Thirsty for Improved Scheduling

UK-based Anglian Water selects software to improve scheduling for 1,300 field engineers, assist in maintaining compliance

UK-based Anglian Water selects software to improve scheduling for 1,300 field engineers, assist in maintaining compliance

Burlington, MA — March 29 — In an effort to improve scheduling capabilities in its service organization, Anglian Water, one of the leading providers of water and wastewater services in the United Kingdom, has selected ClickSoftware's ServiceOptimization Suite.

Anglian Water, which serves 2.6 million properties in the United Kingdom, has a field service staff of 1,300 field service engineers. Historically, these engineers have been scheduled on a regional basis, but Anglian Water is now in the process of developing an operational management center where distribution and scheduling will be centralized.

With the selection of ClickSoftware's ServiceOptimization Suite, Anglian Water is taking steps to ensure its compliance with efficiency and cost standards set forth by the Office of Water Services (OFWAT) for the five-year period beginning April 2005. By implementing the ServiceOptimization Suite, Anglian Water said it is looking to both drive down its operating costs and improve the level of service it gives to its customers.

"We needed to improve performance both in terms of service and efficiency," explained David Cooke, director of Water Services at Anglian Water. "Ultimately, the quality of the schedule lies in much more than just the scheduling application you are using when the service call comes in, so the introduction of ClickSoftware, along with SAP ALM and our mobile communication devices, will give us the improvements we seek."

Cooke added that Anglian Water needed a solution that could better forecast demand over time so management could properly plan to have the right number of engineers on hand. "After an extensive evaluation of products on the market, it was obvious that the value of ClickSoftware's suite approach would drive enormous benefits both now and into the future," he said.

An important benefit to Anglian Water is the software's ability to handle demand, from short-cycle meter reading all the way through long-cycle, project-style maintenance work. The system is being integrated with Anglian Water's existing infrastructure, including SAP for Utilities and SAP's Mobile Asset Management solution.

"Balancing service costs and service quality can be a very tricky challenge," commented Dr. Moshe BenBassat, founder and CEO of ClickSoftware. "It is hard to make improvements in one area without negatively affecting the other. Anglian Water has recognized that a good schedule includes many components. We are looking forward to helping them achieve their cost and service goals through service optimization."

For more information on solutions for the service and support chain, see the articles "In the Field and All Grown Up," the Net Best Thing column in the June/July 2002 issue of iSource Business (now Supply & Demand Chain Executive), and "Time to Prove It," the Net Best Thing column in the April/May 2003 issue of the magazine.

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