Lothian Vulcanising Services, a family run business offering conveyor belt services across Scotland and the UK, has transformed its business using a workforce management system from BigChange.
The cloud-based 6-in-1 solution has replaced manual paper-based processes with automated digital workflows.
From order sheets to triplicate job cards, health and safety assessments to equipment certificates, Lothian has gone from 100 percent paper to 90 percent paper free the space of just 9 months. The time taken for routine management tasks has also been slashed by three-quarters and engineers’ efficiency in the field boosted by 20 percent.
“The difference between our offices now and at the start of the year is unbelievable,” commented Stuart Strawhorn, Operations Manager at Lothian Vulcanising Services. “Before, when you walked in, you were greeted with rows of filing cabinets, piles and piles of folders each crammed with reams of paper, a large printer that took up half the office, and even a franking machine. Now, it’s all gone!
“I had used BigChange before so knew the impact it could have on a business but even I am surprised how far we have travelled and how much we have changed in just a short space of time,” he continued. “We are by no means at the end of our BigChange journey, in fact, we are just getting started, but by focusing on one thing at a time, doing it well, and then moving on to the next, we are transforming our business.”
Using 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, Lothian has virtually eliminated paper from its installation and service operation. Customer details are entered into and maintained using the CRM function, ensuring the correct point of contact for correspondence and communication, and routine jobs are automatically allocated and planned, in advance, using intelligent scheduling algorithms.
All paperwork associated with and required to undertake a job is produced, completed, and shared through BigChange including method statements, risk assessments, equipment certificates, service histories, and of course work cards. This has dramatically reduced Lothians reliance on paper saving time, money, and the environment. Lothian has also seen a reduction in the time and resources required to complete routine tasks such as pricing and parts ordering.
“Before BigChange my ‘Monday tasks’ as I called them, by which I mean routine weekly jobs such as timesheets etc, used to take all of Monday and pretty much all of Tuesday,” Strawhorn continued. “Now, most weeks, I’m done by lunchtime on Monday. And I am not the only person to notice change; across the business people are spending less time churning out and moving paperwork around so they have more time to focus on getting other jobs done and making sure our customers are happy.”
Lothian also uses other aspects of the BigChange system including the live monitoring interface which shows the location of engineers and status allowing management to respond intelligently and in a timely way for emergency call outs and fleet management tools including live tracking, vehicle checks, and driver behaviour reports. As the company moves forward with its BigChange journey plans are in place to integrate with the company’s Zero accounting software and introduce digital timesheets.
Lothian Vulcanising Services, the trading name of Rublane Ltd, was established in 1991 and offers a range of conveyor belt services including the manufacture and installation of systems and components such as custom-built conveyors, drums, rollers, and scrappers as well as a routine service and maintenance and a 24-hour call-out service. Operating 5 teams of engineers, Lothian completes around 30 jobs a week, servicing clients in the quarry, waste, and processing sectors such as Breedon, Tarmac, and Biffa.
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.
