Vulindlela Tyre Breakdown Service provides 24 hours, 7 days a week tyre related road side assistance to logistics and transport companies. Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company was established 12 years ago and currently operate in 9 locations across the country. 85% of all goods in the country are delivered by road transport, and Vulindlela is committed in assisting as many of these transport companies stuck on the side of the road in the most efficient way possible.

"MobiWork allowed us to reduce our document turnaround time by more than 50%. We have significantly increased our workflow, gone paperless and have less queries that delays payment."
- Niel Roodt, Director of Operations

Key Challenges: Keeping up with the Demand and Reducing Overall Processing Time to get Paid Faster

With 85% of goods transported by road on the continent over large distances, various provinces and different locations, the challenge was to get the relevant paperwork to their head office for processing. With 9 locations and a growing business they needed a more reliable and improved workflow to optimize their operations. They had to rely on fax and emails to get the job cards to the head office. It took a long time to not only process the invoices, but also then to collect payment for these jobs. With the continuous increase in operating costs, notably fuel, their operating margins were eroded and constantly under pressure. They required a solution that minimized paper work and the turnaround time of information, ideally allowing them to go paperless and shorten the invoice process.

Results: Immediate Improvement in Documentation Turnaround Time, Greater Capability and Productivity, Paperless and Accurate Data Capture

Vulindlelas' immediate reaction to MobiWork was extremely positive. They were excited to have something that was customizable to their needs and requirements. The first goal Vulindlela wanted to achieve was to implement an efficient, quick workflow. Before MobiWork, all documentation was handwritten on paper and the method of getting completed documentation to the head office for invoicing was slow and troublesome. "We were very impressed with how easily MobiWork was configured to match our specific requirements."

With MobiWork as soon as a workorder is completed it is put into the secured cloud-based server, checked and then invoiced with minimum delay. The total turnaround time for documentation was usually a standard 48 hours or longer, but that number has been reduced by more than half to the point where most of the MobiWork workorders are processed on the same day. "It made us twice as fast as the rest of the industry." Their dispatch supervisors load the workorders for the technicians directly onto smart devices, who then receive the workorders on smart devices and complete the details paperless. "The improvement for turnaround time on paper work, in theory, is as soon as the job was completed. Previously it could take up to 7 days depending on the location where there is no formal infrastructure to send the job cards from." Now they no longer have difficulty in keeping track of the process where ever the job was done.

Additionally, the response from clients has been nothing but positive. They are particularly impressed by the quick turnaround of their paperwork as well as the neatness and accuracy thereof. "Everything seems to keep getting better and better." The company has a strategic goal to grow and the use of MobiWork assists this as they can do sustainably more workorders with the same staff complement. "We have increased the number of work orders significantly, yet we are handling them with ease and less pressure and have the capacity to grow." MobiWork gives them a distinct advantage over their competitors because none of them have a comparable system and they are still mainly dependent on paper. MobiWork powerful forms and smart data entry were also beneficial in reducing any data capture error, minor or major, from a manual entry. This resulted in the elimination of accidental duplicate data entry as well, saving on everyone's valuable time and energy.

Vulindlela plans to use MobiWork for stock management within the next six months to control their tyre and material stock at the various locations. They will also start using MobiWork to manage and control their assets by implementing weekly vehicle checks and monthly equipment checks.