Water Lilies saves thousands with UpKeep

Key Insights

• Downtime reduction: More than 50%

• Minimum shift downtime: As low as 8 min

• Assets integrated: 300+ in 2–3 months

• Savings on screen fix

A maintenance system that only one person could use

Water Lilies had a maintenance system in name only. With access locked to one person and no way to log or track issues from the floor, problems either went unaddressed or cost far more than they should have. Water Lilies changed the foundation by opening the system to the entire team, building an asset history from scratch, and using the data to find fixes that saved thousands.

Challenge #1: A maintenance system no one could access or act on

One person controlled the system. No one else could submit requests, see what was being worked on, or provide context about floor issues. Technicians arrived at jobs uninformed, which created delays and avoidable downtime.

Challenge #2: Repetitive asset failures with no data to explain them

Equipment like dough sheeters and HMI display screens broke down repeatedly at significant cost. Without failure history or pattern tracking, the team had no way to identify root causes or prevent recurrence.

Solution #1: Company-wide access to submit and track work

Every operator gained the ability to submit work orders with photos, descriptions, and location details. Technicians arrived at jobs informed with no guessing.

Solution #2: Tracking failure patterns to find inexpensive fixes

Work order histories revealed that bearing failures came from flour contamination and screen replacements from water damage. Inexpensive caps and screen covers solved problems that had been costing thousands.

Results

Downtime cut by more than half

Shifts that previously lost 2–4 hours to recurring issues now see as little as 8 minutes of downtime — and it's manageable rather than disruptive.

Root causes found, thousands saved

A $12 cap on dough sheeter bearings and $60 screen covers replaced thousands of dollars in repeated part replacements — discovered through UpKeep's work order history.

Every employee now has a voice

Company-wide access to submit and track issues brought the team together. Problems that previously went unaccounted for are now surfaced, addressed, and visible to everyone — transforming how Water Lilies operates as a company.

"UpKeep has given us a system that has helped us grow into a real company. We went from just a mom-and-pop place to a successful corporate machine." — Travis Okula, Purchaser and Maintenance Coordinator, Water Lilies

About Water Lilies

Water Lilies Inspired Asian Cuisine is a food manufacturer supplying potstickers, dumplings, egg rolls, spring rolls, soup dumplings, bao buns, and more to major retailers including Trader Joe's, Walmart, and Target, as well as schools and restaurants.