The Challenge
Metro Mobile Electronics, LLC. (MME) is a leading provider of GPS tracking and telematics equipment installations and repair services with a National footprint. With customers spread across the United States, Metro Mobile helps large fleet organizations track company vehicles and locations of employee activities, anywhere in the field.
With business quickly growing and customers expanding their fleet, MME was performing more GPS installations and service requests than ever before. The organization needed a better way to collect all of its field data to monitor technician productivity, and prove installations were completed according to customer specifications. Each vehicle had precise instructions on how to install the GPS device to ensure its effectiveness and prevent any tampering by drivers.
Previously, the organization was using various basic mobile forms and spreadsheet apps in the field. They were rigid and couldn't be customized in any way, leading to workarounds and inefficiencies to collect the data they needed. MME went looking for a flexible, all-in-one software platform that could adapt to its specific business requirements.
The Solution
MME selected Flowfinity's no-code software for its extensive customization capabilities. Now, the organization is able to quickly and easily build business process applications including mobile forms, interactive dashboards, a real-time database, and custom workflows to effectively track all field work.
"We're able to fully customize our solution," said Devin Warner, Managing Member, Metro Mobile Electronics, LLC. "We're not stuck with features that don't apply to our business, which we found in out-of-box solutions. Flowfinity's ease of use and one-click publishing allow us to routinely fine-tune our business apps, with direct involvement of end users."
Enhancing Data Integrity
Prior to each vehicle service, field technicians are required to perform comprehensive pre-inspections for any pre-existing damages. Previously when using simple form apps, MME could only rely on data that was collected through manual data entry which was prone to typos.
Now, field technicians are taking unlimited photos throughout the entire inspection and adding sketch and text over each image to enhance clarity. When discrepancies occur, such as incorrect license plates, the images are cross-referenced to confirm the correct information. Office management can also see prior damages immediately through annotated photos, rather than 6 months later during in-person car visits.
Speeding Up Response Times
Previously, if a customer asked questions about installations or services provided, MME had to review documents for hours to find answers. It was a hassle as data had historically been tracked in paper forms, emails, and later mobile forms tools, or backed up in multiple database systems. Now, all data is maintained in a single database within Flowfinity, and MME can perform search queries in real-time for immediate results.
"No other solution has the powerful database capabilities of Flowfinity," said Warner. "We can perform a search query based on any piece of information and pull that exact form up instantly. Our response time to customers went from hours to seconds."
Boosting Field Efficiency
A technician often gets dispatched for an incorrect service request by the customer. Instead of calling the dispatch department, technicians can proactively search for the correct form and pull it up on their smartphone, on the spot.
"The mobile apps are dynamic," said Warner. "We can easily adapt to service changes while the technician is already out, preventing rework and saving us valuable time in the field."
Flowfinity's two-way data flow also allows field technicians to retrieve customer history, completed forms, and older pictures to complete work faster.
Improving Employee Motivation
MME's dashboards have evolved and become more valuable than imagined. Initially, they were built as a visual tool for managers to effectively monitor technicians' field productivity. Now, field and office staff are using them to easily track and compare their job performance with colleagues on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. This helps them manage their time better and identify when colleagues need help with heavy workloads.
Field technicians also strive to complete even more work every day, since they can quickly determine if they are on target for performance bonuses with one look at the dashboard.
"Real-time dashboards have leaped our productivity to extraordinary levels," said Warner. "It's amazing to watch. Our staff are performing higher quality work because they now have a tool that tracks and supports their daily accomplishments."
Future
After receiving positive feedback from field staff, MME created new dashboards for all departments from billing to dispatching. This will help improve operational intelligence from the field to the office even more. Future plans include displaying dashboards on TVs throughout corporate office, so management can get full-screen, live updates at any time.
"It's now a standardized system across our entire business," said Warner. "With the point-and-click editor and widget flexibility, the dashboards were only tweaked slightly to be fully customized to each department."