Transforming forecourt services with mobile technology

Europump Maintenance provides fuel retailers with pump and tank gauge maintenance services and is part of the Eurotank Service Group, who provide fuel tank cleaning, maintenance and installation services. The company provides a fast response service with a 40-strong network of engineers who also undertake planned maintenance work and testing.

“It’s clear that fuel retailers are looking for people who can maintain any type of pump and are not tied to any manufacturer; we can maintain any equipment that retailers already have or are planning to purchase,” said Edward Wheeler, Group Managing Director of Eurotank Service Group. “We have ambitious plans to expand the Europump business and the easy accessibility, flexibility and affordability of the BigChange system make it an ideal platform to support growth.”

The Europump help desk in Hebden Bridge is the hub of the national operations. Incoming service requests are logged into the BigChange scheduler which assigns the job to the most appropriate engineer. Engineers receive jobs on their tablets with the JobWatch app completely replacing all types of paperwork with digital workflows, reports, certificates and customer sign-off signatures. 

“BigChange had just the solution we wanted; something that could do everything we wanted in a single web-based system,” said Jack Aplin, Director, Eurotank. “The BigChange software is so easy to configure so we can build a system to do exactly what we want.” 

The mobile devices also provide navigation and are used to capture photographs to show site set up, equipment and work completed. BigChange trackers fitted to the fleet of vans give the help desk an instant view of the whereabouts of all the engineers and allow accurate ETA’s to be provided to customers. Engineers also use JobWatch for their timesheets and expenses and the system is also used for managing the 2000 individual parts that are kept by central stores and in the vans. 

Michelle Brocklehurst, Group Helpdesk Manager, Europump, added: “BigChange was introduced initially to improve job scheduling, which was crucial as the demand for our reactive maintenance services increased. 

“The job scheduling is very easy to use and has made a big difference – we can work much quicker and more efficiently. However the main benefit of JobWatch is the visibility it gives us so we know exactly what is going on 24/7. With job status on screen we can immediately see what’s not been done.” 

Safety and compliance are key issues for Europump as the work is undertaken in a high-risk environment. 

“The primary benefits of BigChange are in the visibility and transparency that the system provides –- compliance is very important and with JobWatch nothing can be fudged,” Aplin finished.