SmartVan tracks parts on the move the smart way
As published in Housing Executive Magazine (Issue 11) Pages 32-33, September 2023
Inventor-e has been equipping businesses to manage assets as well as inventory and stock since 2001.
Through its Sorcerer software, companies could manage warehousing and factory manufacturing sites more efficiently. Then the company saw an opportunity to develop this software to also enable customers to manage the stock of repair teams while they were in the field.
SmartVan
”This gave birth to our SmartVan concept,“ elaborates Damion Rothner, business development director at Inventor-e.
SmartVan has been developed to make Housing Associations more efficient when their repair operatives are out in the field and when implemented also enables them to reduce operating costs and improve fixing repairs the first time.
The best way to drive efficiency and productivity is to make sure the operative carries out a real first-time fix, and the only way to do that is to have a well-managed accurate, and refined stock of materials in the van. Therefore, SmartVan is ideal for Housing Associations looking to improve the efficiency of their repair teams in the field.
”The technology enables all operators from the same company to liaise with one another through the system, so if an operative does not have a specific part for the job they can, via the system find out if a colleague nearby has the stock required. Therefore, making the repair more efficient on the ground to the benefit of both the customer and relevant housing association.“
Once back at the Housing Association, the operative can see how much stock they have in their van and what needs to be replaced.
Hardware
The hardware utilised in SmartVan that also makes it an efficient system is the RFID tag.
The re-writable RFID tags contain a vast amount of information about the product including warranty period, price, and weight. The operative simply taps their mobile device on the tag and can find out how many parts need to be replaced.
For the Social Housing repair and maintenance function we have made it as low-tech and as easy to use as possible. But at the same time utilising the powerful feature-rich software from Sorcerer, to drive all the reporting, data, and job costing. This provides our customers with the visibility and business information they need. We went one step further on the back of that and built-in NFC technology (near field communication) that works using RFID tags.
What we have tried to do is create an end-to-end system that solves the issue of productivity and efficiency, addresses the issues of user interfaces and complexities, but also provides a product that is both feature and data-rich.
The beauty of RFID tags is that it is proven technology that works, and it works well on any mobile device. You can plug and play this immediately so RFID tags can be read via a smartphone. It has all the functionality you’d expect to be able to view your own stock. But you can also view stock across all other vans in the whole fleet. So if you are out and about it not only saves time, but overall costs as well.
As published in Housing Executive Magazine (Issue 11) Pages 32-33, September 2023
Inventor-e has been equipping businesses to manage assets as well as inventory and stock since 2001.
Through its Sorcerer software, companies could manage warehousing and factory manufacturing sites more efficiently. Then the company saw an opportunity to develop this software to also enable customers to manage the stock of repair teams while they were in the field.
SmartVan
”This gave birth to our SmartVan concept,“ elaborates Damion Rothner, business development director at Inventor-e.
SmartVan has been developed to make Housing Associations more efficient when their repair operatives are out in the field and when implemented also enables them to reduce operating costs and improve fixing repairs the first time.
The best way to drive efficiency and productivity is to make sure the operative carries out a real first-time fix, and the only way to do that is to have a well-managed accurate, and refined stock of materials in the van. Therefore, SmartVan is ideal for Housing Associations looking to improve the efficiency of their repair teams in the field.
”The technology enables all operators from the same company to liaise with one another through the system, so if an operative does not have a specific part for the job they can, via the system find out if a colleague nearby has the stock required. Therefore, making the repair more efficient on the ground to the benefit of both the customer and relevant housing association.“
Once back at the Housing Association, the operative can see how much stock they have in their van and what needs to be replaced.
Hardware
The hardware utilised in SmartVan that also makes it an efficient system is the RFID tag.
The re-writable RFID tags contain a vast amount of information about the product including warranty period, price, and weight. The operative simply taps their mobile device on the tag and can find out how many parts need to be replaced.
For the Social Housing repair and maintenance function we have made it as low-tech and as easy to use as possible. But at the same time utilising the powerful feature-rich software from Sorcerer, to drive all the reporting, data, and job costing. This provides our customers with the visibility and business information they need. We went one step further on the back of that and built-in NFC technology (near field communication) that works using RFID tags.
What we have tried to do is create an end-to-end system that solves the issue of productivity and efficiency, addresses the issues of user interfaces and complexities, but also provides a product that is both feature and data-rich.
The beauty of RFID tags is that it is proven technology that works, and it works well on any mobile device. You can plug and play this immediately so RFID tags can be read via a smartphone. It has all the functionality you’d expect to be able to view your own stock. But you can also view stock across all other vans in the whole fleet. So if you are out and about it not only saves time, but overall costs as well.