Part of the TH White Group, the business is the sole distributor of Palfinger cranes in England and Wales, and its 36 field engineers provide aftersales support, including service and inspections.
Previously, the inspection process was manual from start to finish, with handwritten reports for more than 800 jobs per month. “We would then key the information into our system, photocopy and send a copy to the fleet office. It was a very manual process, with endless filing cabinets. It also meant an inevitable delay from the inspection being completed to the customer receiving their paperwork,” explains John Farmer, head of aftersales.
Now, he says, the company has dumped six filing cabinets so far, and service levels have been transformed. Jobs are allocated automatically via the r2c system; this is supported by an offline field-based application, accessed on a tablet, so engineers can complete a digital inspection sheet in areas without internet connectivity.
Once the inspection is completed on site, the system automatically emails a copy to all the necessary parties, as well as archiving the document in a digital filing cabinet – so the report is accessible anytime.
Farmer says: “We have seen a dramatic reduction in time spent on administration… Today, quite literally at the push of a button, everyone knows that their crane is compliant without the need for posting paperwork and making phone calls.”
He adds: “The level of information management is much more precise. It’s clean, consistent data in a central portal, providing lifetime information on a vehicle and ancillary equipment. This can help us and operators to make informed decisions regarding their maintenance operation, which is good news for us and good news for our customers.”