RFMA 2025: Biggest Takeaways

Another successful year at the Restaurant Facility Management Association (RFMA) Annual Conference has come to a close! The NTi team had a great time reconnecting with our restaurant facility customers, meeting new facility managers, networking with our fellow exhibitors, and sightseeing in Las Vegas.

The RFMA Conference is a great opportunity to learn about some of the biggest pain points restaurant facility managers are facing these days. We listened to dozens of facility managers as they recounted the issues they’re facing in their restaurants that are negatively impacting them, their teams, and customers. Hearing these stories motivated us to think of solutions that could help solve them so the FMs can focus on delivering great dining experiences and spend less time worrying about issues.

These were our biggest takeaways from the show that our customers need right now:  

Restaurant facility managers need vendors that are connected to their construction and facility teams

One of the biggest takeaways from the show is that our customers benefit from having vendors that are involved with both the construction and facilities teams. Having vendors that are familiar with a restaurant in each phase of its life and are knowledgeable about the unique trends and common issues helps restaurant facility managers receive consistent, quick service.

This also creates a bridge between the restaurant’s construction and facility teams by having a partner that brings them together. The NTi team uses FaciliBuild HUB to connect construction and facilities teams with all project information stored on one, easy to use platform. This keeps the construction team in the loop and ensures the facility team is receiving a good turnover with all proper records.

Sick buildings require better game plans for getting them back to health

Facility managers are responsible for hundreds, if not thousands, of restaurants in their portfolio. When those restaurants get sick, it can be overwhelming to deal with them, especially on top of all their other responsibilities.

Something we heard repeatedly at RFMA is that FMs either don’t have the proper tools or resources to address their sick buildings or they do, but they don’t get action steps from their tools or resources. At NTi, we create game plans with our customers to not only solve the problems that are causing sick buildings, but to also provide them with better information for preventing them from getting sick. Using our facility programs, such as Revive (our diagnostic air balancing program), we can identify the most common problems in a restaurant, understand trends to prevent them from happening to others, and give them customized solutions to attack problems and plan for next steps.

Facility managers want to be more proactive than reactive

As mentioned earlier, being responsible for hundreds of restaurants means there’s a lot going on at any given moment. One complaint we heard from FMs was that they felt more “reactive” than “proactive” when it came to dealing with store issues. NTi helps customers better anticipate what will happen in their stores through monitoring equipment trends and performance. This proactive approach can help facility managers prevent store issues before they even occur, saving them time and money spent on repairs.

Restaurants are looking for partners with comprehensive, turnkey solutions

The biggest takeaway was restaurant facility managers need vendors who can provide comprehensive, turnkey solutions. As mentioned above, having vendors who are involved in the restaurant’s entire lifetime is advantageous. NTi takes it a step further with our level of service. Too often, we see our clients invest thousands of dollars in tools that promise them solutions, but cause more problems, or don’t tell them what to do with their data. NTi’s team meets with clients to create game plans for their restaurants, are involved throughout construction and their entire facility lifetime, and allows customers to focus on their restaurants while we focus on the roof.

Does any of this sound familiar to what your restaurant facility team is dealing with? If so, the NTi team is here to help. Contact our team to arrange a consultation to find out what we can do for you.

We’re looking forward to attending RFMA again next year in Denver, March 15-17, 2026!