Friday, October 24, 2025

A puzzle in signage

Seen on the side of a van parked outside a CVS:

SELF-PERFORMING FACILITY MAINTENANCE
Two guys were fixing the store’s automatic doors.

At first I thought the words on the van were self-contradictory: if the maintenance of the facility takes care of itself, why does anyone need to show up? Or one could parse the words as referring to the maintenance of a self-performing facility. But it’s difficult to think of automatic doors as a facility, self-performing or otherwise.

Here’s an explanation from within the industry:
Self-performing facility maintenance is different from hiring in a subcontractor network or outsourced maintenance partner in many ways. At MaintenX, we manage work orders and schedule services from one centralized location. This helps us to coordinate with clients, send the best technician for the job, and ensure that follow-ups are provided in a timely fashion.
And a related explanation:
Self-performing facility management companies complete the work themselves with their own staff and technicians. Under a self-performing model, the scheduling, work, and follow-up are all completed by the same organization.
Kinda odd to have such arcane phrasing on the side of a van. How about “WE DO IT ALL”? Or less obliquely: “YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP FOR MAINTENANCE.”

comments: 2

Anonymous said...

self performing sculpture

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc945840/

Michael Leddy said...

That looks like what they were using to fix the doors. At least the ladder was part of it. :)