rates than the competitors, it’s time to ask yourself why. In many cases, the cheap rates are due to their service quality, offering them at a lower rate so you bite on the bait. When it comes to something like snow and ice removal, you don’t want to go with the bargain deal.

Is the Company Reputable?

If you’re going with the cheapest company, you better do extensive research to verify their credentials. In many cases, companies are not as legitimate as they claim, which can be easily uncovered if you spend a little time digging through their online reputation. Check Yelp, the BBB, etc. to see what other people have to say, as well as calling the associations they claim to have certifications from. With Google, you can uncover a lot in a little time.

What Type of Equipment Do They Have?

A legitimate company is going to proudly detail on their website what type of equipment infrastructure they own for you to see. The sketchier companies aren’t going to include those details, knowing they have bottom-barrel offerings. Spend time sifting around equipment details from snow and ice removal companies, looking for the brand name infrastructure. Bonus points if there’s photo evidence.

Is This the Right Fit for My Need?

You need to consider exactly why you’re hiring this company. Do you need parking lot support? Sidewalk clearing? Have you suffered from debilitating personal injury lawsuits? Ask yourself why you are hiring the company in the first place. Once you have your answer, check to see if they will fit your needs. Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone to verify it.

Here at Xtreme Snow Pros, we pride ourselves on being a top-provider of snow and ice removal services in the Northeast corridor, which is why our site proudly reflects everything we can offer you.

The Real Reason Why Xtreme Snow Pros Picks Custom Packages for Each Client

There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to winter weather prevention and snow/ice removal today. Customization is the only way to approach each and every one of our clients, adhering to their unique requirements, property sizes and configurations, and clientele, ensuring that everyone is supported and kept safe during the Nor’easters that continue to ravage our communities. We have a Zero Tolerance, Silver, and Gold Package that were made with the hard-working New Jersey and New York business owners and government employees in mind.

Our Custom Packages

We proudly work with hospitals, shopping centers, 24-hour stores, office complexes, home owner associations, warehouses, businesses, and more today. These are very different operations with very different commercial parking lot configurations, which is why we approach each and every one of them as their own separate project. Our custom packages were made with these people in mind, working to support anyone and everyone, no matter what they require or the snow that is falling from the sky.

Zero Tolerance Package: Based off of needs and priorities, this package speaks for itself. Made with hospitals, airports, and warehouses in mind, this is a preemptive package that offers real-time updates and access to our team, with our winter weather trackers keeping us in the know before snow falls. Sidewalks are cleared as the snow falls, constant service is supplied throughout the storm, and refreeze ice melt application is laid as needed.

Gold Package: As our most common package, our Gold Package is a mixture of the Zero and Silver Package services. Plowing starts at 1 inch and every 2 inches thereafter, with sidewalks cleared every 4 inches of snow. Weather alerts are emailed prior to the storm, and client portal access is available throughout the service.

Silver Package: Including our access to the client portal, weather alerts emailed prior to each storm, and treatment applied post snow or ice-fall, our Silver Package is a great option for locations looking to get started with winter weather support.

Each year, we only accept a limited amount of new work in order to guarantee complete dedication to the accounts we maintain. Although we continue to expand our fleet and work on importing newer machinery that can accommodate our businesses during these winter weather storms, we are a custom tailored operation that wants you to be part of our community. We’ve made different packages for different winter weather requirements because we want our trusted clients to be completely covered, prepared, and safe during these trying wintry months.

That’s the real reason we offer custom packages here at Xtreme Snow Pros.

Why You Should Consider Hiring a Snow Removal Company that Owns Its Own Equipment

Snow and ice removal is no easy business. It requires heavy duty machinery, treatment chemicals and resources, and technological infrastructure that paints the whole picture in real-time. That’s a lot of responsibility put on the winter weather clearing company, which is why you want to consider a company that owns everything it uses in-house. When a blizzard is knocking on the backdoor, it doesn’t wait for service providers to assemble the equipment. It just comes.

Here are a few reasons why you should consider hiring a snow removal company that owns its own equipment:

RELIABILITY: If a company rents its snow removal equipment, what happens when the provider recalls it or doesn’t provide it in time, and snow is coming? A company that owns its own equipment is reliable; they will always be able to answer the call because it's their property. Snow and ice isn’t something to play around with today, and when you need reliable winter weather clearing services, you need them immediately.

EXPERIENCE: When a company owns their own equipment, they can train employees on it year-round. They don’t have to wait for deliveries or shipments to get everyone familiar with the tools. Instead, they have total experience immersed, using their owned fleet every year with the same hands.

EXPERTISE: Managing one’s own winter weather clearing fleet creates expertise among the staff, tasked with learning the ins and outs of the machine from front to back. Having that kind of knowledge is invaluable when winter weather is on the way and a machine needs a quick tune-up.

AFFORDABILITY: Although the up-front cost of buying the equipment can seem expensive, in the long run, it’s a more cost-efficient option to own the capital. As such, the company is able to offer more affordable rates to clients looking to secure winter weather clearing.

Here at Xtreme Snow Pros, we’re a one-stop-winter-shop, which is why we own absolutely everything we deploy and utilize on our clients’ commercial properties. We don’t need to wait around or answer to another person when crunch time comes. We have everything we already need, fine-tuned, and prepped, with an expertly trained staff that knows how to leverage it immediately.

Xtreme Snow Pros Among Few Companies Picked to Try Left Hand Robotics Sidewalk Machine

We had an exciting opportunity this week. The Xtreme Snow Pros team was one of the few in the entire country that has handpicked by Left Hand Robotics to try out a new and innovative invention: the Automated Sidewalk Machine.

SnowBot PRO

Called the SnowBot PRO, Left Hand Robotics has released the world’s first self-driving, commercial-class snow clearing robot, now operating at pilot custom locations across North America. The bot clears snow from sidewalks, dramatically reducing labor expense for snow management operators while producing better overall results. Additionally, leveraging such technology will help everyone to diminish the amount of slip-and-fall accidents that are attributed to snow and ice on sidewalks.

State-of-the-art technologies enable the GPS-navigated robot to operate autonomously to clear snowy sidewalks with down-to-the-inch accuracy. The bot comes with five types of sensors, including LIDAR and thermal sensors for safety. Customers can then monitor the robot’s progress in real-time from the web or mobile phone apps that are synced with the service.

Automating what was once a tedious, repetitive, and physically taxing snow clearing task, the robot is showing us that you can take something time consuming and make it a non-issue with a little technology. The company has already experienced great success with the amount of interested users, Xtreme Snow Pros definitely being among that list.

Based in Longmont, Colorado, Left Hand Robotics works hard to utilize technological resources and new ideas in the creation of their automated products. They work with innovative automation and advanced technology solutions to outdoor industries, thus allowing businesses to scale by reducing costs due to labor. They’ve been in the game for over 50-years. Happy to have collaborated with Xtreme Snow Pros, the two teams took some photos together as our winter clearing company enjoyed the full suite of benefits that come with the SnowBot PRO.

Our Technological Commitment

Being that we always leverage cutting edge technology to expedite our processes while providing better service to each and every one of our clients, we are constantly open to testing out new products, tools, and software that makes us the #1 winter weather clearing operation. This is how we stay ahead, which is why we had a great time collaborating with Left Hand Robotics. Technology is the way of the future, and we are open to integrating any and every new machine into our operation. Automated sidewalk clearing machines will become more popular in the future, and we plan to be an integral user in the coming years.