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Whilst The Automobile Association (The AA) might be a trusted brand that is better known for Roadside Assistance, the renewed growth of the Home Services business is now benefiting from end-to-end field service management software supplied by Solarvista, which includes a full integration with PartsArena Pro.

This gives The AA engineers mobile knowledge management technology like never before. Reviewing performance since its initial launch in September 2016, the statistics confirm just how positive this move has been.

PartsArena Pro was uniquely developed to drive efficiencies in the UK heating service industry, using Infomill’s AnswersAnywhere platform. This innovative platform can create a knowledge management tool for any industry worldwide that suffers from an unproductive “knowledge gap” between manufacturer and parts information, and the field service engineer out on site.

As an integral part of the Solarvista field service system, PartsArena Pro is now supplying this critical knowledge to The AA’s Home Service heating engineers, via offline Windows mobile devices. They can access the latest data and information such as exploded diagrams, parts codes and manufacturer technical manuals whilst out in the field.

This facilitates a speedy and accurate parts search coupled with the ability to add parts lists directly into the job for automated ordering, reducing engineer and back office effort and markedly improving ‘Second Time Fix’ rate.

The AA Home Services business currently has directly employed heating and plumbing engineers out in the field and their performance since the installation of the new Solarvista system with PartsArena Pro included has been significant:

• Overall productivity improvement of 15% (this is continually rising)
• 17% improvement in ‘First Time Fix’ rates
• PartsArena Pro specifically improving ‘Second Time Fix’ rates
• 8% reduction in time on site
• Tasks per shift improvement of 15%
• Reduction in calls made to the contact centre by 20%[/unordered_list]

“In the age of self-service and automation, delivering fully integrated systems to the benefit of our members, employees and business alike was a critical requirement within our transformation project.

The integration between Solarvista and PartsArena Pro that we have developed supports our engineers in resolving our members’ home emergencies as effectively and quickly as possible; and more of them per day, whilst also delivering a world class experience to our members.

The project has delivered significant improvements to both ‘First and Second Time Fix’ rates, significant improvement to our engineers’ productivity, whilst also enabling our engineers to very quickly and accurately order parts and book their own return visits face-to-face with members via their mobile devices. Additionally, their own core van stock of parts auto-replenishes without anyone having to place orders,” says Ash Cripps, Home Services Business Systems Manager, The AA plc.

Paul Allen is a heating and plumbing engineer for The AA. Shortlisted for the business’s upcoming Engineer of the Year award, he has this to say about PartsArena Pro: “Using PartsArena Pro has become part of my routine when servicing or repairing appliances to either get part numbers, fault finding charts or specific servicing routines that certain manufacturers ask for.

The time and money saved by not having to phone manufacturers or merchants for parts numbers or technical information is just one of the benefits of this software. The installation manuals and detailed diagrams make doing the job so much easier, which reduces the time spent on each job, helping you to get more visits completed in your working day.

 

And you also have the confidence that the part you have ordered will be the correct one as you can see it clearly in the diagrams. Most parts also have a photo in the information to help you identify them accurately. It is great to not have to pick up the phone to order parts or arrange any return visits.”

PartsArena Pro is a very successful example of how knowledge management technology can make a significant contribution to the productivity and efficiency of a business, reducing operating costs, increasing profitability and enhancing customer service. The trend for field service software companies to integrate this type of innovative software into their systems is enriching the service available to many organisations operating in the heating service industry, whilst giving field service software operators a distinctive competitive advantage.

Meanwhile, Infomill is talking to businesses in other industries about how the AnswersAnywhere platform can present a ‘game-changer’ to productivity, as Jonathan Ralphs, Infomill CEO explains: “We’re delighted that PartsArena Pro is part of the performance success of The AA’s Home Services business, delivering enhanced customer service to homes across the UK. The project very clearly demonstrates the potential of PartsArena Pro and indeed our AnswersAnywhere platform, from which it is built. Infomill can create an innovative knowledge management tool for any industry worldwide that suffers from an unproductive “knowledge gap” between manufacturer and parts information, and the field service engineer out on site.

Service technicians need the right knowledge at their fingertips to make informed, accurate and quick decisions; increasing their level of productivity significantly. To achieve this is a distinct competitive advantage and that is exactly what AnswersAnywhere can do.”

 

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Heating engineers across the UK will enjoy a new, updated version of PartsArena Pro from January 2017 as creator, Infomill rolls out its latest improvements to the leading source of heating parts and technical data to over 2,600 licensed users.

With the ability to access the app offline on iOS, Android and Windows, PartsArena Pro has fast become an essential efficiency tool for heating engineers whilst out in the field. Instant access to technical manuals, part imagery, interactive exploded views, parts codes and a stockist locator helps engineers to reduce time on-site and improve the first time fix rate by ensuring much more accurate parts ordering.

The system is being used by heating companies including larger organisations and SME’s to enhance customer service and cut cost on site. Many engineers are benefitting from integration with their field management systems, enabling automated parts ordering.

The January update of PartsArena Pro will see many improvements and enhancements, often developed from valuable user feedback. These include:

• A new user interface with dropdown menu replacing tabs
•  One-time log-in account for activation
• Manually add notes to an appliance or part for handy reminders
• Create a Favourites list of appliances and parts for swift access
• Quick access to recently viewed parts and documents
• Copy part codes to a clipboard to paste into external documents
• Automated feedback forms as part of the help and support available
• Full on-screen help throughout the app

 Jonathan Ralphs, Managing Director, Infomill commented on the update saying “We’re very proud of our market-leading app that continues to provide huge efficiency benefits for heating engineers nationwide. Forever wishing to keep PartsArena Pro cutting-edge, we have a highly skilled team that reviews all user feedback in addition to technological advances, to understand how we can make this invaluable app even more effective and intuitive to use. The result being that this updated version will certainly enhance service performance every single day."

PartsArena Pro is increasingly being integrated into field service management systems to offer efficiencies at every level coupled with a better customer experience. A recent example concerned field service management company Aeromark working with Infomill and Plumb & Parts Center to deliver a brand new, fully integrated system for use by Swale Heating; a ground-breaking USP for this heating company.

 

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Aeromark, one of the UK’s leading Service Management Systems, has announced it has successfully completed a full integration of its Optimatics Service Management Software with Wolseley UK as part of its unique “Smarter Parts” module.

Optimatics offers a complete Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution specialising in the Domestic Heating, HVAC and Refrigeration Sectors, which covers everything from managing assets and planned service schedules through to dynamic real time scheduling and Engineer Mobile Apps on one simple to use web based software suite.

As the UK’s leading supplier of plumbing and heating products, Wolseley UK is spearheading the development of electronic solutions which redefine the customer experience - helping them to save time, money and hassle through more efficient management of their workflows.

Combined, the systems provide a transformational offering in supply chain optimisation both in terms of operational improvements and also cost savings.

 

On receipt of a service call, Aeromark’s new “Smarter Parts” module springs into action immediately, identifying the Asset and Serial number and matching common faults with previously ordered parts for the same model. It dynamically schedules the best Engineer to the Job based on their route and instantly sends all the relevant information to their mobile app. Once on site, the Engineer has instant access to the pertinent technical information using PartsArena from Infomill.

They can view exploded diagrams of the make and model, and easily identify and select the parts required by simply clicking the diagram’s hyperlinks. The Aeromark system then checks live stock levels at all Wolseley UK branches and customer vans in the vicinity in real time. Having carried out an automated approval process, the system orders the part for either immediate collection or delivery depending on the forecast travel time.

This seamless, end-to-end process removes a considerable number of unnecessary touch points, improves first time parts identification, cuts down on revisits and considerably improves the customer experience.

 

Roger Marks, MD of Aeromark said: “This integration enables Aeromark to provide a more powerful solution to some of the biggest challenges to field service operations – getting the right parts, to the right place, in the optimum time. We are now even able to forecast delivery times for the more obscure non- stock items and optimise dynamically whether the Engineer should collect or order for delivery based on daily workload and travel times”.

Jeremy Maxwell, Multichannel Director, Wolseley UK said: “We are leading the way in developing new digital workflow solutions for our customers which can dramatically improve their efficiency, drive down costs and improve their service levels. This partnership with Aeromark and Infomill has created a market-leading digital platform that could be used by many customers operating at scale in the heating, HVAC and refrigeration space. By delivering accurate real-time information direct to the engineer, enabling faster decision-making and processing of orders, and enabling this to happen on customers’ own systems we’ve made Wolseley UK even easier to do business with.“

Jonathan Ralphs, CEO of Infomill remarked: “Infomill are proud to be partnered with Aeromark and Wolseley UK. This ground-breaking integration will really boost efficiency and improve customer service.”

 

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