9 Secrets to Reducing your Fleet Expenses
As a fleet owner, your day-to-day costs can quickly add up. What you don’t know is there are further hidden, expensive...
Read moreTC Facilities Management (TCFM) is one of the UK’s leading independent facilities management companies. A family-owned business with over 55 years’ experience of delivering services nationally, TCFM proudly works with some of the UK’s largest and most well-known organisations. The company comprises three core service lines: TC Cleaning Services, TC Security Services and TC Specialist Services.
The Challenge:
Eric Dawson, Business Manager at TC Specialist Services, faced a common struggle. With his staff visiting 2,000 sites every week, he needed a way to monitor his mobile operation to ensure it was running as efficiently as possible.
TC Specialist Services relied on two standalone systems to monitor and manage field workers. A tracking system offered location data while a PDA sign-off solution allowed staff to mark jobs as complete. With no crossover between these two systems, Eric struggled to build a full picture of his mobile operation. What’s more, retrieving vital information on job status was a manual process, making reporting a laborious task.
To drive efficiency throughout the business, TC Specialist Services needed something more – a solution that could optimise routing, automate key processes and highlight areas of inefficiency.
The Solution:
Verizon Connect was chosen as that solution. Not only does Verizon Connect route optimisation allow managers to plan the most efficient routes possible and
re-route in near real-time, it can also create cost-effective scheduling that matches job needs with nearby workers and equipment – vital for any business that completes as many site visits as TC Specialist Services.
Eric was particularly impressed with Verizon Connect over other suppliers as it is quick and easy to prioritise tasks and allows for customisation of driver forms and job sign-off sheets. “Many of our customers have bespoke sign-off requirements –
surveys and the like. We looked at other suppliers who were able to meet our needs and add in customisable client signoff forms, but it came at a cost. With Verizon Connect, not only can we personlalise forms ourselves, but it can be done
in a matter of minutes.”
As well as implementing Verizon Connect for routing, TC Specialist Services also rolled out GPS tracking to monitor its fleet in near-real time, improve driver behaviour and highlight areas of inefficiency.
The Results:
TC Specialist Services saw improvements in visibility and efficiency almost straight away. “Visibility is much improved. With all customers now scheduled in a central system, we know exactly when a job should be complete. We can run checks on all our customer visits and schedules and ensure that we are completing the correct sites and schedules when they are due. We could have done this in our old system, but it would have taken hours – it now takes minutes.”
TC Specialist Services has even demonstrated the Verizon Connect routing and tracking system to win more business.
“It’s a very useful tool when speaking to new clients. As the location data is so accurate we are able to pinpoint exactly when our guys get to a client’s site and when they leave. This is great for demonstrating the level of control and visibility we have over our operation. Clients find this very reassuring, as do our finance department who can always be sure we are billing accurately.”
This accurate location data has also helped when tendering contracts as TC Specialist Services can demonstrate the potential savings on offer through precise billing rather than best estimates.
The Verizon Connect system has improved customer service at TC Specialist Services, helping to reassure customers and resolve queries.
“We have had clients ask, “what happens if our site isn’t open when you arrive?” Not only can we tell them our process, we can show them it step by step. We can show exactly how that information is logged in our system, and the procedure that is
put in place to ensure that our guys only show up when the site is open in future, creating bespoke visit windows for each site.”
TC Specialist Services has also seen huge improvements in driver behaviour in the short time since implementing the Verizon Connect system. Previously the company had no way to monitor habits such as idling, speeding and harsh acceleration.
However, since rolling out a driver scorecard system, behaviour has improved dramatically with some drivers rising from a score of 0% up to around 70% – a huge improvement. Verizon Connect also helps TC Specialist Services to stay compliant.
“We use the system to check that every site has been visited as scheduled. We can run a compliance check at any time to say this is what is showing as completed. Using this we can ensure that we have the correct sign-off for the corresponding scheduled site, ensuring we have accurate information for billing and compliance purposes.”
In all, TC Specialist Services couldn’t be happier with the Verizon Connect solution. It has been such a success that there are early plans afoot to roll out the system across another of TCFM’s core divisions.
