AirVersent to Supply Mobile Workforce Management Solution to Manitowoc

AirVersent has announced that the UK subsidiary of Manitowoc, one of the world’s largest suppliers of lifting equipment for the construction industry, has chosen ServiceNet as the mobility platform for its field technicians. ServiceNet will replace the current paper-based job despatch, reporting and proof of service processes, providing complete control and visibility of both central and field workflow processes, connecting wirelessly with PDA-equipped field engineers.

The contract has been brokered by local communications specialists CCS Mobile, AirVersent's North East

regional Business Partner, who worked closely with Manitowoc to identify their mobile working requirements and played a key role in identifying and recommending the ServiceNet managed service as being the ideal solution. CCS will provide the airtime agreements, as well as supply and support the mobile PDAs.

Manitowoc manufactures lattice-boom crawler cranes, tower cranes, mobile hydraulic cranes, and articulating and telescoping cranes that are built, sold and serviced at multiple locations in five continents. The UK service operation based in Sunderland and Uxbridge has more than 25 engineers providing specialist care, repair and maintenance throughout the country.

“The new system will deliver several benefits, most notably the ability to despatch service calls direct to the field technicians then track progress and have proof of service delivery, which will greatly speed up invoicing,” said Stuart McCombie, Admin Manager for the UK’s Manitowoc Crane CARE customer service operation. “We will also benefit from being able to view engineer comments captured on the job and respond much more quickly as the system works in real time. The system will also log a technician’s time and facilitate lone working security,” continued McCombie.

“We are delighted to have been chosen by Manitowoc,” said Patrick Jolly, AirVersent Business Development Manager. “ServiceNet is particularly suitable for the Manitowoc Crane CARE service operation. It integrates easily with back-end service management systems and is designed specifically for field service, with built-in functionality for every eventuality including parts consumption, expenses and time management.

Jolly concluded: “As the project rolls out, ServiceNet will deliver ongoing enhancements to Manitowoc’s mobile working practices, with full lone working support as an integral part of the field solution. Being a hosted solution accessed over the web, ServiceNet takes away much of the pain and cost of deployment and the subscription model makes it easy to argue the case in terms of ROI.”