Flowfinity software continuously helps us find and eliminate inefficiencies in our business processes, and we are now automating them to further reduce costs. We're radically changing our business, and increasing our competitive advantage.
KBA Engineering Increases Revenue by Streamlining Field Service Management
Region: Americas
Company Size: SMB
Industry: Oil and Gas
Function: Field Service Management, Site Inspections, Safety Training Management
The Challenge
KBA Engineering is a leading oilfield service provider in the San Joaquin Valley. With almost 200 employees, they are involved in selling, installing, and servicing well equipment for oil and gas extraction. Field activities, performed daily, ensure efficient operations and safety of its service crews and technicians in the field. These activities are recorded in over fifty different applications including work scheduling and dispatch, electronic billing, pumping unit inspections, job safety analysis (JSA), behavior observations, compliance auditing, and other safety and business process documentation.
With growing competition, rising customer expectations, and pressures from regulatory agencies, KBA was required to track and manage more data than ever before. Regulatory agencies needed to see if safety and compliance standards were met, and customers wanted better transparency of work performed in the field. It was also important for field staff to collect feedback from peer evaluations, so they could find opportunities for increasing job performance.
Previously, KBA used paper forms to track all its data, which was time-consuming and prone to errors. The admin staff was inputting handwritten notes into excel, then management had to access databases to monitor operations and identify trends. They also had to rely on email services and network connectivity to transfer any data, which was difficult since crews worked in a variety of remote locations.
"We were doing a lot of manual entry, so the entire process was slow and cumbersome," said Martin Alonzo, QHSE Manager – KBA Engineering. "Whether it's ergonomics or compliance-driven, we needed a way to identify the business problem as soon as it happens."
KBA was looking for the right business partner with both industry and software expertise to help deliver a solution.
"We were doing a lot of manual entry, so the entire process was slow and cumbersome."
The Solution
KBA previously worked with Peacekeeper Enterprises for many business endeavours, and chose them again for their proven success. Peacekeeper had the industry experience and extensive knowledge of business automation tools to help KBA find the right solution.
After evaluating several solutions, Peacekeeper selected Flowfinity's point-and-click mobile application development software. Flowfinity's technical features, powerful workflow capabilities, and user-friendly app building configuration enabled them to quickly design and implement the system exactly how they envisioned it.
Now, KBA has a mobile-first, cost-effective system to help run their business better. With over 90 iPads in the field, more than 200 mobile forms are submitted daily to monitor field operations.
Streamlining job duties and improving regulatory compliance
The use of iPads has made field data collection more efficient. The mobile forms built with Flowfinity now have pre-filled radio buttons, drop downs, and checkboxes to save even more time. Field staff can also record work while online or offline, and quickly submit the results as soon as they're completed. Flowfinity allows application changes to be published instantly, so all crews are working with the most up-to-date version. All data is stored in an automatically managed database, and management can create their own dashboards.
"Data management is much simpler," said Alonzo. "Since data is easily summarized and analyzed, management can quickly spot any issues and ensure compliance standards are met. We've truly developed a robust, custom mobile application that is unique and specific to our business requirements."
KBA's field technicians are also saving valuable time, and gaining useful feedback and guidance for improving job performance.
Reducing costs and gaining competitive advantages
Eliminating paper processes was the initial priority, but KBA has now discovered additional business processes that have benefitted from Flowfinity's workflow solution.
"We've truly developed a robust, custom mobile application that is unique and specific to our business requirements."
"Flowfinity software continuously helps us find and eliminate inefficiencies in our business processes, and we are now automating them to further reduce costs," said Alonzo. "We're radically changing our business, and increasing our competitive advantage."
Improving field visibility and speeding up decision making
One of the advantages of having a mobile solution with real-time data is that it allows management to be sent critical information from the field, as it happens. KBA now has two flat-panel TV's located in their offices that show real-time data coming directly from the field, moment by moment, and can view a live dashboard of operations.
"Flowfinity's real-time reporting and flexible integration capabilities have significantly improved our business processes," says Alonzo. "With Flowfinity, we can easily monitor, control and analyze jobs at any time. The live feed limits phone calls to the field, and gives us all the critical information we need to make faster and smarter business decisions."
"Flowfinity's real-time reporting and flexible integration capabilities have significantly improved our business processes."
Increasing business opportunities and improving customer service
Customer service has improved by giving clients valuable insight into how KBA helps manage their business. Pumping unit inspection information is gathered directly from each site and quickly analyzed, enabling supervisors to immediately know which sites require further maintenance. The data is then immediately provided to the customer, while crews are still on site, helping KBA generate additional business and revenue.
"We provide mission-critical data to customers as soon as it's available, so they can make more in-time decisions," said Alonzo. "This allows us to provide better value and customer service."
Future
KBA continues to find success by partnering with Peacekeeper today, and is expanding their use of Flowfinity for the scheduling and dispatching side of the business. Management would be able to manage job assignments, monitor them geographically, and achieve job statuses in real-time.
"We've definitely gained an edge over the competition, and knocked some of our competitors out to gain a larger share of the market," said Alonzo. "With the help of Peacekeeper and Flowfinity, customers see the true value of our services and our ongoing commitment to help them improve their business. They are very vocal about how we're growing with them."
