Bel met een expert
How De Ridder digitizes maintenance processes and increases customer satisfaction
Contracts are completed
3x higher
Through advanced checklists
- Asset management
- Checklist
- Customer Portal
- Dashboards
- Inspections
- Preventive Maintenance
- Ticketing
- Maintenance
- Manufacturing
- Mobility
Challenges
- Heavy reliance on paper work orders
- Lack of visibility into customer and machine history
- Mistaken administration
Solutions
- Complete automation of various processes
- Implementation of dashboards
- User-friendly app for technicians
Benefits
- Better overview through digital reports
- Service contracts are completed
- Structured maintenance processes
- Saving time and costs
Background
De Ridder is a Dutch supplier of high-quality metalworking machines and associated services in the Benelux. With almost 50 years of experience, De Ridder supports customers in the manufacturing industry with expertise in turning, milling and eroding.
Kasper van Witzenburg, system administrator at De Ridder, has worked at the company for many years and is an expert in field service management. In this success story, Kasper shares more about the challenges the company faced in the past. He also explains how FieldBuddy helped overcome these challenges and why De Ridder is now ready to continue to grow.
Previous challenge: double work and mistaken administration
In the past, De Ridder used a simple scheduling system. Although this system was functional, the company still faced some challenges. Many of their processes were managed manually, resulting in quite a big amount of time spent on gathering data and creating clear overviews. Important customer and machine information wasn’t available and did not have a clear structure.
Technicians were still working with paper work orders, which led to double work and mistaken administration. Because the data was entered manually, simple mistakes could easily find their way into the system. Paper work orders also get lost more quickly than digital ones.
De Ridder realized it was time to find a solution to solve these challenges. The main goal was to find one field service solution that could integrate with Exact and Qlikview, which the company was already using. Another important goal was that all of the processes needed to be digitized. This way De Ridder can finally get more insight into technician work orders, loaned equipment, the entire return process and the status of customer assets.
The Solution: more overview and streamlined processes
That’s where FieldBuddy came in, the company that provided De Ridder with the field service software they have been looking for. Both companies started the collaboration with enthusiasm. Over time, FieldBuddy and De Ridder have built a strong partnership. During this period, De Ridder’s field service software has become a highly advanced solution that has fully digitized all aspects of their service operations, exactly what De Ridder wanted.
FieldBuddy’s vision is to make the latest field service technology accessible to small and medium enterprises. This vision can clearly be seen in what De Ridder has achieved with FieldBuddy’s software. Thanks to an integration with Qlikview, De Ridder can now offer external dashboards to their customers. These dashboards provide the customer insight into the maintenance of their machines. De Ridder calls this ‘proactive advice’. This adds an extra service by offering customers a look into asset maintenance, a unique feature.
With the help of FieldBuddy, De Ridder can efficiently structure their maintenance processes. From work orders to scheduling, everything is streamlined, and paper work is no longer necessary. Technicians also benefit from this. They can use FieldBuddy’s Swift app to see their schedules and the parts or equipment they need. “Advanced checklists help collect data for clear customer updates,” explains Kasper. “They also guide technicians in completing SLA’s.”
The insights provided by FieldBuddy are really valuable. Everything is digitized and integrated.
System administrator at De Ridder
Service contracts are important to De Ridder. Thanks to FieldBuddy’s automation possibilities, the company knows for sure that they can meet their commitments. Two months before it is time for a maintenance appointment with a customer, the back office automatically receives a notification. They call the customer to discuss the asset. While the back office does this, they can see the service history and contracts of the customer’s asset. This makes the conversation more effective and personal.
Kasper has implemented a solution for return processes. During preventive maintenance, parts are often sent to suppliers for repair, a process that might seem pretty simple. However, due to difficult communication, the process can be delayed. It can take months for the parts to be returned or shipped out. Kasper explains: “When parts that we still need to process remain with us for too long, it costs money. Some suppliers charge fees for the extra time a part isn’t returned to them.” With FieldBuddy, De Ridder can now track where parts are located and who is responsible for them. This saves the company costs and delays.
Results: efficiency and customer satisfaction
3x higher efficiency
By digitizing work orders and automating reports with FieldBuddy, De Ridder has increased their productivity. Processes that used to take days are now completed within just a few hours. “In the past, we had to manually enter work orders and handle everything through the mail”, says Kasper. “Thanks to FieldBuddy, we save an incredible amount of time and money. It has completely transformed the way we work.”
Saving costs
The new return process has not only reduced the number of lost parts, but also saved costs by ensuring that service contracts can be completed. Now, parts no longer remain in stock for so long, they can be credited quickly. “This makes a big difference, both financially and organizationally,” says Kasper. With FieldBuddy, De Ridder has a clear overview of parts that are still on-site or have already been returned to suppliers. This way, there are no misunderstandings and De Ridder can save costs every year.
Stronger customer relationships
The communication between De Ridder and its customers is very smooth. Customers benefit from a clear overview of their asset maintenance via the customer portal. They can also easily reach out to De Ridder and schedule maintenance appointments at a time that suits them best, whether by phone or email. Since the back office can contact customers two months in advance to schedule a maintenance appointment, incidents don’t happen often and assets remain in a good condition.
The collaboration with FieldBuddy has been going well for years. Their flexibility and quick support make them a valuable partner.
System administrator at De Ridder
Conclusion
Because FieldBuddy is flexible and configurable, De Ridder has been able to develop its maintenance processes for years. With FieldBuddy, the company has found a solution that grows with their needs. “We can now generate reports at customer level, view the revenue per machine and track the efficiency of technicians,” says Kasper. As De Ridder continues to grow, FieldBuddy grows with them.
Efficiency
With FieldBuddy, De Ridder has streamlined its workflows, and paper work orders for technicians are no longer necessary. This leads to fast and error-free processing of service requests.
