In Communities Housing Trust Increases Productivity with Mobile Working
In Communities (formerly Bradford Housing Community Trust), in partnership with TotalMobile, has adopted Mobile Working to improve the repair service for customers and staff while also creating savings in efficiency, productivity and their carbon footprint.
In Communities Housing Trust May-22-08
Introduction
The move to shared services in local government is bringing with it huge benefits, not just in terms of access to the latest technological innovations but major financial savings and organizational efficiency gains too.
One organization benefiting from this approach is Swindon Commercial Services (SCS), part of Swindon Borough Council.
SCS is responsible for providing traditional council services such as street cleaning, waste and recycling, highways maintenance, grounds maintenance, housing maintenance and support services, as well as work won through open tender, including construction and project work, catering, security and building cleaning.
The organization has a 58m turnover and employs 960 full-time staff. Within its Housing Maintenance division it manages the maintenance of over 11,000 properties.
The challenge
SCS was challenged by Swindon Borough Council to transform itself into a successful commercial business providing a financial return to the Council.
However, one of the major constraints to this change programme was thought to be the existing IT solution within SCS. A lack of investment had resulted in a weak technology platform that was unable to support the business in its quest for winning new work or retaining existing work in the short, medium or long term.
Therefore, a key element in the transformation to a commercial operation was to improve the IT platform and undergo the associated business change. This would enable SCS to improve its overall service offerings whilst at the same time generating organizational efficiencies and savings.
As part of the IT review, SCS was also keen to modernise its workforce and prepare it for the future. This centred on giving employees access to mobile working solutions in addition to an integrated job management system and modern call handling technology.
The Solution
Following an extensive research programme to identify the technology solutions on offer and a lengthy tender process, SCS opted to work with TotalMobile and BT.
The two companies were selected due to their market leading status, and the fact that the software was ready to be implemented immediately and could interface with existing systems within SCS.
Together, BT and TotalMobile are working with SCS to improve IT capabilities and fast track the implementation of new working practices. This includes the introduction of a new technology solution, TotalRepairs and Maintenance Solution, to support over 200 users responsible for a range of council services including street cleaning, waste and recycling, highways maintenance and housing maintenance. The application, which went live in just three months, is hosted offsite s data centre at Bletchley Park and covers financials, and repairs and maintenance of housing stock.
TotalMobile also supplied Fleetmaster, a comprehensive vehicle and workshop management system from Southern Computer Systems, and Keyfax solution to improve phone and web-based communication.
The Results
In the first year alone, the new IT solution is driving operational improvements for SCS. These will include better overall service performance, increased job completion rates, improved customer satisfaction, financial and service efficiencies as well as higher Council CPA and Housing ratings.
The new technology means that employees will be properly briefed on the work required so are up to speed on the job details and material requirements before heading on site. right approach will result in increased job completion rates and a significant rise in overall customer satisfaction.
The use of mobile working practices will reduce travel and decision making time considerably as employees out on the streets will have improved contact with staff back at the office. SCS believes that there will be an increase of five per cent in efficiency within the IT department resulting in savings of well over £50,000 in labour costs per year.
The automation of some services such as the automatic creation of jobs client, billing and receiving payment systems has led to improved efficiency, feasibility and effectiveness due to the transfer from traditional services to an automatic/semi-automatic facility.
There will also be direct overhead savings generated through reduced printing costs for multipart stationery, job cards, gas cards and Priority One Forms.
All in all, SCS estimates that once TotalMobile's solution is fully implemented it will generate quantifiable savings of over £300,000 per annum.
Moving forward
The change programme is still in its infancy and over the next year or so will extend to include additional workforce modernization initiatives such as home working, vehicle tracking and e-purchasing.
Moving on from there, future goals and targets will be set to ensure that the full potential of the ongoing investment is achieved in all service areas and the improvements directly impact the bottom line.