First time fix

STREAMLINE INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE SURVEYS

Producing accurate surveys and quotations is essential to control costs and is a frequent pain point of HVAC activity. Gathering the information needed to provide an accurate invoice, for example, often requires back and forth for back-office teams, leaves room for human error and gives little confidence to the end customer. It’s a waste of everyone’s time.

A customisable survey and quotation workflow that enables engineers to quickly quote for small works in real time, or easily compile a comprehensive survey and quotes for bigger jobs is a game changer.

With an enterprise service management system, engineers can compile a photographic record of key information such as the location of system components and any issues on site via their smart phones or tablet.

If parts are needed, engineers have the means to order the required parts. This instantly triggers an accurate quotation which can be emailed to the customer there and then. Once accepted, a fixing list and Bill of Materials (BOM) are automatically raised on the system. When all the required parts are in the job is rescheduled and speedily completed.

Different types of work may have different margins which are automatically adjusted and calculated based on contracted schedule of rates and agreed mark-ups. The system also manages any agreed discounts, inter-company rates, buy price and sell price after discount to provide essential control and visibility of margin.

MANAGE SUBCONTRACTORS BETTER

Subcontractors can engage with the service process digitally which improves operational efficiency, giving better control of costs and providing the all-important continuity of customer experience, and adherence to your service levels.

When jobs are allocated to sub-contractors, they will get access to the task details via the mobile app or web portal, which includes full information about the job including any asset service history. While on site, sub-contractors can update information and the costs to be applied to the job, via the portal, including details of the issue, photos, billable time and usage of parts.

AUTOMATE COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT AND TRACKING

HVAC businesses are obligated to record and track the use of refrigerant gas and provide Gas Safety Records following gas safety checks. A good service management system is all about saving time; it will reduce the burden of compliance administration for engineers, FM clients and back office by automatically creating a time-stamped record and the necessary documentation.

The systems knowledge base also stores any health and safety and risk assessment documentation alongside the customer’s record, so it can be easily accessed by engineers in the field. A complete service management solution provides a range of reporting and analytics tools which enable the analysis of all the data collected in real time to drive efficiency, develop best practices, and get real-time feedback on underperformance so issues can proactively be resolved.

ENTERPRISE ASSET MANAGEMENT

A real-time asset management platform provides a structured audit trail of every asset, including work carried out, age, warranty monitor, photos, specifications, cost of item and service costs. It also indicates when an item of equipment is beyond economic repair (BER) or end of life (EOL). Full details of contracts, warranties, schedule of rates (SOR’s) and price-books are also stored in the system. Any task, from installation to planned preventative maintenance, reactive, repair or replacement has end-to-end visibility within the system driving both performance and behaviours.

END-TO-END DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION PARTNER

If you are planning to invest in a service management solution, think strategically not tactically to ensure you are future proofing your business. It might be tempting to just sign up to a cheap off the shelf product that might get you out of pain now, but it will cost you more overall and deliver weaker return on investment.

This is why it is important to work with a partner who will enable to seamlessly integrate a new system into a HVAC service’s business.