A new workforce management system from BigChange has improved job allocation and boosted job completion rates at EB Gas Services.
Based in Northern Ireland, EB Gas supplies, fits, and maintains domestic, commercial, and industrial gas equipment across Ireland and the UK. Since implementing the cloud-based 6-in-1 solution, EB Gas has seen a 20 percent increase in the number of routine service jobs it can allocate and engineers are 30 percent more efficient capturing onsite information using mobile devices which are live-linked to the back-office system.
BigChange is also boosting customer service with real-time ETAs and updates, streamlining invoicing through integration with the company’s accounting software, and improving fleet management with automated alerts.
“Before BigChange I would say that 80 percent of our processes were paper based,” commented Kevin Byrne, Managing Director of Newry-based EB Gas Services. “This required an extensive resource to support and, when it worked it worked well, but one small glitch and the process fell apart,” he continued. “Paperwork is easy to lose, it can be incorrectly completed and the different systems didn’t always join up.
“We chose BigChange primarily because it combined all the elements we needed in one easy to integrate easy to use system,” he continued. “BigChange also gave us the ability to create and customise our own worksheets and certificates.”
EB Gas has now armed all field staff with a mix of mobile phones and tablets in order to access the BigChange job management system, which incorporates a mobile workforce app, customer relationship management (CRM), job scheduling, live tracking, financial management and business intelligence tools, in one system.
Customers are added to the CRM and categorised by type, which is proving useful for reporting and sales and marketing campaigns, and all staff and vehicles are managed through the BigChange system. Time sensitive alerts for impending deadlines, such as MOTs, service anniversaries and even renewal dates of engineers’ professional qualifications, and real-time tracking of vehicles improves resource management, allowing better allocation of engineers for emergency call-outs. Planned staff absences are also incorporated for improved job allocation.
EB Gas uses BigChange job scheduling for all works, including recording of pre-work site surveys and issuing customer quotations. Deliveries and training days are also booked onto the system to ensure full visibility of the entire workforce. Customisable job sheets and work certificates make it easier for engineers to complete and ensure the timely flow of information between field and office, informing customer communications and stock ordering. Engineers can also access details of previous work as well as site-specific information, such as equipment manuals and diagrams.
“BigChange has allowed us to plan our jobs more efficiently, taking into account location, materials, and staff availability, and reduce the potential for problems,” added Sean Gaffney, IT Coordinator at EB Gas. “With customisable workflows and documents and the real-time exchange of information between the field, back office, and customer, we are also much better placed to deal with issues if and when they arise.”
Established in 1966 as a domestic and commercial gas centre selling bottled gas and domestic gas appliances, EB Gas has developed into one of the largest gas service and installation companies in Ireland. The EB Gas team operates across Ireland and the United Kingdom with its core team of 24 employees boosted by trusted sub-contractors. Registered with both Gas Safe and RGII EB Gas offers a range of services from supply and delivery of LPG bottles through to design and installation of commercial catering set-ups. EB Gas operates a mixed fleet of service vans and delivery trucks and completes around 8,000 jobs a year.
About BigChange
Launched in 2013 and based in Leeds, UK, BigChange is a leading Field Service Management Software Provider trusted by more than 2,150 field-based organisations around the world. BigChange employs over 220 people and is recognised as an outstanding employer with a 2 Star Accreditation from Best Companies.
In 2020 BigChange was awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation, one of the highest business honours in the UK awarded for the company’s contribution to international trade, innovation, sustainable development and promoting opportunity. The company has also featured in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and was named in the 2018 Deloitte Technology Fast 50.
BigChange is the complete Job Management system that’s helping field service businesses across the UK to win more work, take control of their operations and deliver winning customer experiences. Bringing customer relationship management (CRM), job scheduling, live tracking, field resource management, job finance, business intelligence into one simple to use and easy to integrate system, BigChange liberates customers from inefficient paper-based processes and the complexity of multiple different technology systems that hold their businesses back.
For more information please visit www.bigchange.com.
