T H WHITE Lorry Cranes of engineering group T H WHITE has adopted the web-based maintenance management platform r2c Online. Used by T H WHITE’s thirty-six field based engineers, the company believe they are saving sixty hours each week in administration through use of the system.
A family and staff owned business with over 180 years of helping customers get the best from innovation, T H WHITE is the sole distributor of Palfinger cranes in England and Wales. The company supply Palfinger cranes to customers throughout the UK, providing lifetime aftersales support, including annual Reports of Thorough Examination as required by law.
It was in the provision of routine service and maintenance for their Fleet Managed customers that TH WHITE Lorry Cranes, first identified that r2c Online could enhance their operation. John Farmer, Head of Aftersales explained, “In the past (like much of the marketplace) our engineers would go to site, complete a handwritten LOLER inspection and post the paperwork back to the office. We would then key the information into our system, photocopy and send a copy to the fleet office. It was a very manual process, with endless filing cabinets. It also meant an inevitable delay from the inspection being completed to the customer receiving their paperwork”.
Since using r2c Online there has been an unequivocal difference in the T H WHITE maintenance operation. Today work is pushed out to engineers by T H WHITE’s central control centre via the web based r2c Online system. The system is supported by an offline field-based application, accessed on a tablet device, enabling the field engineer to complete a digital inspection sheet in areas without internet connectivity. Once the inspection is completed on site, the system automatically emails a copy to all the necessary parties, as well as archiving the document in a digital filing cabinet making the asset accessible anytime, anywhere.
John Farmer continued, “We have seen a dramatic reduction in time spent on administration. Our Field Service Engineers complete more than 800 jobs a month, which were previously all processed manually. Today quite literally at the push of a button everyone knows that their crane is compliant without the need for posting paperwork and making phone calls. We’ve got rid of six filing cabinets so far!”
r2c Online is fast becoming the de facto solution for managing compliance in the commercial vehicle sector. The ambition of the company is to connect the entire supply chain of a vehicle and its ancillary equipment. From operators, to Fleet Management companies, to repairers; r2c Online can give all those connected to a vehicle a total view of the vehicle and ancillary equipment all in one online platform.
John Farmer described what this access to information meant for T H WHITE and their clients, “The level of information management is much more precise. It’s clean, consistent data in a central portal, providing lifetime information on a vehicle and ancillary equipment. This can help us and operators make informed decisions regarding their maintenance operation which is good news for us and good news for our customers.”
John Farmer concluded, “We hold regular review meetings with our customers who are some of the biggest operators in the country. The feedback has been great, they love the new approach to inspections and they thank us for it.”
