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The Price Group, one of the UK’s pioneers in high level cleaning services, has implemented BigChange's 5-in-1 Mobile Workforce Management Platform.

Gas Smart Heating Ltd has rolled out a high tech mobile workforce system as part of a paperless management system.

A specialist in domestic heating and plumbing, Gas Smart Heating has equipped its field engineers with tablets running jobWatch, a 5 in 1 app supplied by BigChange. Incorporating vehicle tracking with real time job reporting via the tablets, the system provides Gas Smart Heating with a complete end to end business solution.  

 

Headquartered in Brighton, Gas Smart Heating provides reactive gas and plumbing maintenance including boiler and appliance installation. Formed just 5 years ago the company wanted to introduce the latest technology to underpin further expansion. The BigChange system has replaced existing software and paper-based systems, eliminating paperwork throughout the business.

 

“As we began to grow and recruit more engineers, we realised we needed a much more professional system in order to match larger service providers such as British Gas,” says Steven Cahalane, Director, Gas Smart Heating.  “We really needed a single system that would do everything and it was clear from the outset that BigChange offered something that fitted the bill exactly.”       

 

Gas Smart Heating use JobWatch to log incoming calls, schedule work with jobs sent electronically to the assigned engineers’ tablet.  With real-time data from the job, the office is always kept in the picture and can quickly resolve any issues - with invoices generally raised on the day of job completion.

 

“In implementing the BigChange system we wanted to get in early with the latest technology and as state-of-the-art software it gives us a crucial competitive edge in the market.  With JobWatch we are probably 25 percent more efficient; without it we need more office staff and I would be overwhelmed with administration tasks and paperwork.  In fact, without it we simply wouldn’t be able to compete,” comments Cahalane.

 

BigChange matches the functionality of systems costing hundreds of thousands of pounds used by national utility firms. This allows new independent players like Gas Smart Heating to enter the market and match the levels of service provided by the traditional suppliers.”      

 

Operationally, JobWatch has been implemented to provide information on appliances and job history information so engineers have visibility of previous faults and work done.  The system also manages stocks and parts purchasing so engineers no longer face delays on jobs waiting on parts.  

 

As part of JobWatch vans are fitted with satellite tracking.  Previously engineers were being called to check on their whereabouts but the system has eliminated that by providing email or text ETA alerts to keep the customer informed on the day.  Customers are also able to track engineers progress via a link they receive by Gas Smart heating. 

Gartec, the supplier and installer of passenger platform lifts, has transformed its business with a single IT system that provides end-to-end digital working, eliminating paperwork using mobile devices, BigChange says.  

With the 5 in 1 system from BigChange, Gartec field service engineers use smartphones or tablets connected in real-time to cloud-based software that manages the entire business process, from initial call to closure and invoicing.    

As the UK market leader, Gartec has been at the forefront of the platform lift industry for 25 years and is a subsidiary of Artico, the Swedish lift manufacturer.  Employing 50 people and based in Aylesbury, Gartec supply, install and maintain lifts with a team of 20 service engineers together with sub-contacted installers. The system, called JobWatch, has completely replaced separate software systems used for service management, audit management and tracking, and added a host of new automation capabilities. 

“We chose BigChange not only because they offered the best and most cost-effective solution, but because it was clear that they were a company with ambition and vision to really move things on,” says Ben Long, UK Operations Manager, Gartec.  “The beauty of JobWatch is that anyone can access and use it. That means our sub-contract installers can use their smartphones to access the same app and we can then manage sub-contracted work seamlessly as if it was our own.” 

Although much of Gartec’s service work is undertaken under maintenance contracts, the company provides 24/7/365 emergency services with guaranteed response times of typically 4 hours.  Customer service staff use BigChange to log incoming calls and then plan, schedule and allocate jobs to engineers, who in turn use their smartphones running the JobWatch App that gives seamless two-way connection with the back office system.  Automated emails confirm orders and call outs and accurate ETAs are provided using data from BigChange GPS trackers fitted to Gartec vans.                       

“BigChange is providing huge efficiency gains with the optimisation of routes and resources and the complete automation of many administrative tasks,” say Long.  “Since implementing BigChange the engineering team has grown from 9 to 15 and turnover has grown by £1miliion, without having to increase the number of office support staff.  I reckon we are probably twice as efficient when it comes to administration and managing operations has become a lot easier.

"Overall BigChange has streamlined the business and the whole process is much smoother. Probably the biggest benefit is the added visibility we now have and the automation provided by the system has helped to remove the human error element; the system gives us continuity and accountability.” Long sums up.

FSH, the one-stop construction company servicing the north of England, has transformed its business with a 5 in 1 management system from BigChange.  Operating as a cloud service linked to mobile apps used by workers onsite, the solution provides FSH with real-time operational information for improving efficiency, productivity and service.

Employing 132 mobile tradesmen and 65 office staff, the Castleford headquartered company has regional offices in Hull, Liverpool and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  FSH specialises in insurance-related work, typically repairing flood or fire damaged properties.  A new construction arm handing reactive maintenance work is also driving expansion in sectors such as social housing and education.

“We work mainly for the UK’s biggest insurance firms and providing a consistently high-quality rebuild and refurbishment service is absolutely vital,” says Matthew Cappleman, Managing Director of FSH.  “The monitoring and reporting of our work on site is however just as important and that’s where BigChange comes in.  It gives real-time visibility of every job and provides an audit trail of all work.  We can manage the work better, improve customer service, and provide insurers with immediate job updates and evidence of work done.”

With a fleet of 132 BigChange equipped vehicles providing live data for managing operations, tradesmen are being equipped with rugged Samsung tablets running JobWatch.  Mobile apps completely replace paperwork with live data reporting and the devices capture useful time and location stamped photographs, as well as customer signatures.

"BigChange really does expedite everything as our tradesman can go straight to the job and put in a full, productive 8 hour day.  The system also ensures good work discipline and good practice as the tradesmen are in effect self-managing their work, backed up with their reports and photographs. With JobWatch there is no more sitting around and managers no longer need to go onsite to check the work.  Everyone wins,“ comments Matthew Cappleman.

Stuart Welburn, Finance Director at FSH agrees that BigChange has had a positive impact, adding “Certainly BigChange has been good for business and we estimate efficiency gains of 2 or 3 percent.  However, we anticipate it will improve our profitability not only through better utilisation of our resources but by generally improving our services to continually improve our reputation and win more business’.

 

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