sutton & east surrey water improves productivity and cuts costs … · sutton & east surrey...

At a Glance

What they wanted to do• Implementasystemthatwouldsimplifyworkingpracticesandhelpimproveproductivityandefficiency

What they did• DeployedGoogleMapsCoordinateontabletsamongstthemeterfittingandwatermaintenanceoperations

What they accomplished• AnannualROIof500%onusingGoogleMapsCoordinate

• 17%increaseinoperationalefficiencyofmeterfittingteam

• $39K(£25K)annualsavingsinadministrationtimeforemployeesonalllevels

• Improvedcustomerservicethankstomoreup-to-dateinformation

• 58%reductioninFixedPenaltyfinesduetoimprovementindatarecords

CustomerSutton&EastSurreyWatersupplieswaterto655,000consumersin280,000propertiesacross322milesintheSouthEastofEngland.

ChallengeThecompanywaskeentoimproveefficienciesintwoareasofitsbusiness:meterfittingandwaternetworkmaintenance.

Themeterfittingteamchangeapproximately400meterseachmonth,aspartofthecompany’scommitmenttoreplace24,000metersformaintenancepurposesoverafiveyearperiod.AtthebeginningofeachmonththeNetworkManagerwouldprepareandprintoff600pagesofworkorders,whichwerethensortedbytheWorksSectionManagerintoworkbatchesaccordingtoroughgeographicallocation.Thefitterswouldvisitheadquarterseachmorningtopickuptheirdailybatchandthenworkoutforthemselves,usingmapsandlocalknowledge,thebestorderinwhichtocompletetheirjobs.Aftereachfitting,theyfilledoutapaperform,whichtheyhandedinthenextdaytobecheckedandthenenteredintothebillingsystem.Theentireprocesswasseenasinefficientandunnecessarilytimeconsuming.

Theworksmaintenancecrews,responsibleforrepairingburstwatermains,excavatingmainsandgeneralmaintenance,facedasimilarscenario.Eachjobinvolvedalotofpaperworkcoveringpermits,technicalinformationandhealthandsafety,allofwhichthey’dalsohavetocollecteachmorningfromHQ,filloutbyhandontheroad,andthenhandinthenextday.

Forbothoperations,thedependenceonpaperworkandmanualprocessesmeantthatHQwereunabletohaveanup-to-datepictureofwhichjobshadbeenfinishedatanypointintime.ThismeanttheCustomerServiceTeam

Sutton & East Surrey Water improves productivity and cuts costs with Google Maps Coordinate

Case Study | Google Maps Coordinate

couldn’tgivecustomersthemostup-to-dateinformationonqueries.Thebusinessalsofacedincreasednotificationrequirementsforanyexcavationsintheroadfromlocalcouncils,whichifnotaccuratelycompletedwithintherequiredtimescaleswouldresultinfixedpenaltycharges.

“Weclearlyneededtochangeourbusinessprocesses,particularlyintermsofadministrationandremoteworkingcapabilitiesforourfieldstaff,”explainsJeremyHeath,NetworkManager,SuttonandEastSurreyWater.“Manyworkforcemanagementsystemstrytodotoomuchandtaketoolongtoimplement.WewantedaplatformthatwaseasytomanageanduseandwouldimproveefficiencyandprovideademonstrableROI.”

SolutionTotacklethechallenge,SuttonandEastSurreyWaterturnedtoGoogleMapsCoordinate,aworkforcemanagementtooldesignedtoimprovecommunicationbetweenbusinessesandtheirfieldstaff.BuiltonGoogle’smappingandgeolocationinfrastructure,GoogleMapsCoordinateenablesemployeesinthefieldtobeaccuratelylocatedinreal-time.TheITteamatSuttonandEastSurreyWaterwrotetheAPItoallowmanagerstopulloutjobdataoutofthecurrentjobcontrolsystemandplotitstraightontoaGoogleMapthatcouldbeviewedbyworkersontheroadvia3G-enabledseveninchtablets.TheITteamwasalsoabletocustomisethefieldsthatthemobileteamsneededtocaptureandcollectdirectlyintheapp,withthisdatathenbeingfedbackautomaticallytoHQ.

“Wehadnoextramoneyavailabletointroduceanewsystem,butthemoneywesavedonnothavingtoprintoutworkorderseasilycoveredthecostofGoogleMapsCoordinate,whichpleasedthemanagementboard,”saysJeremy.“Theproductwassimpletoconfigurefromatechnicalstandpoint,andwewereabletorollitoutwithinweeks.Ittooknexttonotimeforourfieldstafftolearnhowtouseit.AsmostpeoplehadusedGoogleMapsatonetimeoranother,theyhappilyswiped,zoomedinandupdateddataontheappassoonasIpresentedthemwiththeirtablet.”

BenefitsThemeterfittingteamnowreceivejobsdataelectronicallytotheirtablet,automaticallyplottedontoamap.Thismeansnomoretime-consumingmanualsiftingthroughendlesspagestoworkoutthemostlogicaljoborder,andnotimewastedformanagementprintingoffjobs.Productivityinthefieldhasimprovedby17%andthecompanyhasbeenabletodispensewiththeservicesofanexternalcontractorwhoassistedtheteamasaresult.

“�We’ve�seen�tremendous�benefits�since� using�Google�Maps�Coordinate�and�see� huge�potential�for�improving�our�working�practices�even�further�in�the�future.�When� you�look�at�all�the�savings�across�the�board�we’ve�seen�an�annual�ROI�of�500%,�which�is� very�impressive.” —Jeremy�Heath,�Network�Manager,�Sutton� and�East�Surrey�Water�plc

©2013GoogleInc.Allrightsreserved.GoogleandtheGooglelogoaretrademarksofGoogleInc.Allothercompanyandproductnamesmaybetrademarksoftherespectivecompanieswithwhichtheyareassociated.SS2065-1303

Asthecustomerserviceteamhaveaclearerpictureofwherethefittersareandwhichjobshavebeencompleted,theycanprovidemuchswifter,detailedanswerstocustomerqueries.

Thewayinwhichthewaternetworkcrewoperatehassimilarlyimproved.Teamslog-inviathetabletwhentheyarriveattheirlocationandprogressreportsareupdatedinreal-timetohelpCustomerServices.Althoughthecompanypreviouslyreceivedonlyalownumberoffixedpenaltycharges,theuseofGoogleMapsCoordinatehasreducedthenumberoflocalcouncilchargesby58%sincedeployment.Reducingthenumberoffixedpenaltychargesisadditionallyimportantbecauseitisfrequentlyusedasabenchmarkbylocalcouncilsagainstwhichtheyjudgeutilityproviders.

“GoogleMapsCoordinatehastransformedtheproductivityandefficiencyofourfrontlinestaff,”explainsJeremy.“Weestimatewe’llsaveabout$24,800(£16,000)inoperationalcostsinthefirstyearalone.Butit’snotjustaboutcosts;bygivingouremployeesthetoolstheyneedtowork,we’remakingtheirjobseasierandmoreenjoyable.”

GoogleMapsCoordinatehasalsoprovidedfurtherbenefitstotheworkscrewstandbyteams,whocanbecalleduponatallhoursofthedayornighttodealwithemergencies.With2,147milesofwatermainstocover,someofthelocationstheyneedtoreacharesoremotetheydon’tevenhaveapostcode.Inthepasttheteamreliedonaccuratemapreadingandtimewasfrequentlywastedsearchingfortheoptimumroutetoalocation.However,withthesatelliteviewprovidedbyGoogleMapsCoordinate,findingtheselocationsismucheasier.Also,whenajobiscalledin,thestandbycrewgostraighttothescene,ratherthandrivingtoHQtocollectpaperwork,saving$11,600(£7,500)worthofmanhoursintraveltimeannuallyandfurther$2,480(£1,600)savingsinfuel.

“We’veseentremendousbenefitssinceusingGoogleMapsCoordinateandseehugepotentialforimprovingourworkingpracticesevenfurtherinthefuture,”saysHeath.“Whenyoulookatallthesavingsacrosstheboard,fromfueltoprintingtoavoidingparkingfineswe’veseenanannualROIof500%,whichisveryimpressive.”

About Google Maps CoordinateGoogleMapsCoordinateisaworkforcemanagementtoolthatimprovestheefficiencyofmobileteams.PeopleareshownonaGoogleMap,makingiteasytoassignjobstothenearestavailableteammember.Bygettingreal-timevisibilityintowhereteamsareandwhatjobstheyaredoing,workcanbescheduledinasmarter,moreefficientway.

Formoreinformationvisitwww.maps.google.com/coordinate