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Company:

Intimus International Group is a leader in the Information Security industry.

They offer information security products that include everything from industrial paper shredders to high security and large capacity data destruction machines. Intimus operates in multiple countries across Europe and manages processes and workflows across multiple divisions.

They offer comprehensive solutions throughout the value chain in terms of innovation, development, manufacturing, sales and post-sales services.

Challenge:

“Intimus International wants to be the leading global supplier of security solutions for data management and cash management systems. We have over 11,000 customers in Benelux, and it is our mission to provide them with best-in-class service,” said Gunther Dehaes, General Manager, Intimus.

The company offers service contracts to repair and maintain its product line and the profitability of these service contracts depends on how efficiently the company can meet its obligations.

Working across multiple countries and following a merger and acquisition, Intimus found there were a number of bottlenecks with their existing workflows.

 

They needed to more efficiently coordinate communication between the back office and field engineers and wanted to be able to streamline the workflow as well as how they captured and processed data to and from the field.

“Our problem was the time it took to coordinate, communicate and process everything that happened in the field,” explained Erlyn Grevelt, Supply Chain Manager of Intimus. Dispatchers were having to have lengthy, often complex phone conversations with engineers for every service request. With each call taking up to ten minutes and more than 50 engineers in the field, the calls alone consumed more than 100 hours a week.

Then, as engineers completed service calls, they filled out the job details on paper, which were taken back to the office to be input manually. A team in accounting then reviewed all completed jobs before invoicing, so the entire process to bill a customer took a full day on average.

Operational improvements:

Having recently implemented Netsuite, a leading ERP system, to streamline and simplify their accounting practices and resource planning, Intimus wanted something compatible to improve their operational service, they turned their attention to field service management software.

“We knew from the start that we would need to extend our service needs and NetSuite has a strong partner programme and through that programme we found FieldAware,” explained Grevelt.

 

“FieldAware has a very simple mobile app for engineers and at the same time, it gives me a huge amount of complex information. When an IT solution can offer me that, I’m very pleased.”

Intimus selected FieldAware because of the deep integration with Netsuite, ease of implementation and ease of use for the schedulers and engineers.

The implementation of both Netsuite and FieldAware took just 40 days and with quick and high adoption from their field engineers, the positive impact was immediate.

Together, NetSuite OneWorld and FieldAware transformed the field service workflows in the company’s service operations and accounting, dramatically accelerating the job completion rates and invoicing processes.

Results:

The newly automated processes save considerable time for customers, dispatchers, engineers and back office staff alike. Engineers use FieldAware mobility software to schedule their own time based on customer location and availability.

FieldAware saves 80 hours each week for the dispatch team, and reduced the time required to generate invoices from one day to less than a minute.

“With FieldAware we are more efficient now,” said Peter Gils, Service Manager, Intimus “An engineer’s tablet has a complete list of the workflow he has to do, he can plan his own route without calling the office, we drive less miles which saves us money, and the customers are happy with the shorter response time.”

FieldAware optimised communications between dispatchers and field service engineers, so now dispatchers enter details of each service order into NetSuite, which instantly transfers them to technicians’ tablets. Engineers contact the customer and schedule jobs themselves. The press of a button tracks the service call and FieldAware automatically sends this data back to NetSuite for invoicing and management reporting.

 

“Results have been staggering and the outcome impressive”, said Grevelt. “Most importantly, FieldAware has taken the pressure off the coordination team.”

“In the past, we had to have multiple conversations to be able to service our customer,” added Grevelt.

“Now we have a direct line of communication to the customer through the engineer in the field. We only have one conversation, and that’s the only conversation that matters, and that’s the one with the customer.”

 

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Mobility is helping transform field service organisations. To download FieldAware’s new white paper – ‘Making the Move to Mobility: TheDigitalisation of Field Service’– please visit http://www.fieldaware.co.uk/movetomobility

 

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Rebecca Barnett, VP Marketing Cognito iQ guides us through how they worked with Konica Minolta to improve far more than just service standards...

At Cognito iQ, we love seeing what we do, come to life in the businesses we are lucky enough to call customers.

Konica Minolta UK produces business and industrial imaging products, such as MFP’S (multifunctional peripherals), copiers, laser printers and digital product print.

The company has over 275 service engineers providing planned, reactive maintenance and support to businesses throughout the UK.

Over relationship with Konica Minolta started 15 years ago and exemplifies much of the recent history of mobile workforce technology. From simple automation to today’s solution which provides unrivalled visibility of operational and employee performance.

Konica Minolta originally selected the Cognito iQ mobile application to automate and mobilise their field operation. In 2004, following the merger of Konica and Minolta, the UK business implemented a Europe-wide SAP ERP system which replaced the incumbent mobility solution.

After a few months, the UK team reverted to the Cognito iQ solution which we then integrated into their SAP application.

 

In 2014, Konica Minolta following a market review, we took the opportunity to showcase our new solution, Operational Performance Management (OPM). Cognito iQ OPM represents the very latest in field service analytics.

With easy to understand dashboards and the ability to drill down into granular detail, be it at an individual employee or indeed at a task level, the team at Konica Minolta quickly understood how powerful this would be for them.

18 months on and the Cognito iQ OPM solution is firmly embedded at the heart of the service operation. Here’s a snapshot of just some of the results.

Customer Service

Via their handheld devices engineers are able to request customer feedback on completion of their jobs. The number of customers giving NPS (Net Promoter Scores) scores has more than doubled over the past 18 months.

However, what’s really impressive is that, on average, the Konica Minolta field team are achieving an NPS score of 85.

As a sustained average, 85 is fairly unheard of in NPS terms and here’s the really clever bit - the scores are received by the back office in real-time. Managers have a KPI to call every customer who scores a 10 within an hour to say ‘thank you’ and enquire as to why they felt the service warranted such a high score.

 

In parallel, any customers scoring a 6 or below (NPS calls them Detractors) are called to enquire what the engineer could do better next time.

The insights from all calls are recorded and used to drive a programme of continuous improvement through training, feedback to the engineers and process change.

Productivity

The Cognito iQ OPM solution gives real-time visibility of what is happening in the field. With this comes a greater understanding of where improvements can be made.

By analysing the data through the Cognito iQ dashboards, significant savings have been made by reducing travel times between jobs. Over the course of year, small savings in time have added up to significant savings in pounds.

In addition, the team have measurably been able to service many more machines per man through improvements in training and process.

Employee Engagement

The Cognito iQ OPM solution produces what we call the Worker Scorecard. In simple terms, it measures each engineer against 6 Key Performance Areas and produces an overall, aggregated individual score at the end of each day.

This then feeds into the League Table which shows, at the click of button, who the highest performers are over whatever period of time you choose.

By understanding exactly where improvements in service needed to be made, Konica Minolta developed a whole new engineer career development programme.

To move up the levels an engineer has to consistently achieve certain KPI’s and undertake and pass certain training programmes. Pay and reward is linked to this development and guided by quality markers taken from the Cognito iQ OPM solution such as NPS scores, levels of productivity etc.

 

Sharing performance information transparently has enabled productive conversations and Konica Minolta have quickly developed a reputation for being an ‘Employer of Choice’ enjoying many benefits such as reduced recruitment costs, reduced attrition rates and a happy, motivated, loyal workforce.

Now, I’m not all that keen on tech buzzwords.

Frankly ‘transformation’ is about as overused as they come. However, having worked with team at Konica Minolta on this story, I really couldn’t justify using anything else.

 

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Want to know more? You can read the full transformation story on www.cognitoiq.com/case-studies

 

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Andrew Quail, Head of IT at SGN, explains how the energy supplier is transforming its mobile app delivery. Sharon Clancy reports...

Gas companies are one of the most heavily regulated in the UK – after all, gas leaks have the potential to be fatal.

The UK’s energy sector regulatory regime is acknowledged as world-class, but safety and innovation are rarely comfortable bedfellows, and innovation has not traditionally been a strong point for the UK’s utilities companies, who have focused on meeting the demands of the industry regulator Ofgem.

So we were intrigued to hear that one of the UK’s biggest gas distributors, SGN, is embarking on a business transformation process that includes greater use of mobile tools and data for its 2,000 strong field service engineers.

SGN distributes natural and green gas to 5.9 million homes and businesses across Scotland and the south of England via a network of over 75,000 km of gas mains and services.

Critical business processes such as emergency gas response procedures have been automated for over a decade and have been mobilised to help ensure SGN meets it legal obligations to respond within an hour to any reports that might indicate a potentially lethal gas leak.

 

“The safety culture at SGN is core to our business and will never diminish. Data on performance has to be accurate and readily available to the regulator, and mobile data played a big role in providing that,” explains Andrew Quail, Director of IT at SGN.

Quail credits Ofgem with now encouraging an innovative climate that still puts safety first.

“We have relied on our mobile solutions for over a decade to deliver safety-critical services. Our legacy estate was great for some parts of the business: it’s solid, reliable and highly available.”

“However, with the legacy estate, if we change a piece of code or an element within an app, it has potential to affect other things.”

With such a large field workforce, SGN could appreciate the benefits of mobilising other activities in its business.

“Our existing estate was not agile enough to meet the changing needs of our customers and employees,” continued Quail.

“Customised apps take too long to develop and deploy and we wanted faster improvements to our efficiencies and customer services.”

"At the same time, we could not risk any mobility initiative affecting our ability to respond to core emergency repair work. We also wanted to control app distribution to ensure it met our IT security needs.”

The solution has been to retain the legacy SAP platform for emergency gas response services, while deploying Kony Inc’s MobileFabric cloud-based mobility platform to develop and maintain mobile apps for other parts of the business.

 

MobileFabric decouples corporate front- and back-end systems so changes can be made quickly.

Connectors and adaptors means back-end integration for mobile apps is configurable and flexible rather than being custom-built.

“We were looking for a platform that would allow us to quickly develop well-designed apps that are attractive to our workforce.”

“At the same time, we wanted to capture data in a standard format that could be distributed and presented to any part of the business.”

“Mobile Fabric is an enterprise-grade mobility platform which is tightly integrated into our legacy systems. One of the attractions was the fact that is cloud-based, says Quail.

“It is a scalable consumption-based model requiring minimum financial commitment. That reduces the risks to our business.”

A cloud-based solution also suits the fast-paced environment of mobility services, he thinks, and help delivers quick wins.

“Our first priority has been to develop customer focused apps to improve the whole customer experience.”

“So one of the first apps we have deployed is a is a customer satisfaction app that has digitalised feedback."

“It encourages engagement between our staff and the customer and also simplifies the back-office process of keeping the regulator informed about customer satisfaction scores.”

 

“We get real-time feedback into our ERP system, which means we get early notification of any potential issues for customers and we also get to hear about customers’ positive experiences – which was not always the case in the past.”

Another benefit, says Quail, is the app allows SGN to respond quickly to employee and customer suggestions about improving service.

The app was developed and deployed within weeks – much quicker than on a legacy platform and at much lower cost, points out Quail.

Security

IT directors have form when it comes to security concerns about Cloud computing, but Quail is one of the converts who believe Cloud platform services actually can enhance IT security. “

There is no denying that IT security is a sensitive topic and an area with potentially huge corporate risk for SGN.

However, cloud platform providers invest heavily in security, and we are confident the Kony platform is actually extremely secure.”

Moving to a mobility platform has also enabled SGN to define exactly what security standards it needs in various parts of the organisation, he explains.

Future plans

So what’s in the pipeline for the future, we asked?

There are lots of possibilities for efficiency improvements beyond the regulatory environment enthuses Quail.

“We are looking at productivity tools such as inspection apps that can make life easier for our engineers and simplify mobile data acquisition. We can digitalise site safety procedures and inspections, and move from paper to mobile apps for tasks such as time-sheets.”

 

Quail believes the introduction of mobile apps will help change the image of IT within the business from enforcer to enabler.

“We don’t want mobile app development to be a top-down process where IT comes up with all the new apps. We are encouraging our colleagues and employees to suggest what mobile apps might improve their work experience.”

Nor is it just field service engineers who are benefiting from the digitalisation of the business, says Quail.

“The Internet of Things” is beginning to transform our operations. When we deploy robots for pipe inspections, for example, we’ll be capture that data in real-time helping us to optimise maintenance with less disruption for our customers.”

 

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More than eight years ago, Artic Building Services decided to incorporate Tesseract’s service management software into their core services and company operations. It’s a partnership that’s gone from strength to strength ever since.

Founded in 1998, Artic Building Services specialise in providing engineering solutions for building services within the public and private sectors. They provide heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical, plumbing and security systems, major refurbishment works and even gardening services. Their broad base of customers ranges from large, multiple site hospitals and universities with residential engineers to small, single sites serviced by mobile teams.

Artic utilise the expertise of a vast workforce, including more than 50 field engineers, engineering managers, help desk operatives, accountants and secretaries. While they pride themselves in their diverse human skill set, what makes the whole operation run smoothly and efficiently is their computerised service management system – courtesy of Tesseract Service Centre.

Looking back - the old system!

Artic are responsible for looking after a full range of mechanical and electrical assets in the buildings of more than two hundred clients nationally. They deal with problems and breakdowns in air conditioning units, boilers, chillers and electrical, water and sanitation systems, and perform regular maintenance.

Eight years ago, before Tesseract came on board, Artic arranged and organised the attendance of their engineers manually.

“We wanted to be more efficient and develop with the ISO 9001 standards,” says Donna Peacock, Operations Manager of Artic Building Services. “We were seeking new clients, and certain companies wanted to know why we were better. They wanted to see it. Tesseract gave us the edge we needed to rise above our competitors.”

The Tesseract integration – the early days!

Clients would notify Artic of problems by phoning or emailing their office. Artic would then look at paper maps and telephone their engineers, deploying them on the basis of who was closest and their skill level.

Artic would log on to Tesseract’s browser-based web portal and record the call out. Numbers and timings generated by Tesseract Service Centre would allow Artic to track and monitor the status of the job. But manual operations and copious paperwork were still big features of the way Artic managed their functions.

For example, the engineers would be required to fill out a Field Service Report Pad, which the client would have to sign. They had to record the site name, the time they got there, the time they left, the problem, whether the problem was resolved, any parts needed and their mileage. Another form would also be completed if further works were needed.

 

“At that stage, Tesseract helped us track what was going on with a job and created purchase orders,” says Donna Peacock. “We required more from the database. We needed to completely streamline our processes for the benefit of both our clients and our engineers. Tesseract have accommodated that need. Over the years they have moulded their services to fit our requirements.”

Next Steps - Remote Engineer Access!

A revolutionary overhaul of Artic’s field processes came with the introduction of Tesseract’s Remote Engineer Access. Artic phased out the use of Field Service Report Pads and rolled out Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to their engineers instead. PDAs allow the engineers to log in remotely, view calls for dispatch, enter their service reports, raise parts requests and close completed jobs, amongst other functions. Engineers can also access Artic’s task list, namely the serialised products they are required to maintain.

This is where Artic encountered their first hurdle with the initial PDA models that were supplied.

“Our engineers do have problems with signal whilst working on their allocated jobs,” says Peacock. “This means they had trouble getting online to record the data they needed to on the old devices. We needed them to be able to work offline.”

 

So Tesseract developed a system that allowed Artic’s engineers to work offline, and a new, more advanced line of devices was rolled out. Now their engineers can work in completely signal-less areas and still log all their information, which is then recorded onto the system as soon as signal is restored.

“Some of our engineers loved the PDAs,” says Peacock. “Some took a bit longer to adjust. But now 98% of our engineers use the devices, and they’ve been really successful. Engineers can now have a job completed, invoiced and closed down in the same day, when before, using the paper system, it used to take a week. Sometimes a week and a half. The PDAs have made life at Artic so much easier and more efficient, which in turn means we’re able to better serve our clients.”

In addition, the ability to attach core Artic health, safety and industry compliance paperwork to a given job has reduced bureaucracy within the helpdesk. The process has given clients compliant, fluid and real-time data capture for their sites.

Other Benefits!

Instead of clients having to telephone Artic’s offices, Tesseract have installed Remote Client Access. Now clients can log onto the Tesseract system and enter the fault – be it a broken tap, a malfunctioning air conditioning unit or a toilet that won’t flush. They are able to track their own calls and monitor whether Artic are meeting their time limits by way of a ‘traffic light’ system. This saves time for Artic’s clients and Artic themselves.

 

Further integration of Tesseract’s service management software now allows Artic to use satellite navigation to deploy their engineers. It means they are able to identify any traffic issues and warn their engineers accordingly, which was impossible when they relied on paper maps.

Artic also use Tesseract’s Customer Asset Management tools and Parts Centre to monitor and maintain their client’s assets and generate purchase orders for parts. They use Tesseract’s Quote Centre to log quotes for potential new clients, enter client data and convert accepted quotes into new contracts, which are also managed through Tesseract.

Finally, Artic have developed a number of different reports within Tesseract. These help them with auditing and reporting to the Board on key commercial orders such as invoicing, sales, quoted further works, budgets, outstanding calls, profit and loss, outstanding calls and new sales prospects.

Ongoing Development!

As Artic are a service company, their driving force – and the key to their success – is to keep improving the way they operate. Currently they are looking into several features they would like to incorporate into their operations. These include automated email reports to clients when jobs are complete, and to managers so they know which jobs are outstanding.

They are also looking to make some tweaks to their task or asset list, and introduce a system for tracking and monitoring their fleet of vehicles.

“At present we are maintaining our vehicles by looking at a spreadsheet,” says Peacock. “We’d like to streamline this. We’d like to make sure all our vehicles are serviced, safe and up to spec through a live system instead. It’s one of the many things we’re looking into to make our processes even better than they are.”

A System That Works!

Over the past eight years, Artic have come to rely quite heavily on Tesseract, and their processes, output and customer service have continued to develop and improve as a result.

“The Tesseract system is not the only computerised service management system we have in place,” says Peacock. “But it is the hub of all our systems. We call it the ‘Alpha’.”

Tesseract’s service management software has now been a part of Artic for so long that Tesseract refer their new clients to Artic so they can see the entire system at work. Peacock says, “We will happily give them a demonstration. Show them why Tesseract are such an invaluable aid to any service company’s operations.”

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Talarius, the market leaders in the arcade sector, have been using Tesseract Service Centre for the last year to manage their engineers. Feedback from Talarius is that, under Tesseract, efficiency has improved, visibility is greater and their engineers now do a better job in a quicker time.

Talarius are the largest arcade operators in the UK, and have 168 Adult Gaming Centres with more than 10,000 slot machines across the country. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tatts Group, one of the largest gaming companies in Australia. Talarius provide a service to both dedicated, regular gaming customers and those who enjoy a flutter on a night out, or at a motorway service station on a long journey.

However, slot machines are susceptible to faults and, with so many machines to look after, a fault generally occurs in at least one Talarius machine on a daily basis. A dirty note or bent coin is sometimes all it takes to cause an issue. The importance for Talarius has always been to uphold a tight maintenance regime and ensure all their machines are up and running again quickly and with minimal hassle. Just one malfunctioning slot machine is a perforation through which the company’s income will fall.

The paper method

Before Tesseract were welcomed into the fold, Talarius operated a much more manual system. If a fault occurred in one of their slot machines, staff at the venue would enter the fault in a logbook. Talarius’ engineers would attend each venue daily on a circuit, check the logbook and endeavour to fix any machines that needed their attention.

In terms of monitoring company efficiency in remedying problems, Talarius was reliant on calling each venue daily for an update as to any faults resolved or reported the previous day. They would then record this on a spreadsheet. In terms of monitoring the performance of the engineers and tracking parts required for repairs, Talarius relied on weekly emails and order forms from the engineers. The order forms specified what parts had been ordered and when. The emails detailed how many faults the engineer had repaired that week, how long each repair had taken, and how long the engineer had taken to get to the venue. In other words, monitoring depended solely on the subjective views of the engineers, conveyed through handwritten notes and tick boxes on bits of paper, rather than an objective, centralised, tech-based system.

 

“We decided we needed to be more efficient,” says Paul Monkman, Service Director of Talarius. “We are a service company after all. We wanted to make the way we operate the best it could be. If we did that, we could more easily make the service we provide to our customers the best it could be, too.”

Time for a change

Realising they needed to take a giant leap into the 21st century, Talarius put out a request for tender, looking for a service company to revolutionise their systems. Five companies bid for the contract, but Talarius chose Tesseract because they were willing to customise their service management software package to fit with Talarius’ systems and specific needs.

“Tesseract were the best fit,” says Monkman. “We operate slightly differently from other service companies, and Tesseract were willing to accommodate that and offer a tailored approach to our needs.”

These operational differences mainly concern the ordering of parts. Other companies have warehouses and parts centres from which they regularly order the parts they need, and supervisors in charge of the ordering process. But Talarius engineers are allowed to order their own parts from the most cost effective supplier. Tesseract have within their parts centre module a facility for the office to centrally control purchase orders based on field requirements. However, Talarius only wanted facilities to be able to track the parts ordered directly by the engineers. Tesseract were able to accommodate this, providing a system whereby a number is generated each time a part is ordered, allowing Talarius to track and monitor it.

How have things changed?

The way Talarius deploy their engineers has changed completely. What’s now in place is a browser-based web portal to which all of the gaming centre venues have access. When a fault occurs in one of the slot machines, the venue can log the fault online. Their engineers receive notification of these faults by way of an Android-based app on their mobile phones. Furthermore, the faults are graded in terms of priority, and the more profitable venues will get attention quicker.

Monkman says, “Instead of the logbook, which didn’t get seen until the engineers had done their rounds, now the venues can report faults online within ten seconds – which goes directly to the engineers. It’s very user-friendly and practically fool-proof! Perfect for a company that has a wide variety of computer skill levels.”

The new system is capable of cutting the standard delay that was an inevitable component of the old system; each venue would have to wait for their daily visit, coming at whatever stage that venue was placed on the engineer’s circuit. It also means engineers can get to the higher-priority sites quicker than the old circuit system would have allowed.

 

Regarding parts ordering, the engineers now use the apps on their phones to generate a part request number. The engineer will call their chosen supplier directly, and Talarius will use the part request number to track the item.

“We tried to implement a system whereby parts could be ordered automatically, but it proved problematic,” says Monkman. “It could get messy if our engineers needed to discuss the part they needed, or ask the supplier a question. Our engineers are happy to continue managing parts directly at their end, and we are happy at our end because we now have the facility to track the part.”

Rather than compiling weekly emails with estimates of their own timings and performance, the system is now based on entries made by the venue and engineers and will calculate the timings exactly. The new software gives the length of time between dispatch and attendance, timings for completion of repairs, whether any faults are recurring, and whether a machine is waiting for parts.

“We now have a system that’s both real-time and better at monitoring faults and engineer performance,” says Monkman. “We have streamlined the process, made it more efficient, and we now have information we never had before. Our engineers like it because it backs up their work and saves them paperwork.”

A better service

Talarius are in a much better position than they were before entering into a partnership with Tesseract. Tesseract’s service management software has given them enormous visibility. They now know what is going on at their venues and with their engineers without the time-lag of their old system. With a part, they know who ordered it, when it was ordered and dispatched, and when the part arrived. Profiling faults and remedying them on a priority basis means that the venues are better served and machine profits have gone up.

“We can now be more reactive to problems,” says Monkman. “The accuracy and visibility of the system also means our engineers do a better job, and do it quicker. Adding it all up, it means Talarius is able to offer a better, more efficient service to its customers.”

Want to know more about Tesseract? Click here to visit there page in the Field Service News directory...

Overview: 

While most people are enjoying their summer holidays, the staff at GRITIT are hard at work getting ready for the long, cold winter months ahead. It’s the tough winters that GRITIT counts on as the UK’s leading provider of gritting services, supplying winter services protection and winter risk management services to organisations in the retail, commercial, financial, high security, industrial, logistics, health and education sectors.

With more than 166,000 service visits, of which 99.99 percent were successfully completed, maintaining a 99.2 percent customer satisfaction rate and the British Institute of Facilities Management Service Provider of the Year 2013 distinction, it’s clear that customer service is of supreme importance to GRITIT.

“We work from 6pm to 6am, so are an ‘unseen service’, therefore it is critical that we can track and manage our operatives on site and have the ability to guarantee to our customers that the services they requested have been completed,” said Brendon Petsch, IT Director at GRITIT.

“So confident are we of our service, and our ability to ensure customers’ sites are safe for the public and employees, we stand the liability for clients in the event of an accident or claim.”

Harnessing the Power of the Cloud to Manage Data:

To support this bold stance GRITIT accumulates millions of pieces of data during the course of a season and employs cloud-based telematics – also known as location intelligence – software from Telogis that works with its existing technology investments to identify the key pieces of data it needs to improve overall operations. The ability to create efficiencies within its workforce and streamline processes – particularly through the ubiquity of mobile devices – is passed on as an added value to GRITIT’s customers.

“Smartphones and handheld devices are the backbone of our business. Despite the phenomenal increase in usage and adoption of mobile devices and cloud based technologies in the last five years, the telematics software industry has not kept pace. That is where Telogis is different. The combination of its cloud/Software-as a-Service software platform and cutting edge mobile solutions means the very latest technology is always used,” said Petsch.

Platform Approach Supports Multiple Devices:

The first stage of the plan was to replace GRITIT’s existing systems with Telogis’ fully integrated, single platform for location intelligence. Previously GRITIT used two disparate systems, one for mobile device reporting and job allocation and the other for locating vehicles and assets. Getting the two systems to talk to each other in the past took some major software development.

The appeal of Telogis was the automatic integration of all of its solutions, so the initial implementation was smoother and the GRITIT team was up and running more quickly.

“Operationally, updating our systems to work with just one platform is great. The (Telogis) system works really well and is easy to use,” said Petsch. “The rest of the industry is still in the dark ages when it comes to smartphone and tablet software, whereas with Telogis we are able to use the very latest Android and iOS devices.”

Location Intelligence supports GRITIT operations in the Field:

GRITIT is now using numerous solutions as part of the  comprehensive Telogis platform: Telogis Fleet is used to track all vehicles during and after service for proof of attendance. As the vehicle arrives on site, the amount of data collected is increased to enable them to track exactly where the vehicle is within the site, as well as monitor driver behaviour like speeding, idling and out of hours use of the vehicle.

Telogis Progression offers real-time job creation, tracking, alerts, job reassignment if things don’t go to plan and job completion reporting. It also provides real-time alerts that notify GRITIT supervisors when drivers have completed work and validation that drivers were on the job site to complete their work. This helps them maintain their job completion rate throughout each shift. If staff are running behind, jobs can easily be assigned to other drivers by dragging and dropping a job onto another driver’s route, where it automatically shows up on his job list. At the end of the shift GRITIT performs a final check by reconciling completed jobs with the actual location of the vehicle at that time. This allows the company to maintain its gold-standard customer satisfaction rating.

Using Telogis Mobile running on a smartphone or other handheld device, drivers receive their job allocations and are able to report on each job, logging arrival and departure times, any issues and site conditions. Details specific to certain sites for example, site access codes, are stored in the Telogis system and supplied to the drivers as required. This way, drivers can easily convey site conditions by attaching photos to their form responses which provides easy confirmation for supervisors and customers that a site has been serviced to spec.

Additionally, GRITIT managers complete random site inspections to ensure quality is maintained, and they too report back to head office in real time. Because all the documentation received from the field is available within the Telogis systems in real time these inspections can take place within minutes of jobs being completed. In this way, if there are any issues onsite such as a leaking pipe or someone that shouldn’t be there, the client is alerted immediately.

Powerful Real-time Reporting Provides Proof of Service:

Strong reporting is a key part of the Telogis platform, and an integral part of GRITIT’s service to its customers. With Telogis GRITIT is now able to build its own customised reports to exactly match client requirements.

Unlike most other organisations in the industry, GRITIT uses its tracking data proactively to provide proof of service, and as part of its daily reporting to clients. If any job does not go ahead as expected, an alert is produced by the Telogis system, enabling GRITIT’s management team to resolve the issue and alert the customer as necessary in real time.

Next Step – online tracking for the customer:

The next phase of the implementation is to further integrate the Telogis platform with GRITIT’s business systems, using Telogis Data Exchange (TDE). Ultimately this will enable the collection of information from drivers’ onsite via mobile devices that will pass through the entire organisation seamlessly such as providing information to contracts, finance/invoicing, and HR.

Brendon Petsch sums up; “It is still relatively early days with the Telogis system, but everything is running well and we are looking forward to a long and successful partnership. Ultimately GRITIT would like to provide live tracking data to our customers through Telogis Live, so that they can see for themselves exactly what is happening on site. We are proud to be taking this innovative approach and Telogis is the ideal partner to help us realise our business goals.”

 

 

Overview:

Established in 1984, Adlib Audio  is one of the most well-known and well respected names in the live performance industry.  Across rental and installation divisions, the portfolio of Adlib clients includes Radiohead , David Guetta, Skrillex , Toby Keith, Ellie Goulding, The Script, Glastonbury, V-Festival, Professor Green, Swedish House Mafia, Bring Me The Horizon, The Overtones , John Barrowman and The Specials.

Due to the stature of these events and touring artistes it is imperative that Adlib Audio capitalises on the latest technology to ensure reliability, quality of service and performance.

Challenge:

As acknowledged leaders in performance and production, Adlib Audio demands a comprehensive system to manage and control multi-million pound PA systems in a variety of conditions; indoors from an intimate stage to a complete theatre or large scale venue and outdoors, in all weathers from a beach in Ibiza, to a rain-soaked British festival.

To this end, Adlib Audio has designed a bespoke Windows 7 disk image which simplifies management of multiple computers and enables all machines to be easily upgraded to the same standard or reset to Adlib’s factory settings complete with the full suite of live software.

From a hardware perspective, this demands not only extensive ruggedisation but an ease of use and Windows integration in which Adlib Audio can have full confidence.  As a result, Adlib Audio turned to RUGGED MOBILE Systems who recommended the Motion Computing J3500 Tablet PC.  As the primary control interface for the system, the J3500 is now at the heart of many Adlib-produced performances.

Solution:

With such high demands on performance, Adlib Audio developed a very clear, specific protocol for the implementation of the technology.  Tim Robinson, IT Administrator, Adlib Audio explains: “When the tablets first arrived, we quarantined them all until one had been fully configured as a template machine and approved by all concerned.”

“This ‘image’ was then rolled out across the others so that they all matched perfectly. This whole process took about three days, but that included learning how to do it in the first place. By the time I did the sixth one, I had the time from unboxing to ready-to-use down to 14 minutes.”

Many features of the J3500 were attractive to Adlib Audio.  Tour Sound Specialist, Tony Szabo said: “For us, the tablet had to run Windows because our software depends on it.  We then looked at features such as the pen-based input for making fine adjustments; the option to defeat any finger-based input to avoid any accidental or malicious adjustment to the system; the 5GHz Wi-Fi to avoid interference with the majority of consumer devices and the RJ45 port in case Wi-Fi proves to be unreliable - in a live situation we prize reliability beyond all else.”

In addition the industry-leading ruggedisation and sealed design of the J3500, alongside the extra protection and portability afforded by the Motion Bump Case, means Adlib Audio can take the tablets out on the road, into the field or on the beach with full confidence that they will perform.

Results:

Compared to the older tablets and legacy hardware that began to suffer hardware failures and were no longer available, the J3500 has given Adlib a contemporary hardware platform that combines quality and reliability. Dave Kay, Technical Director, concludes:

“So far, the J3500 has not missed a beat.  Financially we make a saving by not having to repair them, but, in truth, the real ROI is within the operational realm.”

“When you have chart-topping acts on stage, relying on your people and a technology to perform in front of thousands, there is real value in the confidence that the J3500 delivers.”

“Looking forward, we are only barely scratching the surface of what the tablets can do. We expect within the next twelve months or so, for another of our larger systems to introduce a new processing and control system, at which time this too will be controlled from the Motion J3500.”

Ian Davies, UK country manager, Motion Computing adds:

“Behind the incredible performances of top artists is a small army of engineers and they demand the best kit that will not let them down despite challenging environments and dynamic requirements.  This requires an uncompromising attitude towards performance, reliability and usability and that is exactly what we seek to deliver with the J3500.”

 Find out more about Motion Computing, including videos, features and other case studies in the Field Service News directory here. 

 

Who are Watling Hope? 

Watling Hope are market leaders in the field of wastewater engineering services and are seen as such not only because they are national specialists but also because they demonstrate a keen desire to innovate when it comes to service delivery. They pride themselves on operating with flexibility and having a truly 'customer-first' attitude. How have they achieved this?

“We've made the service department the business, moving it from an after-sales function to the front end of the customer relationship,” says Edward Palin, managing director of Watling Hope.

In fact, Watling Hope’s development into service leaders in their field has not been a straight line. They have grown into a service business from originally being a ground works company. That is, they were a company which made its revenue from installing pumping stations and mechanical drainage devices but made the transition as they realised the commercial sense in also maintaining those devices, before taking the leap to maintaining devices that other people had installed as well.

Such a change in company emphasis has seen Watling Hope expand from 50  contracts 20 years ago to around 2,500 contracts today. “We provided a unique professional approach in what wasn’t a customer service orientated industry,” says Palin.

“Before us it was guys in overalls handing over dirty bits of paper. “Watling Hope’s unique attraction was a service company which put together usable reports and relationships which effectively looked after the customers’ interests from a commercial perspective, as opposed to on a job by job basis."

 

Ongoing Service Innovation

Like any good service business, Watling Hope are restless innovators, always looking to evolve better ways of delivering.

The latest stage of this evolution involved 18 months sizing up service solutions options, saying goodbye to the previous ERP platform in the process. When the step was made they went with Tesseract Service Centre, and got their mobile engineering team online with Motorola’s ES400 PDAs, although not simultaneously.

“I remember at the time saying to Tesseract that when we get the new system we want to recognise the benefits straight away,” says Palin.

“They wisely advised us we need our office to understand the system first, because you don’t want 25 engineers phoning up and asking how it works when the people in the office don’t understand it yet. That phased implementation has worked really well for us.”

A phased approach was also applied to the eventual hardware rollout, with two engineers in the team given the ES400s to play with. This approach seems to have negated the expected resistance.

“The other engineers started saying ‘when am I getting my PDA?’” says Palin.

Having an engineering team clamouring for new gear is not a common story; Watling Hope might be on to something with the drip feed of hardware solutions. It has revitalised the mobile team’s approach to work; it represents a feeling of being invested in.

Regardless of industry, service organisations all have a similar set of needs. This played a large part in the process to ditch the ERP solution and side with Tesseract.

“They had 20 years working in service, as opposed to an ERP solution which just adapted to fit service,” says Palin.

“We wanted a service solution for a service organisation.”

“If a pumping station goes down it is business critical, people don’t think about that. If you take a restaurant or a hotel, you can turn the water off and the customers would probably stay there. If they can’t use the drainage, the toilets, you’d have to close the business. So being able to respond quickly and being able to keep the customer informed is a crucial feature of what we do.”

 

Assessing the Service Process

Implementing a new system also gave Watling Hope the chance to reassess other areas of the way they worked.

The previous ERP system contained a legacy of site specific comments, meaning the information needed could only be found by trawling through pages of comments. Instead of dumping this data into the Service Centre, engineers were encouraged to re-inform head office of specific details, which would be entered in useful, context specific spaces.

The new system also encouraged a shift in the way regional teams are organised.

“We have quarterly meetings where we all get together,” says Palin. “For a national business it’s a huge environmental consideration for everyone to drive here. As we reorganised into areas with the roll out of the new system, we are now having area meetings; so management and operations will drive to meet the teams instead.”

Communication has always been a key factor to the mobile engineering teams, with free calls between business mobiles encouraging knowledge sharing. In addition the area meetings impart company updates, but also might feature a supplier who will give a presentation on changes to a product. It also forms itself into something of a training road show, imparting customer service and technical training. Each session finishes on a forum to give engineers a voice, encouraging a friendly peer to peer atmosphere.

Watling Hope have fought hard to develop a professional service offering, and don’t seem to have any plans to stop their progression.

 

What does the future hold?

“Continued growth and consolidation of customers,” concludes Palin. “We’re hoping to provide a more diverse range of services.”

Download a PDF copy of this Case Study containing additional commentary from both Tesseract and Watling Hope here

Introduction

Founded in 2002, Cambridge Cognition develops and commercialises computerised neuropsychological tests. The company's proprietary technology platform, known as CANTAB®, the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery, is based on 25 tests and is now a market leader in two key segments: pharmaceutical clinical trials and academic research. This competitive edge is rooted in the extensive scientific validation of the test battery - unparalleled by others in the field.

These tests not only aid scientists around the world with active research into cognition but also assist pharmaceutical companies conducting clinical trials in order to understand the cognitive effects of drugs, especially in treating conditions like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, depression and ADHD. The majority of the world's top twenty pharmaceutical companies are Cambridge Cognition clients

The challenge

The CANTAB battery of tests is based on touch-screen technology to deliver rapid, non-invasive cognitive assessment, in the field and in laboratories. Up until 2010, Cambridge Cognition used a tablet PC with a resistive touch screen.

Due to the sensitive nature of the tests it is vital to maintain high performance standards for hardware.  Simple 1-to-1 replacement using different technology is not possible without extensive cross-validation.

Louise Ward, Logistics Manager, Cambridge Cognition explains: “Two critical factors must be borne in mind when it comes to the testing we carry out.  Firstly, testing may run over several years and throughout that period we need consistency to meaningfully compare data

“Secondly we cannot tolerate any degradation in performance of the hardware.  Our tests deal in millisecond reaction times as patients react to on-screen stimuli.  We simply cannot have any variation in results caused by the technology itself.”

The solution

As a CamTech customer since 2004, Cambridge Cognition turned to the systems integrator to specify a new solution based on the more stable capacitive touch screen technology.  Based on this requirement, as well as the form factor of the legacy hardware platform and the Windows basis of the Cambridge Cognition software, CamTech specified the Motion J-series.

In late 2010 Cambridge Cognition adopted the Motion J3500 and has since deployed around 700 units across the globe.

Weighing just 3.6lbs and coated in shock dampening rubber, the J3500 features:

• Capacitive Dual Touch display options for both finger and digitizer pen input
• An outdoor viewable 12.1” AFFS + LED backlight, screen available with View Anywhere or Gorilla® Glass for increased display damage resistance
• MIL-STD-810G and IP52 ratings for ruggedisation
• Hot-swappable dual batteries that can deliver virtually uninterrupted performance
• Industry leading anti-theft security technology suite
• A complete range of peripherals including a battery charger, FlexDock and attachable, spill-resistant mobile keyboard[/unordered_list] 

Because of the need for such high levels of accuracy, Cambridge Cognition subjects the J3500 to sophisticated in-house testing, backed by extensive user training.  The units are monitored and controls are in place to ensure consistency on a given unit throughout its lifetime.

Louise continues: “As a result of our evaluation of the hardware itself, we have realised that the J3500 and Motion have yielded additional benefits alongside the capacitive touch screen. Our users have fed back that the extensive battery life and the double battery capacity has enabled a lot more freedom in their work.”

“In addition the level of ruggedisation has been critical in ensuring the units perform as they should right across the globe.  The presence of two USB ports has also been a key factor in improving use out in the field as tests can be backed up to portable storage devices and our academic users can use software keys stored on USB sticks.”

“Even the more considered pace of upgrades to the units works in our favour as we need time to develop validation, training and support.  In this regard as well as during times when we need technical support our links to Motion and CamTech have been invaluable.”

Looking to the future, Cambridge Cognition is set to explore the options presented by the new J3600. One of the main benefits that this evolution in the J-series offers is that it is fully compatible with the J3500 and all associated peripherals.  This not only ensures continuity of testing but also protects the investment made so far.

Louise concludes: “We have some of the most demanding expectations of the technology we use and the J3500 has met them and in some cases exceeded them. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Motion and CamTech.”