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Courtesy of Highways Awards Gallery 2023

Re-flow and how it has helped the Kiely Group’s service

Established in 1950, the Kiely Group perform carriageway and footpath surfacing and treatments. They have a history of innovation, whether through forward-thinking acquisitions, trademarking their own surfacing processes, or researching new surface treatment processes using recycled materials.

The Kiely Group’s transformation with Re-flow covers every part of the digital transformation brief – boosting the company’s net zero targets, improving HSE standards, and adding value both to clients and the public.

In relation to net zero, Re-flow’s flexibility and custom forms have helped the Kiely Group manage the carbon footprint of their sites. They do this through a number of means, which include maintaining a database of materials and assets with associated carbon costs. The nature of the Re-flow software then allows them to calculate emissions quickly and efficiently.

Liam McStay, Quality and Technical Services Supervisor at Kiely Group, explained it well: ‘Re-flow serves as a database to manage and calculate carbon emissions per site and contract,’ he said. ‘The process involves foremen documenting daily material usage in their diary sheets, including the rate of spread for materials like bitumen emulsion and aggregate.

‘This data can be categorised by site or contract, providing a comprehensive view of our material consumption and allowing us to calculate our total carbon footprint. Although paper records are an option, using Re-flow's digital platform improves efficiency and accessibility in reporting to authorities that are increasingly focusing on carbon metrics.’

The data also allowed the Kiely Group to make informed decisions and improvements where they saw fit. Similar improvements were seen in relation to HSE compliance too. Re-flow eased the process of reporting near misses, and this build up of data managers were able to analyse trends and then share insights and develop a conversation across the business. Raising awareness in this way has been a vital part of improving safety, and when the software doing the reporting and collecting the information is so easy to use, then improvements – in this case, the creation of a safer work environment – comes quickly.

Courtesy of Kiely Group - LinkedIn

Helping during interactions with the public and clients

One of the less heralded, but just as notable benefits of Re-flow – having access to schedules and records to everyone who needs them in the company – has allowed the Kiely Group to manage their interactions with the public. The customer care team has rapid access to any questions that come their way – as do the operatives and admin staff. This helps build rapport with the people in the vicinity of worksites.

Staff life has been revolutionised too:

• Re-flow’s scheduler allows admin staff to drag jobs across the scheduler.

• The software is then able to automate or streamline assigning assets, operatives, and other materials.

• During this process, admin are automatically notified about any issues like booking clashes or worker holidays. The software also notifies the workers involved.

In an industry dictated to by fickle weather, the simplicity and power of digitally arranging jobs on Re-flow has been a game-changer.

Finally, client relationships have never been healthier. Managers gain the oversight of incomplete forms and can scrutinise photo evidence of work. Any issues are solved quickly, and Re-flow allows Kiely Group to generate reports and custom datasets specified to their client’s needs.

Field management benefits

‘Before Re-flow, the foreman would have to handwrite their daily return sheets and quality checks for each site at the end of the day,’ Kiely told us. ‘They would often have to write notes during the day and then fill in paperwork in their own time at night. This could take them over half an hour. With Re-flow they fill in the necessary paperwork on the go and at the end of work on each site. Each form takes less than a minute to fill in. Also, the gathering of the paperwork is instant compared to previously having to wait up to two weeks to receive daily return sheets. Another time saving is found when searching for site-specific information. With Re-flow there’s no more looking through paper files, which saves management a lot of time.’

In previous years, the Kiely Group were spending over £15,000 a year on paperwork booklets and over £8,000 on apps to help with auditing. With Re-flow they no longer need to do any of this.

For more information on digital transformation book a demo or call us today on 01392 574002.