Colin Yates, Chief Support Officer at WorkMobile, argues that plumbing and heating business owners should start to take the paperless route within their operations.
Advances in mobile technology and the birth of cloud computing have made it possible for more and more businesses across almost every sector to embrace digital transformation and revolutionise the way they work.
Yet, despite the significant benefits of digitalisation, many within the plumbing and heating sector are still failing to adopt digital solutions. Our recent ‘Death of the Paper Trail’ report revealed that 67% of trade and utilities businesses are still heavily reliant on paper.
This is likely due to a combination of tradition, complacency, and a fear of the costs and complications that digital transformation might entail. However, with increasing numbers of businesses starting to recognise the rewards of embracing digital technology, others will need to start following suit, or risk falling behind their competition.
So, for those who are still unsure whether their business should be going paperless or not, here are just three ways of why doing so could benefit both businesses and their customers:
Enhance security
One of the biggest risks of relying on paper is that crucial documents will be misplaced or irreparably damaged. This risk becomes even greater for sectors in which workers are not based in an office environment, as is the case for heating and plumbing engineers. This is because there’s likely to be a longer time lapse between a document being completed and it then being safely filed away.
Missing or incomplete paperwork could put customers in danger, as crucial warning signs for problems could be missed. It also leaves engineers vulnerable to complaints that they have broken the professional standards, such as those set by the CIPHE and other trade associations, which require them to safeguard the environment and public health and safety, and comply with all relevant laws, regulations, standards and codes.
Fortunately, there are now tools available that make it possible to replicate forms and reports digitally, meaning that all paperwork can be completed by engineers in real-time via an app on a mobile device. The information in these documents can then be stored automatically on a central cloud-based platform, making it impossible for files to go missing or be saved incorrectly. It also helps to ensure that confidential customer information is as secure as possible.
Improve efficiency
Paper-based processes can be extremely time-consuming. Not only must all documents be completed by hand, they must then be returned to the office, where any essential information can be manually inputted into a computer database and the paper documents filed away into bulky – and possibly expensive – storage units.
With cloud-based digital solutions, all documents can be completed and filed without the need for the employees to physically return to the office, which improves productivity as it gives them more time to attend a greater number of jobs.
With reports automatically loaded onto the company portal, it also greatly reduces the administrative burdens placed on staff and leaves less room for human error.
Ensure reliability
The most recent Which? Trusted Trader survey, revealed that the most common concern when hiring a tradesperson is that they won’t turn up at the agreed time.
Replacing paper-based workflow management processes with cloud-based solutions can help to eliminate many of the issues that can cause engineers to be late for appointments.
Cloud-based systems make it much easier to re-allocate existing jobs, or add new ones throughout the day, as job sheets don’t need to be physically handed over to staff. Instead, managers are able to schedule work and send information directly to employees’ mobile devices.
It’s also possible to receive updates and notifications during the lifecycle of a job. This makes it much easier to see when employees are running behind schedule, meaning a decision can then be made either to alert the next customer to the slight delay or to reassign the job to another member of the team.
With so many benefits, both for sole traders and larger operations, going paperless with the help of digital technology is worth serious consideration if you are looking to improve your operational processes.
