Boosting Utilisation by 20% with a Truly Bespoke Real-Time Scheduler

As someone in the midst of implementing a different real-time scheduler for another Codebased client, I can vouch for the scale of a project like that. That said, depending on the business you’re in, the ROI can rapidly outweigh the upfront investment

The client in question already had a scheduling system in use, but as a business with customers dispersed widely across the UK and a service offering that requires them to be on-site with suitable weather conditions, there was some room for improvement. The problem weather posed was exacerbated further by the majority of their work being condensed around the start of the year when the weather is at its gloomiest.

Naturally, we put our heads together and tried to come up with a solution to the UK’s awful weather. Then we had a better idea.

We knew we couldn’t stop the rain from falling or prevent the wind from howling, but we could give them all of the weather data they needed at the point of scheduling work. We solved the weather problem with a real-time scheduler fed with accurate weather forecasting from an integration with OpenWeatherMap’s API.

We also know how quickly the forecast can change and that it would also be crucial for their team to be able to respond quickly and seamlessly communicate those changes to their customers. To address that specific need, we expanded an existing Vonage integration to enable their teams to send text messages directly to customers, selecting from a series of templates that are personalised to include their customers details and the details of their order.

And, just like their old scheduler, it included robust routing to optimise each of their workers’ days and get them out to their various places of work and back home as quickly and efficiently as possible.

By providing up-to-date forecasts for wind and rain, covering the whole of the UK, we were able to better inform their scheduling and customers. By investing in the implementation of the project, the client claims to have increased the utilisation of their workers in the field by more than 20%, and, as we all know, greater utilisation of workforce can lead on to increased productivity, reduced operating costs, improved profitability, and the opportunity to scale.

Impressive as that is in isolation, it’s not a stretch to say it’s likely the business has also seen the following benefits:

• • Greater employee satisfaction - more work being done means higher commissions for employees. The scheduler generally makes their working lives easier too, whether they’re out on the road following the route it configured for them or actively using it to organise the next batch of work.

  More efficient scheduling also means less time travelling for the people out in the field, giving them more time at home, as well as helping to ensure that late arrivals are minimised.

• • Reduced carbon footprint and fuel consumption - more efficient routes and combining more work into existing journeys mean lower fuel consumption. As well as saving the business money, this also trims the business’ overall carbon footprint.

• • Improved customer experience - if the client is able to deliver more services in the same amount of time, naturally you’d expect customer waiting times to drop. Combine this with the improved communication enabled by the scheduler and you’re probably on course to improve customer experience.

Not all problems can be solved by software, but maybe more than you think. By investing in a system sculpted precisely to their needs, the client in question has unlocked a potentially huge return while increasing the value of the asset that is their bespoke business software. If there are similar areas for improvement in your business, maybe you can do the same.