Ruthmann GmbH & Co. KG
The aerial work platform manufacturer
relies on mobile service solutions.
Our Client
Ruthmann GmbH & Co. KG, a company of Time Manufacturing Company, with headquarters in Gescher-Hochmoor in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, is a leading manufacturer of aerial work platforms and specialized commercial vehicles. In addition to the company headquarters, Ruthmann also operates service branches nationwide in the immediate vicinity of the major cities of Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Ulm and Ingolstadt. In Austria, the company is represented by the subsidiary Ruthmann GmbH in Dobl near Graz and a service station near Vienna. The product series STEIGER® (truck work platforms), VERSALIFT® (VAN work platforms), BLUELIFT (caterpillar work platforms) and ECOLINE (truck work platforms on 3.5 t chassis, cost-optimized) stand for performance and quality in the industry. The company's main customer groups include landlords, energy suppliers, municipalities and municipal companies, gardeners and landscapers, as well as craftsmen.
The Challenge
The project had to consider completely different aspects with regard to technical functionality and integration into the existing processes. One of Ruthmann's main demands on the hardware was that the devices be used for navigation, in addition to using the phone function. They also had to be portable, but also durable for everyday use at the workplace. One of the greatest challenges the project faced was finding the appropriate support for mobile connection of the device from Ruthmann`s telecommunications partner.
Project challenges
- Individual service requires fast response
- Identical data is collected several times
- Media disruption through scanning reports
- Lack of transparency about installation status
- Billing process takes too long
The Solution
To expand the mobile service quality of its customers on site, the aerial work platform manufacturer Ruthmann opted for the mobile field service solution 4mobile Service. Using the new system, the company replaced the previously manually created reports of service engineers by a fully digital format. The collection of data during operations is ensured by the introduction of mobile devices. In order to incorporate the data automatically into their own ERP system, a complete system integration in Microsoft Dynamics NAV was implemented. The workers on site can now transmit service reports in real time and view current and historical job data. The customer uses its digital signature for service acceptance, which is transmitted directly to the central database to complete the accounting.
Solution
- Mobile IT Service Management solution for full digital processing of service orders
- Complete system integration in Microsoft Dynamics NAV
- Digital signature for service acceptance by customers
- Automatic service reports
- Monitoring current and historical job data
The Result
Thanks to the cutting-edge IT infrastructure, transparency in order processing has improved substantially and significantly shortens the order cycle times. The result is a sustainable optimization of internal processes and the information and material flow between headquarters and field service technicians. A good part of efficiency gains since system introduction can be attributed to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV linked to the solution. The data is now transmitted in real time to the central database and thus lead to much faster processing and accounting. Thanks to the logistic mapping, it is now possible to fully automate stock management in the service vehicle, as well as restocking processes.
Result
- More efficient information and material flow
- Cycle time per order shortened considerably
- Reduction of the administrative workload
- Cost savings
- Sustainable optimization of internal processes
- Fault-minimizing order processing and documentation
- Significant improvement of service quality for the customer
