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10 years on and Smith & Byford continue to grow with Vixensoft |
Building services
contractor, Smith & Byford, have always been forward-thinking.
In a competitive M&E sector, technology delivers advantages
which the Surrey-based contractor has been swift to adopt.
Now, ten years after first implementing a ViXEN solution,
Smith & Byford are looking back on a decade of growth.
“In 1997 we realised our business would benefit from
an integrated system and we’ve been keen to get the
very most out of it since”, said director Will Smith.
“Having the right system in place has helped our performance
and the client service improvements have played an important
role in us winning new business.”
ViXEN is a specialist building services system developed by
leading software provider Vixensoft. “We’ve enjoyed
working with Smith & Byford”, said Vixensoft Managing
Director, Wayne Rogers, “and appreciated their enthusiasm
and involvement in helping us develop a quality building services
solution. I’m sure Will would agree that their growth
over the last ten years can, in part, be attributed to the
time they’ve invested in maximising the potential of
their ViXEN system. It’s helped them deliver a superior
client service and a level of reporting which clearly sets
them apart.”
Smith & Byford use ViXEN across their entire business,
with integration playing an important role in avoiding duplicated
effort and cutting costs. The modules they employ include
Estimating, Job Costing, Purchase Ordering, Financials, Payroll
and, most recently, Service & Maintenance. With the introduction
of mobile communications and mapping software, Smith &
Byford sought to modernise their reactive service operation
as well as improve their client service offering. |
"It is also fair to say that
improved efficiency in paperwork and systems provided by
ViXEN have contributed to steady improvement in our operating
profit over the last 3 years"
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“Knowing
where our engineers are located at any one time and then scheduling
jobs accordingly using the ViXEN diary system is proving extremely
useful,” said Will Smith. “It means that we can
monitor our service operation much more effectively and get
real-time information back to create KPI reports for our clients.
For our engineers, it’s meant a lot less paperwork too,
as they can receive job information on their PDAs and use
them for completing forms and timesheets on-site which they
then send in electronically. Data can then get posted automatically
in the Job Costing and Payroll modules making it easier for
us to invoice our clients quickly".
”This is a particular bonus to the company which, in
2007, moved offices and took the opportunity to review their
operations to ensure it was being eco-friendly. “Obviously,
over time the digital ‘paperwork’ makes a big
difference to storage pressures and our use of paper,”
says Will Smith, as they strive to attain the ever-elusive
paperless office. “It is also fair to say that improved
efficiency in paperwork and systems provided by ViXEN have
contributed to steady improvement in our operating profit
over the last 3 years”.
Today, Smith & Byford employ 205 staff and are competing
for major contracts across their operational area which stretches
from Sevenoaks in the east to Basingstoke in the west and
incorporates south London. The company’s notable successes
include a 7 plus 5 year maintenance contract working alongside
Mears plc for The Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames. The
contract is worth approximately £40 million to Smith
& Byford over its full term. In April 2007, they also
secured a contract with the London Borough of Merton for 7
years valued at around £12 million.
Looking ahead, as Smith & Byford have been so successful
at doing, ViXEN continues to help the company drive things
forward. Recent developments within the ViXEN portfolio include
an onsite procurement facility as an extension of the mobile
communications solution. “It’s a two way street.
Some of our developments are specifically at the request of
our customers and others are conceived by us in reaction to
issues we know the industry faces,” said Wayne Rogers.
“Either way, we hope our software continues to help
Smith & Byford and others achieve even greater success
in the future.” |
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