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Quest wastes no time in expanding business with BigChange

Quest Waste Management has achieved significant business growth following the implementation of cloud-based job management technology from BigChange.

In the past 18 months, the Yorkshire-based provider of domestic and commercial drainage services has opened a new depot serving the Midlands and south, invested over £1.8m in its fleet of specialist vehicles and more than doubled its workforce. The BigChange platform has been an integral part of this success, reducing Quest’s reliance on paper job sheets and manual scheduling, improving communication and providing additional business intelligence.

“BigChange has helped us to transform our business,” commented Ivan Smyth, Managing Director at Quest Waste Management. “By providing tools to efficiently manage every aspect of the mobile operation, we have achieved a strong foundation for continuous growth.”

“In fact, we see the impact of BigChange on the business every day,” he continued.

“From the initial enquiry through to job allocation, completion and invoicing, BigChange helps us manage our resources and share critical information both within the company and with contractors and clients.”  

Ivan Smyth, MD Quest Waste Management

Quest Waste Management is a specialist in tankering, CCTV drainage and sewer inspections, drain cleaning and unblocking, and ‘no dig’ technology pipe repairs. With a workforce of more than 65 individuals and a fleet of vehicles including articulated, rigid, vacuum and Jet Vac tankers, Vacuum and recycler units and CCTV and jetting vans, Quest provides a nationwide service to domestic and commercial customers, including Costain, A1 Loohire and Acumen LTD.

The BigChange job management system incorporates customer relationship management (CRM), job scheduling, live tracking, resource management, job finance and business intelligence in one simple to use and easy-to-integrate platform. Used to record customer details such as service histories, live quotes and ongoing jobs, the CRM is an important business tool helping Quest improve customer service levels, win more work and have insight into its commercial activities.

Customisable jobs sheets, accessed by field staff using tablets that are live linked to the back office, as well as automated scheduling, are reducing the admin resource required to manage the mobile workforce and increase operational efficiencies, whilst vehicle management tools, including real-time tracking, driver behaviour reports and utilisations statistics, are further improving job allocation and resource management.

BigChange is also helping Quest maintain the highest possible standards in quality, environment and health and safety management, in accordance with its ISO accreditations.

Quest Waste Management using the BigChange job management system.

BigChange Brings a £1million Benefit to Eurotech Environmental

BigChange Eurotech employee with van

National drainage company Eurotech Environmental has rolled out the latest mobile workforce management technology from BigChange.

The cloud-based and mobile system provides real time synchronisation between office and tanker operators using a 5 in 1 mobile app. Providing a complete end to end business system replacing all paperwork, Eurotech has seen a £1million increase in business since going live with BigChange last summer.

Established in 1991, Eurotech is one of the UK’s largest independent waste management companies providing national liquid waste tankering and drainage services.

Nick Banks, Operations Director at Eurotech Environmental commented:

“We had been looking for a suitable system for years but we couldn’t find one that could meet our needs. When BigChange came to demonstrate their system our jaws literally dropped to the ground; it was exactly what we were looking for”.

BigChange implementation of the JobWatch system began early 2019 and was fully implemented in 6 months. Eurotech employed the BigChange Professional Services team to create a completely automated system that mimicked everything that was being done manually before.

Banks continued:

“This was really important. We had honed our system over many years but it was still very much paper based and the business had grown to the point that we knew we needed to automate. However, we didn’t want to change anything and BigChange offered a truly flexible solution that has been successfully adapted for our needs”.

Central to Eurotech’s needs was a combined Job Sheet and Waste Transfer Notice with a job grouping capability for managing routes with tankers doing multiple jobs before disposal at a waste transfer station. This was one of a series of industry-leading developments pioneered by Eurotech and the result is a completely automated end-to-end system.

Banks commented:

“Optimisation of routes alone has saved almost 10 per cent on fuel and wage costs and our drivers no longer need to come to the office to collect their jobs. We are also much more reactive to emergency jobs as we know where everyone is and what they are doing – it’s fantastic to have this visibility”.

Tanker operators receive jobs and routes on tablets that they use for everything from vehicle and site safety checks, to job cards and accompanying compliance documentation. Coupled with vehicle tracking, the office has full visibility of all operations, nationwide, 24/7. Customers receive ETA notifications and on job completion they receive job tickets complete with photographs to prove ‘job done’. Waste transfer stations meanwhile receive automated emails of a tankers ETA with digital Waste Transfer Notices.

Banks noted:

“BigChange has completely transformed the way we work. Through improved efficiency and productivity we have seen a £1million boost to our business and are on track to double the size of our fleet. And customers are so impressed that I know we are winning more business thanks to the enhanced service we can now offer”.

“With Coronavirus lockdown, we’d have really struggled to deliver our services without BigChange. We can turn up at a home or a factory to empty a septic tank or collect waste, complete the job and then send the customer an immediate email with supporting photographs; we don’t need to interact at all and the customer probably didn’t even know we been onsite.”

He concluded:

“Since BigChange is cloud based and easily accessible anywhere, anytime, we can expand more easily nationwide as we don’t actually need an office – just somewhere to park our tankers”.

BigChange Eurotech vehicle

BigChange Unplugs Big Savings for Yorkshire’s MW Waste

BigChange MW Waste team with tablet

Yorkshire drainage services company MW Waste has transformed its business with a mobile system providing 24 hour visibility of its emergency field operations.

Supplied by Leeds-based BigChange, the system provides a complete IT solution that connects rugged tablets running a 5 in 1 mobile app with vehicle tracking and time-stamped photographs from site. MW Waste reports savings of £50k per year and significant customer service improvements since implementing the system, called JobWatch.

MW Waste provide a 24/7 fast response service across the north of England from headquarters just off the A1(M) in North Yorkshire. The company’s wastewater engineers unblock drains, fix broken pumping station equipment and empty septic tanks. With a fleet of specialist vehicles including Jet Vac Tankers, CCTV survey vans and excavators, the company looks after tens of thousands of drainage assets for domestic and commercial clients including Yorkshire Water, Severn Trent, Balfour Beatty and various local councils.

Keith Chadwick, MD of MW Waste says:

“With our multi-skilled workforce and range of specialist vehicles and plant we are equipped to deal with just about any task involving wastewater,”

“We’ve seen a big increase in demand recently as a result of the tightening up of legislation and we realised we needed to find a system that would help us manage that demand and allow us to expand.”

First established in 1995, MW Waste originally managing everything on paper and by calls to mobile phones which was proving inefficient and unreliable. When it was discovered work was being missed or not invoiced due to poor records, the company decided action was needed.

Chadwick says:

“BigChange required us to change the way we work but we never looked back and it has completely revolutionised the business. The real surprise was the savings. We reckon it is going to save us a fortune over time and we’re already saving around £50,000 a year. The elimination of paperwork administration, the improved utilisation of resources, accurate invoicing and fuel savings are the most obvious benefits of the system,”

MW Waste has recently achieved ISO 9001 and 14001 accreditations for environmental and quality and JobWatch is proving vital to meeting an increasing amount of reporting required by their larger commercial clients. MW Waste like the fact that they can tailor their own worksheets as different clients require different forms. Having standardised feedback via the app drop-down lists is also proving very useful by insuring better consistency and quality of data.

Vehicles are equipped with BigChange satellite trackers giving the office real-time view of the fleet with accurate ETA information. The tablets provide navigation to site and the app includes site safety workflows and is used to take time-stamped and geo-referenced photographs linked to each job card.

Ben Bromfield, Operations Manager says:

“Using the tablets to take photographs on site showing before and after work and at every stage if required. This gives an immediate visual record and we can advise on jobs directly from the office and the images are attached to the job cards for the customer to clearly see the work has been done,”

Bromfield adds:

“The system is brilliant for allocating jobs and when vehicles are already out we can quickly view their location and job progress to see if another job can be done on the route back. This means we are not only more reactive but we are able to do more jobs a day. Now we have it, I don’t think we could operate without JobWatch.”

MW Waste maintain their own vehicles and the tablets are used for daily vehicle defect inspections. The JobWatch inspection reports are received by the fleet manager and the workshop is immediately made aware of any maintenance requirements. The work schedular meanwhile can immediately see on-screen any non-availability of vehicles so clashes in job scheduling are avoided.

Job Watch gives MW Waste complete visibility of every job and this is especially useful when taking calls from customers.

Bromfield explains:

“We can view the job details and any history to immediately answer any questions; that’s impressive customer service. We also can instantly check all the facts if issues are raised and we have evidence of a job done at our fingertips,”

Chadwick says:

“BigChange has made my life a lot easier.”

“With easy access anytime, anywhere we really feel we are in control of the business. I no longer have to worry things that used to take hours out of my day; everything is invoiced correctly and invoice queries are now very much a thing of the past. Customers are happier and that is ensuring we get repeat work and good referrals.”

Thetford International Disposes of Paper with BigChange Tech

BigChange Thetford employee holding tablet

Thetford International has deployed a mobile service management system equipping field service engineers with tablets connected in real-time to central management systems.

The cloud-based system from BigChange has allowed the Norfolk-based manufacturer of waste compactors to switch to paperless working to improve efficiency, productivity and customer service.

Established for 50 years, Thetford International is a founder member of CHEM, the Container Handling Equipment Manufacturers Association. The company has become a market leader in the design and manufacture of all types of compaction equipment, supplying to a diversity of sectors, from the print industry and supermarkets to industrial complexes, recycling centres and refuse transfer stations.

Thetford uses JobWatch, the BigChange solution for managing mobile service operations using live-connected mobile devices running a multi-functional app to replace all paperwork, integrated with vehicle tracking to monitor the fleet and drivers. As well as replacing nine A4 carbon-copy installation and service forms, the JobWatch 5 in 1 app is also used for engineer time sheets, risk assessments, driver vehicle checks and the management of parts.

Thetford carries out routine maintenance of compactors but the majority of work is reactive and requires a fast response due to the safety concerns of potentially dangerous equipment. Job details are sent to the assigned engineer to complete with JobWatch managing the entire process from start to job completion.

Andrew Goddard, Service Manager, Thetford International, says:

“We had been on the lookout for a suitable system for a numbers of years but nothing seemed to exist that really combined the tracking and field service reporting needs,”

“The BigChange solution is very flexible and adaptable and we were able to tailor it to meet our needs.”

JobWatch has been integrated with Thetford’s own bespoke IT system called Onsite providing asset register synchronisation and the seamless interchange of data between the systems. According to Thetford, the biggest benefits are financial and in particular with regard to invoicing.

Goddard explains:

“Previously it could take up to 3 weeks to raise an invoice. Now we do it next day and potentially we could do it the same day,”

“JobWatch ensures invoices are accurate and are in line with what the customer is expecting and as they are received soon after the job, there are many fewer queries and payment is always quicker.”

Thetford’s engineers cover the UK working from their homes. With vehicle tracking fitted to the fleet of Ford Transit vans, BigChange provides an automated ‘clocking in and clocking out’ system. With van often stocked with thousands of pounds of parts, it also offers added security and driver monitoring and rating has also encouraged safer driving; important as engineers travel as much as 40,000 miles a year.

JobWatch has also been developed to manage Thetford’s stock control with engineers using their tablets to record parts used. With around 400 individual parts, the system automatically replenishes stocks with deliveries to engineer collection points.

Goddard adds:

“Previously the vast majority of information was held in people’s heads and by introducing BigChange we have brought all that knowledge into one place. It all works very well and seamlessly with our other systems. The whole service operation just runs a lot more smoothly and our customers – and the company Accountant – are a lot happier!”

BigChange Thetford employees

BigChange technology drives Acumen Service Improvements

BigChange Acumen employee

Acumen, the provider of industrial site services and waste management solutions, has deployed the latest mobile workforce technology to streamline and expand its business.

The system combines CRMJob Scheduling and Mobile Apps used by back-office personnel, drivers and field operatives connected in real-time to cloud-based operational management software; all part of a 5 in 1 solution from Leeds-based BigChange.

With headquarters close to the landmark Ferrybridge Power Station next to the A1M in Yorkshire, Acumen currently employs 90 staff and operates a mixed fleet of vans and HGVs including tankers and roll-on roll-off trucks. First established in 1994 and still privately owned, the company offers a range of waste management, site clean-up and associated environmental products and services.

Acumen has embarked on an ambitious growth plan to double the size of the business in 5 years. The business is very diverse and the company realised it needed to completely transform its IT with a modern, future-proof system that could handle the very varied operational needs.

Kris Sutton, Acumen’s Finance Director comments:

“We had a multitude of different systems operating in silos with stand-alone systems for waste management, vehicle tracking and CRM that were all disconnected. We realised our wish for an all-encompassing system that could do everything and handle the complexity of our business was a tall order,”

Leon Kirk, Acumen’s Group Managing Director explains:

“Initially we looked at BigChange just as a works management tool to get rid of paper reporting but it soon became evident that it offered a lot more and crucially the software could be easily customised. That was a revelation as we had not found anything else that came close to meeting our group-wide needs. Now we see BigChange as central to our growth as we are no longer constrained by any IT system,”

Acumen operates from 7 locations and provides services throughout the UK. The company operates liquid and solid waste treatment and recycling solutions, contracted total waste management services and industrial cleaning services. Acumen is a well- respected specialist working closely with the Blue-Chip industrial clients and regulators such as the Environment Agency.

Acumen has pioneered the use of new technology in the hazardous waste and recycling industry. Innovations include AcuBin and HazBox services that ensure hazardous waste disposal remains compliant and ClearWater, a water recycling system that uses harmless micro-organisms to clean contaminated water from grounds drainage or washdown areas.

BigChange mobile apps are used for everything from electronic consignment notes, job-sheets, time-sheets and expenseshealth and safety, defects reports to job quotes and invoicing. Drivers clip their tablets into dashboard cradles when on the move and service operatives access the apps using their mobiles phones. The data is real-time synchronised with the centralised BigChange cloud system giving management visibility of the operation across all divisions and locations.

Kirk Says:

“BigChange gives us a single overarching system to provide complete and real-time management visibility. We can drill down from a high level business performance reports down to the details of individual jobs. BigChange has really revolutionised our operations and the cost is no more than our previous system but it does a lot more and has already replaced 5 separate systems.”

Acumen service vehicle