It is hoped the deal will enhance Flora-tec’s customer service levels, streamline business processes, reduce admin costs and implement green IT services.
Flora-tec is a UK-based company specialising in corporate horticulture, including interior and exterior design, supply and maintenance services. Its clients include Hand Picked Hotels, Sharp, Fujitsu, Roche and The Audit Commission.
Andy Bradley, Flora-tec’s managing director, said: We wanted to improve the accuracy and levels of reporting to our customers on the services our technicians were delivering. We could see the benefit of deploying a mobile solution that would prove site visits had taken place and that service levels agreements (SLAs) were being met.
Codegate will install its mobileworker software on the Motorola MC35 enterprise PDA, featuring a mobile phone, camera, bar code scanner and sign-on screen capability for signature capture.
It is hoped Flora-tec will be able to send work orders to the PDAs, detailing the customer’s name, address and the plants that need attention. The worker can then record all necessary data relating to the work carried out. It will also be possible to record any potential problems with plants, such as yellow or wilting leaves. Flora-tec hopes that this will make it easier for information to be shared between technicians.
The sign-on screen capability will enable technicians to obtain a signature to confirm that the work has taken place and the necessary tasks have been completed.
Bradley said: The data entered by our technicians will automatically integrate with our back office systems, helping us to improve our inventory management to more precisely monitor our stock levels of plants, chemicals and other equipment. There is no longer the need for manual completion of job scheduling and it is no longer necessary for someone to manually go through the hand written paper reports of site visits which our technicians previously completed. This will lead to a significant reduction in administration costs.
Flora-tec technicians can also use the PDAs as mobile phones, so the company will no longer have to pay the cost of issuing mobile phones to its workers. Satellite navigation is also included, ensuring that workers take the shortest routes to and from site visits.
The company hopes that the new deal will enable Flora-tec to more easily meet SLAs. This is a key competitive advantage for both our existing and potential customers. The increased reporting that mobileworker now delivers means that we are able to easily and quickly see if we are over-servicing clients and to manage any instances where this may be the case, Bradley said.
