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Smith & Byford enjoy ten years with ViXEN |
Posted:
12/09/2007 |
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Building services contractor, Smith
& Byford, have always been forward-thinking. In a competitive
M&E sector, technology delivers advantages which the
Surrey-based contractor has been swift to adopt. Now, ten
years after first implementing a ViXEN solution, Smith &
Byford are looking back on a decade of growth.
“In 1997 we realised our business would benefit from
an integrated system and we’ve been keen to get the
very most out of it since”, said director Will Smith.
“Having the right system in place has helped our performance
and the client service improvements have played an important
role in us winning new business.”
ViXEN is a specialist building services system developed
by leading software provider Vixensoft. “We’ve
enjoyed working with Smith & Byford”, said Vixensoft
Managing Director, Wayne Rogers, “and appreciated
their enthusiasm and involvement in helping us develop a
quality building services solution. I’m sure Will
would agree that their growth over the last ten years can,
in part, be attributed to the time they’ve invested
in maximising the potential of their ViXEN system. It’s
helped them deliver a superior client service and a level
of reporting which clearly sets them apart.”
Smith & Byford use ViXEN across their entire business,
with integration playing an important role in avoiding duplicated
effort and cutting costs. The modules they employ include
Estimating, Job Costing, Purchase Ordering, Financials,
Payroll and, most recently, Service & Maintenance. With
the introduction of mobile communications and mapping software,
Smith & Byford sought to modernise their reactive service
operation as well as improve their client service offering.
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"It
is also fair to say that improved efficiency in paperwork
and systems provided by ViXEN have contributed to steady
improvement in our operating profit over the last 3 years"
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“Knowing
where our engineers are located at any one time and then scheduling
jobs accordingly using the ViXEN diary system is proving extremely
useful,” said Will Smith. “It means that we can
monitor our service operation much more effectively and get
real-time information back to create KPI reports for our clients.
For our engineers, it’s meant a lot less paperwork too,
as they can receive job information on their PDAs and use
them for completing forms and timesheets on-site which they
then send in electronically. Data can then get posted automatically
in the Job Costing and Payroll modules making it easier for
us to invoice our clients quickly".
”This is a particular bonus to the company which, in
2007, moved offices and took the opportunity to review their
operations to ensure it was being eco-friendly. “Obviously,
over time the digital ‘paperwork’ makes a big
difference to storage pressures and our use of paper,”
says Will Smith, as they strive to attain the ever-elusive
paperless office. “It is also fair to say that improved
efficiency in paperwork and systems provided by ViXEN have
contributed to steady improvement in our operating profit
over the last 3 years”.
Today, Smith & Byford employ 205 staff and are competing
for major contracts across their operational area which stretches
from Sevenoaks in the east to Basingstoke in the west and
incorporates south London. The company’s notable successes
include a 7 plus 5 year maintenance contract working alongside
Mears plc for The Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames. The
contract is worth approximately £40 million to Smith
& Byford over its full term. In April 2007, they also
secured a contract with the London Borough of Merton for 7
years valued at around £12 million.
Looking ahead, as Smith & Byford have been so successful
at doing, ViXEN continues to help the company drive things
forward. Recent developments within the ViXEN portfolio include
an onsite procurement facility as an extension of the mobile
communications solution. “It’s a two way street.
Some of our developments are specifically at the request of
our customers and others are conceived by us in reaction to
issues we know the industry faces,” said Wayne Rogers.
“Either way, we hope our software continues to help
Smith & Byford and others achieve even greater success
in the future.” |
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