Posted by Paul Roebuck on Wed, May 19, 2010 @ 12:27 PM
HVAC service providers should consider using mobile computers.
This weekend I had my semiannual heating and air condition system maintenance check out. Being part of a company that provides onsite contract maintenance for printing and data collection assets, I believe in preventative maintenance for mission critical important assets. Haven't we all heard from our elders that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?"
In recent times the price of the prevention continues to creep up. The price of the cure continues to increase faster and occur at the in opportune time. As a business owner I know the best way to increase profitability is through productivity improvement. Going back to my AC/ Heating service event, the technician spent almost an hour and half from arrival to getting my signature on his paperwork. I do not know exactly what he did while servicing my AC and heating units. But I know he sat in his truck for 20 minutes completing paperwork. What is the value added of completing the paper work for the customer or to his employer?
It made me think about what will happen to this paper work. One copy will probably be used to key in information to their dispatch system to close his service ticket. Then the copy will probably flow through an accounts receivable review to see if there are any incremental billing charges. Also the cost of the time spent will be recorded against my contract for future profitability review. Finally the paperwork will probably end up in my contract folder. It will sit in the contract folder for a minimum of year before the contract administrator reviews the paper work before deciding whether it is profitable to renew our service contract. Fortunately for me over the last 10 years that I have worked with this company, all parties had their needs met so my folder has at least twenty sets of documents. My folder sits with hundreds of other folders in drawer after drawer of file cabinets. Each one of those represents probably 15 to 20 minutes of technician's time recording the information and at least another 10 minutes in subsequent administration handling and filing. Using a "swag" for the fully burdened cost to employ the technician at $30/ hour time, this non- valued add activity represents $10 to $15 per incident of cost. Multiply the non productive incident cost time by the number of technicians and the number of service calls to ascertain a significant $ cost that could be reduced to the benefit of the bottom line.
If we could revise the documentation process to be paperless using a mobile computing solution, we could accomplish all of the above in 10 minutes or less for a 66% savings in call closure time and 20% savings to the total time related to this service event. The HVAC service provider could have a favorable ROI in just a few months.
The service provider could then reduce the price to me and take at least one extra service call a day.
I would also raise the question of what other information could be mined from this idle data repository.
Win Win for both of us
- 1. Potential reduction in price of my service contract based on reduced time on site
- 2. Service provider could schedule at least one or two more preventative service calls per day for the same technician
- 3. Eliminate floor space consuming file cabinets and document storage
- 4. Improve cash flow with immediate generation of invoices for billable incremental charges
- 5. Free up dispatch and contracts administration from routine data entry tasks
- 6. Create a marketing database from the information based on the customer's equipment model, date of installation, and efficiency.
- 7. E-mail or direct marketing campaigns could be conducted to:
- a. renew contracts
- b. recognize potential equipment obsolescence , e.g. coolants no longer available for your model
- c. advise of necessary factory recall and modifications
- d. alert customers to potential ROI upgrades based on federal subsidies, improved efficiencies with new equipment over current
- e. easily conduct loyalty and customer referral programs.
Where does it begin? It begins when business owners investigate how converting to a mobile computing solution will save cost, increase revenue and advance ahead of his competition as a technology leader.
Paul Roebuck is the General Manager of Allied Integrated Services, an AIDC and RFID solution provider specializing in process improvement for SMBs. Paul_roebuck@allied-is.com or www.allied-is.com.