Member Article

Transport sector on route to innovative future thanks to digital technology

Major transport companies are beginning to overhaul their internal processes in favour of digital technologies, following the announcement of the Government’s Industrial Strategy that aims to improve digital infrastructure in construction and transport.

With more people on our roads than ever before, and networks being pushed to their limits, building sustainable infrastructure has become high on the government’s agenda. There is now increasing pressure for transport companies to explore digital solutions in order to streamline processes, save money and manage the network more effectively.

Highway Traffic Management (HTM) is one such company that is leading the way in the sector, having recently invested in cloud-based technology to become more agile and resourceful.

The traffic management company, which services local authorities and infrastructure companies, has recently adopted WorkMobile for Transport’s mobile data capture app to become more efficient and handle traffic management projects with greater accuracy.

The app allows users to create mobile forms relevant to their specific task or service, including site inspections, health and safety forms and timesheets. Using a digital form to capture the information for these important documents lowers the risk of data being lost or incorrectly collected, helping to save time and money, while also reducing compliancy issues.

Marcus Casey, business development manager at HTM, said: “Before adopting WorkMobile, we were fully dependent on paper-based processes, which was time-consuming and created difficulties when managing our projects and compliance trail. We were also spending £24,000 per year alone on just paper and printing costs.”

With pressure mounting on the sector to become more agile and provide a better service to its customers, HTM realised it needed a digital solution that would help to collect and manage essential information from various services and work streams more effectively.

The traffic management company adopted the WorkMobile solution so that job details can be sent immediately to employees in the field and project data can also be captured in real-time. Photographs, date and time stamps, and geo-locations can also be recorded, making it easier for employees to remain compliant and show that jobs have been completed to the correct standards. Work can also be finished quickly and more accurately, making for a more efficient, cost-effective project management process.

Marcus continued: “There is an increasing pressure to become more innovative in order to deliver a great customer service and deal with sector challenges more effectively. By overhauling our internal processes and adopting cloud-based solutions, we have revolutionised the way we work and can better meet our clients’ needs.”

Colin Yates, chief support officer at WorkMobile, said: “With our roads becoming progressively busier, the transport sector has a huge job on its hands to keep up with demand and continue delivering a great service. This is why the Government is encouraging the industry to get on board with digital solutions to help it become more effective and responsive to the challenges it faces.

“Many companies will find that paper-based processes are time-consuming, expensive and also make it very difficult to remain compliant when trying to manage audit trails and project reports. But, with digital transformation high up on the Government’s agenda, now is the time for transport businesses to leave paper behind and get on board with emerging technologies so they can remain agile and well-equipped to deliver a quality service to their customers.”

For more information, please visit: www.workmobileforms.com/

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ursula Hutchinson .