GLOBAL RETAILER INVITES FORTÉ TO SCALE UPGRADES

Upgrading the technology hardware in a training room sounds straightforward enough. But what if you need to update hundreds of rooms across multiple sites nationwide?

This case study shares how a well-known global retailer set out to modernize its training spaces with new hardware and more flexible collaboration platforms. The challenge?

Ensuring consistency, quality, speed of delivery, and seamless availability at scale. They turned to FORTÉ as their trusted AV integrator and logistics partner — an engagement that grew into a far more extensive second phase.

The Challenge

A leading global retailer needed to upgrade the AV equipment in its training rooms — critical spaces for its in-house employee development programs. As part of their lifecycle management strategy, they sought an AV partner capable of executing the refresh at scale.

Stuart Fedt, one of FORTÉ’s award-winning account managers, had been building a relationship with this retailer for years. Fedt invited the retailer’s Manager of Modern Work Digital Experience to attend an event to learn more about FORTÉ’s capabilities.

Based on the retailer’s experience at that event and FORTÉ’s nationwide pricing model per room, they awarded FORTÉ with a pilot project to ensure FORTÉ could deliver against their rigorous standards.

The pilot aimed to modernize technology in more than 150 rooms across 34 locations on an aggressive 10-week timeline. When that phase proved successful, the retailer returned to FORTÉ with an even bigger challenge: tackling 300 rooms at 75 additional sites.

Fulfilling that request required more than technical expertise – it called for a repeatable, streamlined deployment process built for scale.

“Traditionally, quoting and deploying repeatable AV systems has been slower and more fragmented than customers wanted,” says Zach Valigura, Vice President of Integration and Delivery at FORTÉ. “We built the Velocity Logistics Center to change that — giving customers fast quotes, consistent pricing, and equipment that arrives ready to go.”

Located in Dallas, the Velocity Logistics Center (VLC) streamlines the AV deployment process – supporting large-scale rollouts with centralized assembly, logistics planning and coordination.

The Solution

One of the retailer’s primary requirements was to deliver a consistent training experience across stores. To achieve this, the retailer brought their own design and technical specifications: each room would get a single 75-inch display, a Poly Studio X70 all-in-one video conferencing soundbar, and a Poly TC10 ten-inch control panel.

The program management and design teams at FORTÉ then created the plan to help the client implement its standard across multiple locations. This included:

• Implementation planning and program management – FORTÉ offered a single-line package price per room to simplify budgeting and forecasting. Next, we assigned a program-level manager to traffic, procure, commission, and warehouse the equipment, which included testing, updating firmware, and bundling equipment in pallets for each location. Finally, FORTÉ managed documentation in our Vision monitoring portal so the client knew where each piece of equipment was headed down to the serial number.
• Logistics – FORTÉ’s project management team coordinated all the logistics required to avoid scheduling conflicts and execute just-in-time delivery of the new hardware. This eliminated the need for our client to move any planned training sessions or store any hardware onsite until implementation day. Installation was completed both by FORTÉ personnel across the U.S. and through a trusted, quality-controlled installation subcontractor. Each site had four rooms of the same design, and the installation team was usually onsite for two days.

“One of the biggest challenges in a project like this is to manage the unknowns,” says Fedt. “For example, when working with clients of this size, it may be difficult to ensure the physical environment and network infrastructure are the same at each location. There may be slight differences in the space or network wiring that may cause unexpected additional effort outside the installation plan. This means they needed an AV partner they could trust to pivot and address whatever happened in each location. I could not be prouder of how our team handled this aspect of the implementation.”

The Results of Human Impact

To date, FORTÉ has installed more than 550 training rooms and helped the client achieve all of the pilot’s strategic goals.

“This wasn’t lightning in a bottle,” says Valigura. “We were able to deliver the exact same solution at triple the scale — same speed, same experience, for a consistent price — because this is exactly what customers told us they needed. And our Velocity model delivers it.”

Additional outcomes include:

• Consistent room design and functionality - Employees can walk into any training room confident they know how to use the equipment.
• Rollout efficiency – Having one partner manage this implementation saved the client significant time and administrative overhead. In particular, the VLC’s manufacturing approach ensured consistent quality and speed from order to deployment.
• Cost transparency – One-line pricing simplified the budgeting process and offered the client greater cost transparency.
• Process documentation – Using collaborative digital forms made it easy for everyone to access critical information during the pilot. In addition, having good documentation (including pictures) will make post-installation technical support easier to perform by the customer’s Tier 1 team.

When asked to describe what made the pilot a success, the client project lead credited process and communication.  

“The pre-configuration process was key to making the multi-site project efficient and successful. In addition, the communication between FORTÉ and the local store contacts instilled trust and made our (customer) project team more efficient.”

Lars Boehringer, Project Manager, noted that treating the engagement as a strategic program was key to its success. “Rather than considering this upgrade a single, focused project, we viewed it as a broader strategic initiative. This helped the client realize long-term benefits such as increased efficiency more quickly.”