|
Piling contractor MK Piling (MK) has earned an enviable
reputation in the UK construction industry. They draw
on many years of specialist piling experience to deliver
a level of quality that is second to none.
With a team of 60 operatives, MK offer a comprehensive
range of piling solutions designed to meet all kinds
of requirements and provide effective solutions for
many piling projects including:
- Top driven piles
- Continuous flight auger (CFA) piles
- Mini piling
- Underpinning
- Additional services designed to give total
support and take comprehensive care of foundation
work
In delivering their services, MK teams use the most
advanced piling techniques and equipment available.
Piling technology is their speciality and their forward-thinking
approach has put them at the leading edge of the construction
industry.
As with many other construction industry companies,
MK used a wall mounted whiteboard to schedule jobs
against operatives. In a sector where 3 day jobs can
easily become 7 day jobs or longer, scheduling can
become a real headache.
Harvey Banks from MK explains:
“One of the first things a customer asks when
he phones is “How soon can you do the job?”.
Answering that question was no easy task. Combined
with the fact that requirements often change, sometimes
during the job, it meant that we spent huge amounts
of time with a duster and pen, reorganising things.”
iQ solution
The electronic whiteboard functionality was a perfect
solution for MK’s issues. After reading a case
study about the impact iQ was having on Clyde Valley
Drilling Ltd, Harvey emailed Quarterback Systems.
Craig Robertson from Quarterback visited the head
office in Oldham and an agreement was quickly reached
to implement the whiteboard as the first phase in
the project.
There is no point in implementing software unless
it delivers benefits to the company and this is exactly
what MK has experienced by implementing iQ. Harvey
takes up the story:
“It’s hard to quantify the exact value
of the benefits we have achieved through implementing
the iQ whiteboard but there is no doubt that they
are significant for a company of our size - the benefits
far exceed the cost of the software making it very
good value for money. Since going live we have achieved
the following:
Time savings
By far and away the biggest efficiency for us is the
time saving in scheduling jobs. What was a really
complex and time consuming process can now be done
using simple drag and drop technology in a fraction
of the time.
More responsive to clients
As I previously said, we are often asked how soon
we can schedule a job to start. The visual nature
of the tool, combined with the ability to quickly
change things, means we are able to give an immediate
answer and schedule jobs to start at the earliest
opportunity.
Better management of resources
Again, the visual nature of the whiteboard means that
gaps in operatives’ workload are immediately
obvious. Before iQ, we occasionally had operatives
not allocated to jobs for a day here or there –
working with a wipe on-wipe off whiteboard is not
always precise. Our operative utilisation has increased.
Increased effectiveness
Overall, we have become more effective in managing
and scheduling the work, releasing time to devote
to other areas of the business.
These are exactly what iQ has been designed to achieve.
As Craig says:
“The iQ business control toolkit is not just
software: it enables control by removing repetitive
mundane tasks, to let you get on with running the
business instead of running after it.”
The driving ethos behind Quarterback Systems is to
meet the needs of its customers, delivering a high
level of service and responsiveness. Harvey acknowledges
how important this has been:
“We are a very demanding client. We have asked
for a number of developments to the software which
have either been delivered or are in the pipeline.
Craig and his team have always been very responsive
and helpful and we get on very well with them. We
would have no hesitation in recommending them and
the iQ software to others.”
What next?
Up to now MK has only implemented the whiteboard functionality.
That in itself has transformed the job scheduling
side of the business. However, the next phase of the
project is to implement the Part Tracker module to
track equipment location and costs. This will provide
control over another key are for the company, ensuring
that they are well equipped to push the business on
to further success.
MK Piling Ltd
Units 1 - 2, Belgrave Industrial Estate
Honeywell Lane
Oldham
OL8 2JP
www.mkpiling.co.uk |
