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Re-flow Field Management Review by DWG Infraco
Context
- DWG Infraco was established in 2002 as a timber supplier for the furniture sector. Following a restructuring in 2010, the company eventually expanded into polyurethanes, supplying life extension materials for the rail industry.
- Purchasing a resin injection business in 2016, the firm quickly became an innovator in their sector, committing themselves to rapid growth and spreading their technology and services to clients across the country.
- In the years since, the firm has become a leading provider of ground stabilisation and asphalt installation services, as well as a key supplier of concrete and rail industry track/PWAY life extension products.
Challenge
At the core of DWG Infraco’s needs was introducing more accountability into the business. They needed a solution that would reliably keep a record of all major business processes, including HSE management, asset management and on-site operations.
The firm was operating on paper record-keeping systems, which were prone to human error and conditions beyond the team’s control. The time lag between paperwork being completed on-site and its arrival back to the office also meant that administrative teams could not access real-time data on site operations, hindering their responsiveness to emerging situations.
Without access to current information, building robust audit trails was a challenging and time-consuming process. The nature of physical recordkeeping also meant that when specific records would need to be referred to, they could only be accessed from one place and would take more time to retrieve; time that could otherwise be used more productively.
Uprooting existing processes came with its own considerations. The business wanted to make sure that they adopted a system that would be readily accepted by its teams, both on-site and in the office. A user-friendly, intuitive solution that wouldn’t bring work to a grinding halt while teams got to grip with its complexities.
Solution
Re-flow’s field management software for rail and civil engineering offers a centralised, cloud-based record-keeping solution that keeps teams current and informed with real-time data, instant communication and robust audit trails.
Interfacing between a desktop dashboard and a mobile app for operatives in the field, manually delivering paperwork becomes a thing of the past. Information submitted from the app is instantly fed back to the dashboard and vice-versa. When scheduling work, dashboard users can assign forms from Re-flow’s catalogue of over 40 or customise and build their own from scratch using the system’s intuitive block-based form builder. Once works commence, teams on-site can access and complete said forms, with drop-down fields and enforced processes ensuring that strict compliance is always maintained. Upon submission, a unique digital signature is attached to each submitted form, tracking time, date, location, operatives and the job it was a part of.
This enables office teams to easily build robust audit trails as a job progresses, with the ability to filter information by a range of views and criteria to quickly find specific information and access it anywhere. With the addition of features such as live user tracking, being current on what’s taking place on-site enables back-office teams to be more reactive when unexpected situations emerge, as well as being able to quickly rectify nonconformities as they’re reported. All this data can also be collated into customisable, exportable reports that can be instantly sent to colleagues, clients and key stakeholders. In conjunction with the form builder, this enables users to harvest and track any data or KPIs they need to successfully deliver a project.
Re-flow also enables businesses to manage their assets through the system, spanning plant, equipment, vehicles and more. Users can filter asset records through views and attach and access detailed information including operating manuals, relevant documents, maintenance history, defect status as well as last known location, tracked through form completion on the app. Workflow automation can also streamline asset management processes; for example, defects submitted through the app on-site can automatically update the asset’s status within records and schedule a maintenance reminder, notifying all relevant parties of the update.
To ensure a smooth on-site adoption process, Re-flow was built with the operative’s experience as the focus. Developed in collaboration with industry professionals, the software was built to be as user-friendly, intuitive and as accessible as possible, while remaining comprehensive and powerful. Flexible and white label, the system can even be customised to fit a businesses’ branding, terminology and processes, with the form builder enabling previously used paper forms to be translated directly into a digital format.
Outcome
Having adopted Re-flow, DWG Infraco was able to centralise all their data and keep track of major operational processes and key KPIs in real-time.
Paperwork being delivered from sites decreased substantially, with a 70% reduction in paperwork between site and office. The transition to digital forms has also significantly streamlined compliance enforcement. Vehicle safety checks are now more accurate, with instant communication upon submission enabling back-office teams to stay current and be more reactive. These changes have brought multiple benefits, including a 60% increase in cross-team communication and a 75% improvement in health and safety through streamlined incident reporting.
Eliminating tedious administrative processes has also brought an increase in productivity across the business. Repetitive tasks, including timesheets, asset management and building audit trails has now been streamlined, increasing available time by 60% and enabling office teams to do more with their time. The amount of real-time information arriving from sites has also improved the business’s auditability by 80%, with capture, sign off and tag functionalities giving staff a granular breakdown of all on-site activities, which can be easily accessed through Re-flow’s centralised database of information.
We would recommend Re-flow because of the improved efficiencies and organisation that it can bring. Having everything centralised and accessible from anywhere is a big help, and our pipeline is now well documented from start to finish thanks to the real-time data we get through the system. The health and safety aspects of our projects have also greatly benefitted, especially with how comprehensive our quality checks have become.
Operations Director Designate
DWG Infraco
DWG Infraco now joins a community of over 200 businesses nationwide who have embraced the digital age and transformed their operational processes, ensuring sustainable growth for years to come. Streamlining tedious administrative processes, mastering HSE management and increasing job turnaround. All this, and more, can be achieved with Re-flow’s field management software for rail and civil engineering.
