Case study: Cutting costs with automated job scheduling software and further optimisation

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Digital transformation can hardly bring a quick fix for teams’ productivity and operational costs if an inefficient process is just covered with a layer of technology. Тhe nature of these initiatives is strategic and affects many parts of an organisation – people, systems, processes. Sometimes, to get the desired quick fix, organisations need to update the technology and the process itself. So ultimately, the quick fix turns out to be in not such fast motion. But it doesn’t mean it can’t be successful if approached right.

That is the tactical move one of our clients – a national regulator, learned when they deployed our automated job scheduling solution Jobtimizer. It helped them automate repetitive tasks like job scheduling with RPA technology. The result was that they managed to secure efficiency improvement without replacing entire systems. But at the same time, they laid the ground for further optimisation initiatives. This tactical modular digital transformation approach targeted an area from the operations cycle with a huge impact that would subsequently facilitate further process optimisation. Our practice with regulatory agencies enabled us to make the right suggestion at the right time so our client can start their digital transformation journey from a well-thought starting point. At the same time, we helped them plan the following points from this journey ahead of time.

inspection platform modules

Assessing the existing work model

As a national regulator, our client’s core processes are within the inspection management field. They are performing their services with a network of inspectors with different skillsets, certifications and locations. When inspectors are allocated to various jobs, they have to inspect the job site to determine whether it complies with the public safety standard and assess the risk of future hazards. Depending on the outcome of the check, the inspection site is marked low-risk or high-risk for potential accidents.

The regulator conducts approximately 800 000 inspections each year. Their back-end officers are responsible for the inspection schedules. When the caseload is too big, the regulatory agency employs third-party inspectors (external workforce), which results in higher operational costs. Inspectors are using tablets with inspection checklists for the type of inspection they have an appointment for. When they complete the check, they upload the inspection data to the cloud server and generate an automated outcome report sent to the inspectee.

Optimising the inefficient inspection job scheduling

Even though the inspection process functioned with automated rules that guaranteed the inspection execution according to the regulatory requirements, there were a lot of manual processes involved in it. Our client receives thousands of inspection requests every day, and then an employee manually assigns inspectors to inspection jobs based on their availability. Inspectors often had to travel in and out of the same town within the hours of a single day. That was harmful to their productivity, motivation, and impacted operational costs because of the growing spending on fuel for travelling.

job scheduling software

Our client was aware of the inefficiency of this manual type of job scheduling. They knew that the possible solution was within the field of digital transformation and inspection scheduling. That’s why they decided to transform their processor with a job scheduling software that takes constraints likes availability and location to map more efficient schedules where inspectors take the smarter route. Before taking this step, an inspector had to go to and leave the same town twice for a single day because of inconvenient scheduling; with Jobtimizer, they didn’t have inefficient schedules anymore. This transformation itself removed a significant burden off the inspectors’ shoulders.

The further need for process optimisation

job scheduling tool

Our team regularly reviewed the optimisation data our client shared. They managed to optimise the weak points with job scheduling, but another problem in their inspection process was still brewing. The backlog of inspection cases gradually grew, and they had to hire external inspectors to meet the rising number of inspection requests after the pandemic’s outbreak in 2020. Even with our intelligent job scheduling assistant at hand, our client faced increasing difficulty managing the caseload and its balanced distribution.

Step 2: from job scheduling optimisation to changing the entire inspection model

The growing workload and the limited resource meant that our client had to update their inspection management system, not just the job scheduling part. The road ahead for them was to enable inspectors to focus on high-risk inspections and allow the low-risk inspection requests to be self-served.

Since we already had experience with other regulators that transformed their inspection management system with self-service modules, we knew that the risk-based inspection methodology would work with them too. Our client purchased Canalix to change their inspection management system entirely by adopting a self-service module and remote inspection program for low-risk and middle-risk cases. The advanced AI engine automatically scores the risk and complexity of each inspection request, and the high-risk risk cases are allocated to inspectors for the on-site check. In contrast, the low-risk jobs are redirected for completion via a self-submission portal. Since Jobtimizer as a job scheduling tool is built to work flawlessly with Canalix, our client had an easy time adopting Canalix.

inspection scheduling transformation

Why start with a tactical modular digital transformation and not replace the entire system from the very beginning?

Replacing an entire system requires rethinking technology, replacing systems integrated to other core systems, and holding years of data to be migrated. In other words, it’s a costly and time-consuming endeavour. Automation can deliver efficiency improvements and work with existing components, so it was the smart and right starting point for our client’s digital inspection transformation journey. The case with Jobtimizer as an RPA technology enabled them to automate repetitive operations like job scheduling while meeting pre-set goals, criteria, and priorities.

Do you want to get deeper insights into how Canalix helps regulatory agencies to cut operational costs and improve productivity? Download the free case study now!

Resource optimization and business scheduling software

CASE STUDY: OPTIMISING THE RESOURCE ALLOCATION IN REGULATORY AGENCY
          • reducing the scheduling time with up to 75%
          • increasing efficiency of operations with 40%
          • fully eliminating errors in the resource allocation process.
Download the case study.

 

How real-time resource scheduling takes optimisation to the next level?

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Getting costly resources like certified inspectors and technicians to start and complete on-site jobs on time defines the efficiency of their service. Resource management software helps such teams to maintain the quality of their service by optimising their schedules, balancing the workload, improving the precision of job completion and getting on a long-term cost optimisation plan. With that in mind, resource optimisation software developers are constantly trying to keep up with the demands of the market by giving more power to the organisations when it comes to optimising resources. And by more power, we mean more visibility over real-time data so that the real-time scheduling decisions respond adequately to all kinds of situations.

An example of software that addresses various uses and aspects of resource optimisation issues is Jobtimizer. It’s a tool that understands the need to get costly resources to their scheduled jobs on time, with the required tools, skillset and information.

Allocate the right resource with the right skill to the right job. And even more!

When we talk about resource optimisation software, we’re talking about a tool that matches the right resource with the right job. Automatically. But what if the resource management software optimises other aspects as well? What if there’s an emergency that disrupts the work schedules for days ahead? To reroute expensive resources and create new schedules that keep operational costs under control is crucial for efficiency. And usually, a good resource scheduling software does that. But a great resource scheduling does even more because schedule disruptions also present an opportunity to reduce travel time (compared to the previous work schedule). But to have an efficient rerouted schedule, one must have a fast and prompt reaction to the changes. And this is where the interesting questions and even more interesting answers come.

Jobtimizer - Your AI-Enhanced Resource Scheduler

Talking about benefits is good, but how exactly are they playing our with resource optimisation software?

Match the right job with the right human resource

“Just match a job to the right person who can finish it”. Sounds simple but is it? What exactly are we matching – the skillset, the geolocation of the resource (whether it is the one nearest to the job site) or the availability status? If we juggle through different constraints, job matching becomes a very complex task. Jobtimizer can take all these constraints and automatically make a balanced schedule. The result is that only employees with the required skills and certifications will be eligible for the job and it will be allocated to the one nearest to the job site.

Each schedule is optimal in its own

It’s great that the resource management software enables back-office employees to sneak as many jobs as possible in work schedules, but what about the travelling time? What if the route between jobs is too long. The point of designing an optimal work schedule is to fit as many jobs as possible in it. But also – to reduce travel time, so that on-site workers can finish their jobs without overtime.

Jobtimizer is created with a focus on optimised route planning so that costly resources like inspectors, technicians, etc. won’t have to drive to the same town multiple times a day. Jobtimizer visualises schedules on a map and designs the most optimal route with minimum travelling distance between jobs.
And of course, aside from the benefits for the on-site workers, smart route planning delivers even more:

  • Reducing the carbon footprint
  • Reduce the vehicle maintenance costs by decreasing the millage
  • Last but not least – improves the response time to service calls

High-risk prioritisation

Sometimes high-risk checks should be priorities over low-risk ones. If there’s an emergency that requires a fast response, Jobtimizer allows you to schedule a resource that’s near the location of the emergency check. The best part is that Jobtimizer will automatically make a new schedule for the resource who’s sent as an emergency responder (if the high-risk appointment replaces a low risk one). The power of using resource rerouting tools is most evident in emergencies because at the end of the day there are no missed checks and the service is delivered without compromise in its quality.

Resource scheduling optimisation is about being in the present

Putting a real time-data in the hands of the people who make real-time decisions about scheduling is what makes Jobtimizer efficient resource management tool. Trying Jobtimizer is free, so you can book a demo here or just request a 15-min product tour.