An installer and maintainer of automatic gates, barriers and bollards, ASE Autogate, has cut paperwork and saved money by running its field operations on job management software. The Yorkshire-based, family-run firm is using the BigChange mobile app.
Simon Field, Director at ASE Autogate says: “Our future depends on the quality of work and the quality of service we deliver today. BigChange gets this and gives us the tools we need to deliver on our promises. No job is the same and therefore no day is the same but using BigChange we can capture, record and share time and business critical intelligence, ensuring everyone is up to speed and informed, from engineers, through to support staff and management, to the end client.” Before, the firm tried a standalone CRM (customer relationship management) and a generic combined CRM and enterprise resource package.
Field said: “Our previous systems had elements that worked and elements that didn’t, also, as they were not specifically designed for field service operation they were ‘clunky.’ They were also under-supported.” BigChange does CRM, job scheduling, live tracking, resource management, job finance and business intelligence. The firm can now plan routine maintenance and service appointments up to a year in advance; and has real-time visibility of engineers’ location and onward calendars. Back-office staff can react to emergency callouts, allocating the resource and adjusting schedules accordingly.
Carrying out two or three installations and up to 100 planned or reactive maintenance visits a week within its gate division alone (the company launched a door division a few years ago), ASE Autogate is working to cut out paper from its workflows. Previously, the firm’s engineers logged in at the Shipley head office on a Monday morning, collecting a week’s worth of job sheets, risk assessments and other associated paperwork. They often didn’t return until Friday afternoon; by that time the volume of paperwork had increased massively and the completed details had to be manually entered into a number of management and accounting systems.
Field added: “Using BigChange the entire process, from initial enquiry, through to quoting, works completion, invoicing and ongoing servicing, is automated and this has greatly reduced our reliance on paper. This is saving us time, it’s saving paper and ink, it’s saving energy and it’s reducing delays in invoicing and minimising the potential for errors.”
