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No Paper Trail: Digital data collection generates visible results for Finning |
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Written by Pietro Parravicini and Ken Schneider
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the world’s largest Caterpillar equipment dealer, Alberta-based Finning
sells, rents and services heavy equipment and engines. Their customers
run mission-critical equipment in rugged and isolated locations.
To keep customers moving, Finning’s vehicle service teams conduct
ongoing equipment inspections and preventative maintenance in the field,
generating large amounts of paperwork. The data is used to coordinate
repairs, order parts, schedule future service and bill for labour.
Teams collect this information on paper in the field, but it takes time
for the data to get back to operations, delaying parts ordering,
follow-up service scheduling and billing. On top of that, manual data
entry into back-end systems takes service technicians away from billable
tasks. A key document process for Finning is the timesheet, as it
doubles as an invoice and record of repair. Timesheets are filled out in
the field and driven back to the office where they are ultimately
entered by hand into Finning’s back-end system. Delayed time sheets
create delayed billing and poor operational visibility to service
records.
In order to digitize the information collected from the timesheets,
Finning started using digital pen and paper technology by Anoto and
Capturx Forms Service solution for real-time data capture. Now repair
teams use the same timesheet that they’ve been using for years, but as
teams fill them out, the digital pen creates a normal ink record on the
paper while also making a digital copy — which it stores in the pen’s
memory. Teams can use smartphones to send data directly from the
Bluetooth-enabled digital pens to their back office. Data sent
wirelessly from the field is instantly available in the back office in
the original handwriting as well as converted text in data tables. The
data can be integrated directly into other back-end systems like
timecard management software to automate workflows, such as payroll and
billing. PDF files with the original handwriting also contain converted
text as keywords, making them easy to search, archive and retrieve.
“Finning provides a range of equipment sales and customer support
services to the oil field, pipeline and other industries throughout
Western Canada,” said Sam Chapdelaine, customer services manager with
Finning. “Capturx helps us efficiently track the service paperwork for
our planned approach to scheduled services, proactive maintenance and
repairs, so customers can minimize unplanned downtime and get
productivity when they need it.”
Service teams no longer take billable workers out of the field in order
to drive forms back to the central office. With the extra time, service
crews can spend more time on billable tasks. And with reduced lag
between service repair and delivery of the service record to the central
office, Finning has real-time visibility into their customer accounts
and repair teams.
With immediate access to timesheet data, the office can expedite the
billing process, keep payroll records up-to-date and streamline account
reconciliation. There’s no more month-end scramble, invoices slipping
into future months or confusion over missing paperwork.
Despite the use of “sophisticated” tools, many businesses still rely on
manual data collection methods with pen and paper. Digital technology
automates information in a way that is easy, reliable and requires
minimal user training. As a result, organizations — especially those
with a large field service staff — can continue to collect information
the way they always have but now with the benefit of immediate access to
operational data.
Pietro Parravicini is the CEO and president of Anoto Inc., and Ken
Schneider is the CEO and chairman of Adapx. For more information, visit www.anoto.com.
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