Real-time is money
June 1st 2008

Contracts are won and lost on fine margins, so quality of service is paramount.

Manchester-based software firm Servisional has devised a solution:Vision Sight Management is being rolled out both in the UK and across Europe with Vebego, saving time and money while improving service levels

The UK and European cleaning market is becoming more competitive, where contracts can be won and lost on small margins, and the quality of service given is paramount.

Performance issues are crucial in the retention of contracts, and recent research by ISS highlighted that as little as 15 per cent of contracts are retained; so the ability to provide key performance metrics is imperative.

Cleaning market analyst David Crook has stated that an 8-10 per cent saving in labour costs can be achieved utilising and deploying new technology – to streamline operations and find a better and more productive way of working The ability to capture this data in real–time and to be part of an operational platform is becoming increasingly vital to support service organisations.

Related to the above,Manchester based software company Servisional has spent the last couple of years working alongside Support Service companies, both in the UK and Europe, developing an innovative and unique software solution primarily for the contract cleaning industry.

During the development phase, in partnership with two leading support service organisations, the same issues kept cropping up: "We need better and real-time visibility of attendance records" "I would like to be alerted about a potential problem before it becomes one" "Recording timesheets and payroll is becoming a major headache" "We would like to manage the on-site consumables from the office" "We are losing business that could be retained through a better customer service" These have been addressed by Servisional and the result is a business process management software solution aimed at streamlining the management of remote sites and personnel.

The solution, called Vision Site Manager, allows managers (via GPRS technology) to capture on-site attendance and time worked for personnel from a remote location.

The system not only captures log-in and logout times, meaning that time sheets and attendance records can be generated automatically, but also allows managers to monitor the levels of consumables being used at the location.

Further features of the solution include: Allowing staff to log in and log out at client premises through a simple-to-use-on-site device, capturing EXACT time & attendance Ability to hold specific site information such as personnel names & numbers, unique site reference codes, unique device codes, attendance times etc.

Ability to create time sheets from the times & attendance information captured through on-site devices Ability to send automatic incident alerts via email or SMS, e.g if personnel do not login or logout on site, allowing for pro-active management of personnel and client sites Ability to easily integrate with an existing sage payroll solution Have real-time reporting of management information and Key Performance Indicators Transfer of data captured on – site to a central system via GPRS so managers can monitor in real time The application has been further enhanced (and can be integrated with google maps, as illustration shows) so that senior personnel of contract cleaning companies can now have performance metrics, relating to all respective client sites at their fingertips – in real time.

Whether you manage 10 or 1000 sites, the KPI information is at hand, in a format they will understand.

Pan-European rollout European Support service company Vebego has already achieved successful metrics in a pilot exercise of VISION Site Manager, that will ultimately be rolled out throughout Europe, monitoring literally thousands of cleaning personnel.

The Inter City Group in Manchester has also gained many benefits, in terms of time and money saved, from deploying the software.

"Contracts are increasingly reviewed and monitored against the efficiency of reporting mechanisms and structures in place," says Andrew Taylor, Servisional's sales director."By using the Vision Site Manager software, managers can maximise time and help their organisations to become more streamlined and profitable." For further details, either call the number below or enquire online at www.cleaning-matters.co.uk

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