Mobile Workflow Management

About

Permanently lowering the cost of highways, railways and utilities maintenance What's All the Fuss About? Lightsout Computer Services (www.lightsout.co.uk) developed CORONA, a workflow management software system which has dramatically improved the economic dynamics of companies in the highways and railways construction and facilities management industries. It reduces costs while radically increasing efficiency, staff morale and safety. The return-on-investment for one of our large customers is as follows: Reduced the frequency of overruns, so streetworks fines fell from £75,000 to zero Reduced immediate running costs; administrator and supervisor headcount decreased within five months, saving £250,000 per annum Reduced long-term running costs; works management centre overheads will fall by approximately £440,000 per annum Eliminated elapsed time between projects and project phases and increased annual capacity Sharing real-time works information with customers and other stakeholders, such as local authorities, has avoided misunderstanding and inconvenience Provided accurate, real-time financial and management information. It provides the ability to understand the dynamics of your field-based workforce and enables you to accurately determine planned vs actual task time windows and non-productive periods between tasks.  This real-time information means that you can understand the true inefficiencies within your core delivery process, particularly those caused by overrunning task durations and travelling time. This enables you to establish a baseline for delivery efficiency and reduce business risk. Pricing All modules within CORONA are included in the licence fee. Although some customers prefer to buy the package outright, if spending has been frozen, CORONA can be provided as a service charge, so substantial outlay is unnecessary. How Does CORONA Reduce Costs? Operating on a central system, linked to handheld devices, it powerfully combines technologies including digital photography, GPS and automated process management to provide real-time visability. CORONA is a three-tier Oracle-based application which is so flexible that it can be tweaked to bridge users’ weaknesses and knowledge gaps.  It can sit on any platform so you, your employees and stakeholders can access appropriate parts of the works management system through a web browser. It acts as a production control system which reduces human error and delivers the following functionality: Automatically evaluates tasks and allocates resource upon receipt of purchase orders to facilitate forward planning and speed cashflow. Holds skills and current certifications for each employee on the system to assist in assigning tasks and ensuring optimal productivity. Gives immediate access to live information so senior management can fully understand processes and view any part of the business through a variety of media, within the system. Real-time tracking monitors and manages updates, notifications, stock replenishment, scheduling, work completions and the associated invoice values and payments. This reduces running costs by minimising manual administration, and improving productivity and communication. How has CORONA Improved Health and Safety? CORONA was adopted by a large, privately owned international engineering enterprise with world-class capabilities. Although it was initially used as a mobile workflow management system, which saved £440,000 in its first year of use, the company soon harnessed its health and safety ability. When applied to a large-scale project at Severn Trent Water, CORONA became recognised as a company-wide example of best practice. Business Challenge: In 2011 the company’s HSE performance flat-lined. This result was unacceptable, since eliminating all accidents resulting in the loss of one or more shifts by 2015 and eliminating all severe accidents by 2020 were corporate goals. In order to achieve this, in practice, the accident book would have to show only one entry and no lost time for every million hours worked. This ambition applied to the entire workforce regardless of whether they were on a construction site or in an office. Prior to using CORONA for HSE, workforce safety was supervised by managers. However, in the case of Severn Trent Water, this meant covering long and short-term construction sites on busy highways, throughout 4,300 square miles, involving 400 operatives. Solution: The Severn Trent Project Leader had to rethink his operation; he replaced standard practice with CORONA so the workforce could manage their own HSE performance unsupervised. With assistance from the innovative creators of CORONA, Lightsout Computer Services, the new and innovative HSE module was tailored to match Severn Trent Water's project requirements. This new technology ensured two-way communication and automated audit reports, which empowered the workforce to contribute to corporate health and safety goals. Results: As the Severn Trent Water framework project team reached one million man hours without a single RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995), it attracted senior management attention. Connected to the central CORONA system, DABs, supervisor audits and hazard and near-miss reporting are just a few of the functions managed through this technology. Due to the geographic spread of the work, the previous paper versions of these would often take days to get back to the office, whereas the electronic version comes back within seconds. This allows us to react to and resolve potential issues far quicker. "The audit function has allowed us to replicate the clients own audit that they carry out on our works. We've deployed this to our own team which has proved crucial in allowing us to identify potential failings first, meaning that we're always one step ahead of the game" commented the Severn Trent Water Project Leader. Business Benefits: Achieved zero RIDDOR reports in the first million man hours Reduced the time required to produce HSE reports from days to seconds Lowered running costs Released management time Empowered workforce to play a role in meeting ambitious corporate goals Dramatically reduced health and safety related risks. Who's Using CORONA? CORONA has cracked the maintenance efficiency and quality issues experienced by the UKs largest, privately owned construction group, local authorities, Britains FTSE 100 and Europes leading utility companies.