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Fast Lean Smart (FLS) is working with Royal Mail Property & Facilities Solutions (RMPFS) to implement a new scheduling software system to increase productivity and establish a site ownership model.

RMPFS wanted to upgrade its current scheduling and route planning software to achieve new levels of efficiency and productivity from its service operations. The company’s existing system is over 10 years old and no longer meets its needs.

“We looked at several scheduling and route planning systems providers, FLS being one of them,” says Scott Maddocks, Project Manager for RMPFS.

“After the initial demonstration, we carried out a number of FLS customer site visits to see the software in action. We engaged our management teams, our engineers and our unions because we wanted them all to be happy that the software would work.”

After the initial demonstration, we carried out a number of FLS customer site visits to see the software in action. We engaged our management teams, our engineers and our unions because we wanted them all to be happy that the software would work.In the end, FLS came out on top. “We chose FLS for a number of reasons,” says Scott. “The user front end was better than the other products we looked at, and FLS gave us confidence that their software could be integrated with our existing service management system. We also thought that FLS would be good to work with, more agile and better able to deliver what we wanted than the other suppliers.”

One of RMPFS’s goals was to plan jobs more efficiently. FLS’s ability to plan optimised routes in real time will help it do this. FLS software takes into account specific business priorities, traffic-based driving times and countless other variables for both planned and reactive work. RMPFS also wants to reduce the number of return visits its engineers have to do. FLS will give them a portal where they can see four weeks of planned work in advance and allocate the necessary resources to each job. Engineers will be able to request job assists and equipment hire in advance of the job using the new portal.

Another key requirement for RMPFS was the establishment of a site ownership model, i.e. the allocation of tasks to preferred engineers according to a set of criteria to ensure that the right skills are in the right place at the right time. “We wanted software that could navigate several tiers of engineer choices, to allow them to build their site knowledge and relationships and reduce their travel time,” says Scott. “FLS proved that its system was up to the challenge and could enable our engineers to work at preferred sites in preferred regions based on an extensive and complex series of rules.”

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