Customer Stories: Service Industry N_CustomerStory_Service Fleets_r1

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1 Customer Stories: Service Industry

2 GreenThumb Because the system s timesheet reports are much more accurate than our previous method, we immediately started saving money on inaccurate staff payments Hamish Mackay, Owner, GreenThumb, Falkirk Franchise flourishes with vehicle tracking Ten years ago, husband-and-wife Hamish and Katherine Mackay along with their son Mark spotted an opportunity to open a franchise with the biggest lawn treatment company in the UK. Soon after, the family established GreenThumb Falkirk just outside Livingston, West Lothian. A decade on and their GreenThumb franchise is a thriving concern, with 16 staff members tending to more than 5,000 lawns throughout Scotland every year. THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY, THE RIGHT SUPPLIER Capitalising on its success, the business was given a significant boost six years ago when it discovered the benefits of Navman Wireless s vehicle tracking system. To ensure they were choosing the right provider though, GreenThumb first trialled the system alongside a rival platform but found Navman Wireless offered superior quality and reliability and was the most user-friendly of the two. As a consequence, once the leases on both systems expired, GreenThumb chose Navman Wireless as its preferred supplier and now has all 9 of its vehicles tracked by the company. For the Mackays, the technology s initial pull factor lay in its ability to significantly reduce the firm s fleet insurance premium but they soon found an array of other benefits which considerably improved fleet efficiency and customer service. The system s time sheet reporting function has proved incredibly useful for us, says Hamish. Our drivers are paid on an hourly basis and used to be responsible for completing their own timesheets but this facility allowed us to spare them the hassle. The sheer level of visibility that vehicle tracking provided also had a positive effect on the firm s outgoings explains Hamish: Because the system s timesheet reports are much more accurate than our previous method, we immediately started saving money on inaccurate staff payments. IMPROVING CUSTOMER SERVICE WITH VEHICLE TRACKING With thousands of customers, many of whom are located in hard-to-reach rural areas, time and timing is absolutely critical for GreenThumb Falkirk. To this end, vehicle tracking s ability to pinpoint driver and customer locations has revolutionised its operation.

3 GreenThumb At the click of a button we can see exactly where our drivers need to be and give them precise directions there, says Hamish. Furthermore, the technology has proved invaluable for general accountability: To suit our customers busy schedules, we provide many with lawn treatment services while they re at work or out and about, says Hamish. The vehicle tracking system from Navman Wireless records comprehensive data of all our journeys from what time we arrived to how long we were on site. Having this information is a real help should a customer need to find out whether we ve visited or if we need to confirm details of previous jobs. PEACE OF MIND In a similar vein, having access to this data has also allowed GreenThumb to determine whether vehicles have been where they shouldn t be. This gives us real peace of mind, explains Hamish, Should a vehicle be stolen or used out of hours without authorisation, we are able to use this data and take appropriate action. Concluding, Hamish added: Navman Wireless has proved extremely effective, its ease of use and the level of control it has given us over our fleet has been invaluable. Reduced fleet insurance premium Savings on inaccurate staff payments Increased level of control on fleet vehicles call , or visit

4 Chemtech Waste Management Now that we are able to use OnlineAVL as an electronic time sheet, from first ignition on through to final ignition off for the day, we are able to provide accurate time sheets for our drivers. This has resulted in an annual saving of 7000 Aron James, Managing Director, Chemtech Waste Management Improving business operations with vehicle tracking Chemtech Waste management Specialises in the management of hazardous and difficult waste streams. The company operates an extensive fleet of vehicles, all of which are designed for specialist collections within the UK. Chemtech has worked relentlessly to establish its reputation for excellence and reliability resulting in the awarding of many prestigious contracts nationwide, including: the Ministry of Defence, local authorities, health service trusts, various government bodies and within industry. Using Vehicle Tracking, Chemtech Waste Management has been able to make savings through improving their business operations. INCREASE IN EFFICIENCY We realised that we had a problem of being able to manage our fleet in order to get the best possible out of it. Now with vehicle tracking we have improved our logistics process along with the communications between driver and office. We now do not have to phone up to find out where our drivers are to enquire about or dispatch jobs. INCREASE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE Through enhanced management of our fleet we are now able to provide our customers with estimated times and days for collections along with supporting their ondemand queries of where the collection vehicles are. WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE COMPLIANCE Through the enhanced use of electronic time sheets we are now able to provide validated evidence of drivers working hours to ensure compliance with the Working Time Directive. Improved fleet logistics increases our working efficiency Aron James, Managing Director, Chemtech Waste Management Ltd Annual saving of 7000 Improved communications between driver and office Provide accurate ETA call , or visit

5 Dyno Rod More importantly, the system enables me to communicate accurately and quickly with my fleet of vehicles Max Craven, Managing Director, Craven Services (Dyno Rod)Hamish Fleet management at your fingertips Three years ago Max Craven, Managing Director of Craven Services, was wrestling with a serious communication problem. Keeping in contact with his team of twelve engineers, who spent most of their time on the road responding to urgent emergency calls, was delivering a real financial headache. The company had experimented with radio based services, but due to the geography of the local region of north Lancashire, Craven could not rely on walkie-talkie radio style solutions. So instead Craven, which is a franchisee of the drain clearing company Dyno-Rod, had been communicating with his fleet mainly via mobile phone calls and texts, and those costs were spiralling out of control. After investigating a series of solutions Craven decided that the best way forward was to enlist the aid of Navman s fleet management solution and in particular a combination of its OnlineAVL software and a two way messaging system. The GPS tracking in tandem with the OnlineAVL software also enables the fleet owner to see at a glance where their drivers physically are. THE BENEFITS OF LIVE VEHICLE TRACKING Max Craven was quick to note the benefits of the system. Firstly,I can use the tracking system to see which of the engineers is closest to a job, thereby saving on petrol. And more importantly, the system enables me to communicate accurately and quickly with my fleet of vehicles, at a cost that s so much less than any rival system. Using the OnlineAVL software, Max Craven can communicate the job details to the drivers MDT devices listing location along with the type of the problem and the contact details of the customer. If at any time Craven needs to send messages to all of his staff simultaneously this is easily and quickly achieved using the software. INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY The system has also made us more productive, says Max Craven. As each instruction is noted on the PC, I already have a record of which drivers are where and the particular job they are doing. The system also archives the driver s responses, which

6 Dyno Rod has significantly reduced their paper work-load, enabling them to move swiftly on to the next job. BENEFITS FOR STAFF AND CUSTOMERS The Navman Wireless vehicle tracking system has not only proved popular with the Craven Services management team. According to Max Craven its benefits have also been noted by his staff. The key benefit for staff is in relation to overtime issues. The Working Time Directive requires proof that a member of staff has requested overtime and was not forced to work additional hours. Using the MDT, Craven s staff can send their employer a message asking for extra hours and their request is automatically logged on to Craven s system via Navman s OnlineAVL solution. The system s satellite navigation element has also proved useful too in directing drivers to locations in areas they are not especially familiar with. FUTURE BENEFITS While acknowledging that the Navman fleet management solution has changed the way we work. Max Craven is now also looking to the future and the potential of upcoming Navman Wireless systems. We are experimenting with a system that enables the driver to generate an invoice after they have finished the work and send it back to our PC using the fleet management solution. Once again it would increase productivity by saving time on paperwork. Accurate and quick communication with fleet vehicles Reduced paper work-load call , or visit

7 Standfast From day one we saw instant returns from improved job allocation, effective vehicle routing, enhanced customer service and duty of care compliance Philip Dadd, Managing Director, Standfast Boosting satisfaction and improving business effectiveness Highly established security system installation company Standfast, have built up a reputation to become the leading local independent security company in Bristol. Placing a strong emphasis on quality and outstanding customer service the company has attained the highest possible level of accreditation, the National Security Inspectorate (formerly NACOSS) Gold approval for their Quality Management System, in the design, installation and maintenance of electronic systems in accordance with the requirements of BS EN ISO 9001: 2008 and NSI Quality Schedule SSQS 101. Nine months ago, Standfast fitted Navman Wireless integrated vehicle tracking and navigation system into it s fleet of 11 vehicles to help the business operate more efficiently, as well as boost driver safety and customer service levels. AS EFFECTIVE AS POSSIBLE In the current climate, within any business it is vital that everything is done to ensure that it is operating as effectively as possible. Whilst it took us some time to decide upon installing telematics into our fleet, we soon realised that the technology presented us with a tool to improve fleet visibility, enhance vehicle routing and increase driver safety, whilst guaranteeing we offered an exceptional service. GETTING THE MOST FROM THE WORKING DAY Thanks to the technology our engineers can now get the most from their working day. Having the ability to identify the nearest engineer to a job and instantly route him to that location is significantly reducing the time they are having to spend behind the wheel. This feature alone is helping us ensure transport costs are under control and the engineers time is effectively used. The system has also made communication between office and field a lot smoother, engineers now simply receive job instructions via the in Cab M-Nav 760 and simply accept a job, removing the need to plan their route in advance. DUTY OF CARE COMPLIANCE The maintenance alerts provided by the system enables us to know when a service is due and when an MOT and road tax fund is set to expire. By keeping our

8 Standfast vehicles maintained it ensures that we fulfil our duty of care obligations to our staff and protects us from the corporate manslaughter legislation. The addition of the privacy button ensures that private mileage remains private and allows us to toggle between business and private mileage modes, concealing all vehicle movements from the system s on-screen tracking software when in private mode. ENHANCING CUSTOMER SERVICE One of the biggest benefits we ve seen from vehicle tracking is the ability to enhance customer service levels. With instant access to essential information that tells us exactly where our vehicles are, we re now able to respond quickly and efficiently to customer enquiries, give them exact arrival times and send customers detailed reports outlining the time an engineer has spent on a job. Being able to give customers this type of information has left them even more satisfied than before. IMPACTING ON OUR ENTIRE BUSINESS Overall, with the addition of Navman Wireless technology a level playing field has been created for all the staff. Not only have the everyday working lives of engineers been made easier, but communication has become smoother and customer service levels have been enhanced. These are all significant benefits which have made noticeable differences throughout the company. Philip Dadd, Managing Director at Standfast. Improved job allocation Effective vehicle routing Enhanced customer service Duty of care compliance call , or visit

9 STE Waste When you consider that every mile saved puts 1.50 back on the bottom line, you begin to understand why vehicle tracking can be such an effective business tool. Marcus Farmer, Managing Director, STE Waste Waste management firm claim rapid ROI on vehicle tracking solution Waste management firm STE Waste have seen massive reductions in weekly mileage across its fleet of seven vehicles whilst also witnessing a rise in efficiency and performance. The Manchester based company, which prides itself on being an eco-friendly business, has reduced fuel consumption and enhanced its ability to stay green since it implemented Navman Wireless tracking systems. Marcus Farmer, company MD at STE Waste, said that he believes vehicle tracking is integral to helping small to medium size fleets become sustainable. Reducing unnecessary waste can trim operating costs for a business and decrease mileage, saving both time and money. The Navman solution is cost-effective and offers rapid return on investment. Reduced weekly mileage across a fleet of seven vehicles Driving efficiency initiatives to improve fleet performance Staying green with accurate CO2 reporting Managing vehicle running costs to maintain sustainability call , or visit