Case Study

BES Increases Productivity by 15% with VISITOUR and MOBILE FLOW

Reduction of Travel and Dispatch Times

15%

Increase in Productivity

Improvement in Service Quality

Solvares Field Service supports BES Group (British Engineering Services) in reducing travel and dispatch times, resulting in a productivity increase of up to 15% per day for service technicians.

The Company: Certified Engineers Ensure the Safety of People and the Operation of Facilities

With a long history dating back to 1859, British Engineering Services is today the UK’s largest independent company for technical inspections, testing, and certifications. Its customer base spans a wide range of industries, from factories, nuclear power plants, and hospitals to schools. Until 2015, British Engineering Services was part of RSA, one of the world’s leading insurance companies listed on the FTSE 100, but is now fully privately owned.

British Engineering Services employs 450 highly qualified engineers for inspection and consulting services, conducting a total of 2.8 million inspections per year. Customers benefit from state-of-the-art technology and an excellent online reporting system that provides information quickly and easily.

The Project: A Solution for an Excellent Customer Experience

BES sought to optimise its field service to further improve its reliability and consistently deliver inspections of the highest quality on time—for an exceptional customer experience.

“We continuously review our performance and constantly seek ways to exceed our customers’ expectations,” reports Stephen Doyle, Operations Development Leader at British Engineering Services.

“We are proud that some of the best people in the industry work for us. Many of our employees bring years of experience in technical inspection and certification. Our expertise and deep understanding of our customers’ needs have strongly shaped our business development. As a result, we began our collaboration with Solvares Field Service.”

The Right Technician at the Right Time in the Right Place

The Solvares Field Service solution VISITOUR brings technician availability together with customer needs. The program automatically schedules inspection appointments for the entire technical field service and selects the right technician with the right skills for the right job.

Through individually configurable variables, the Field Service Management Software combines multiple inspections at the same location into a single appointment. Using technologically sophisticated map logic and incorporating expected traffic volumes, VISITOUR calculates the most efficient route for each appointment.

The software ensures that the optimal fit is found for each appointment—for the customer, the technician, and the company.

Doyle explains:

“We looked at many different software providers for field planning and route planning, but none could give us the flexibility we wanted. Then we found Solvares Field Service, who offered us a highly configurable system and made every effort to properly understand our company and our data in order to deliver the right product for us and our customers.”

He continues: “They also demonstrated the capabilities of their software live with initial tests and a pilot system. That was a key reason why we chose Solvares Field Service.”

The initial results from VISITOUR showed a significant reduction in travel times and, in addition, an extra benefit through the reduction of dispatching effort, enabled by centralised planning of inspection appointments.

The tests proved the added value of VISITOUR in terms of efficiency and productivity gains and helped us prepare for full implementation.

Stephen Doyle

Operations Development Leader · British Engineering Services

“We learned what to do, who should be involved, and how to make the transition as smooth as possible for our employees,” Doyle explains.

Timing of Inspections and Risk Management

British Engineering Services takes safety and compliance very seriously. Their accreditations and memberships in the field of technical inspections and certifications are unmatched. Inspections are planned and announced in advance to eliminate potential access issues at the customer’s site beforehand.

One of the challenges is that inspections conducted too early require subsequent inspections to also be brought forward, which causes higher costs. However, overdue inspections pose a safety and compliance risk.

The fact that VISITOUR is able to manage this timing and combine multiple inspections in one appointment is not only beneficial for reducing costs and travel times, but also provides customers with greater planning certainty while maintaining safety standards.

About the Collaboration with Solvares Field Service

“We have found the Solvares Field Service team to be very helpful and believe that a genuine partnership has emerged that will further increase our efficiency and service quality,” Doyle summarises. He adds:

“They are always available when we need them and regularly review the rules and settings in VISITOUR to ensure we can meet our customers’ expectations in the best possible way. I can truly recommend Solvares Field Service.”

Paul Hirst, Managing Director Engineering Inspection, adds:

Solvares Field Service has proven to be an excellent partner since the start of our collaboration in 2015. The real-time appointment and route planning VISITOUR is at the heart of our business strategy to increase field service efficiency while ensuring the best possible customer experience.

Paul Hirst

Managing Director Engineering Inspection · British Engineering Services

What You Can Take away from this for your Service

Highly configurable field planning brings the "right technician to the right place at the right time"—including skills, availability, and customer expectations.

Intelligent bundling of multiple assignments at one location reduces travel and dispatch times and noticeably increases productivity per day.

Routes based on real traffic and time profiles reduce travel times without compromising safety and compliance.

Well-planned inspection cycles avoid costly advance effects while preventing risks from overdue inspections.

Close, collaborative partnership with the software provider helps continuously refine rules and settings—thereby continuously increasing efficiency and service quality.

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