Order of service
June 1st 2008 Building on positive sales growth, industrial door and
loading bay specialist Crawford UK has overhauled its
service and maintenance operation making it more
focussed and efficient. Charlotte Stonestreet spoke to
general manager Graham Parr to find out more
The past few years have marked a
period of rapid development for
Crawford. Despite always offering a
comprehensive range of quality products,
the door and loading bay specialist had
dipped in its sales and service provision. To
rectify this situation a complete
management restructure and radical
overhaul of the company's approach to the
market was undertaken a move which has
resulted in a complete turnaround of
fortune.
According to general manager Graham
Parr, 2007 was a very good year for the
company in terms of new product sales with
increases of 20% being realised a trend
which, he says, has continued into the first
part of 2008. With sales on the upward
trend, the goal is now to improve the
service area of the business accordingly.
Although new to the role of general
manager, Parr took over the service part of
the business in August last year. Since then
he has instigated radical changes, not least
of which is the centralisation of the business
to one site in Sheffield. According to Parr, in
addition to the obvious cost savings, the
main driver behind this move is the benefits
it brings in terms of improved
communication between the service and
new sales sides of the business.
Although the increase in sales has had
positive consequences, in order to really
make the service side of the business meet
its full potential, change is being driven in
three main areas: more focus on key
accounts; service engineers taking on a
more sales oriented role; and the
strengthening of internal sales.
Key accounts
"When it comes to key accounts, because we
are a large organisation with full nationwide
and European coverage, we are really well
placed to meet the servicing needs of big
international customers," says Parr.
"Companies such as the major logistics
carriers that have hundreds of sites clearly
have a big service need. They are often
working at maximum capacity and if a door
is broken and they can't get parcels out it's a
major issue. They need companies that can
react quickly and give them consistency."
As more and more major customers
recognise Crawford as the organisation to
provide the service they need (Crawford
engineers will also service equipment from
other manufacturers), the company has
employed more key account managers.
"Key account holders demand a single
point of contact, someone they trust to deal
with all their servicing needs, right down to
the invoicing and reporting," says Parr.
Thanks to the increased success of its key
account operation, Crawford has upped its
number of field service engineers and now
employs over 50. According to Parr, these
individuals are the best ambassadors that
Crawford has, so it seems logical that their
role should be developed to encompass a
sales element and contribute to company
growth.
"Previously, when the engineers went to
repair or service a door, if they saw that
certain parts were worn or were going to
break, they'd fill in a report sheet. This was
then sent to head office, where we'd
generate a quotation from the information
on the sheet," says Parr. "Now we've
increased the stock in the service vans so
that if our guys notice a problem frayed
ropes, worn rollers they are in a position
to be able to carry out the replacement
work there and then."
Less downtime
Not only has this empowered the engineers,
who are provided with a price book so they
can generate instant quotations, it has
simplified the whole process and greatly
increased the conversion rate for this type of
work. And the benefits are not just tipped in
Crawford's favour either the customer
gains advantage by avoiding a future call out
fee (after all, worn components will need
replacing in the near future) and by
eliminating the risk of equipment failure and
consequent expensive loss of up-time.
"We call it 'change-it-before-it-breaks', for
the customers there's no additional call out
fee, there's no inconvenience if something
breaks," says Parr. "To use an analogy, if you
take your car in for a service and they tell
you your break pads need changing you
don't argue with that, you trust the garage
to change them. We're building up that kind
of trust with our customers so that if we tell
them they need their wire ropes changing,
they are going to get them done."
Put like that it sounds like the ideal
business concept, but has there been any
resistance from the service engineers to their
new role, however non-aggressive the sales
element?
"Well, a lot of the guys were doing it
anyway, they'd alert the customer to the
parts that needed replacing but, number
one, they didn't know the costs and it was
an accepted practice that they
would just write it on the sheet
and send it in. Number two,
they didn't have the full range
of parts on the van," says Parr.
"Instigating the changes,
providing them with prices and
more spares, means some of
them have felt absolutely
empowered while others are
terrified! And some are far
better than others, of course, at
doing it."
To help with the more proactive
role and growth in key
accounts, Crawford has invested
time and money in additional
training for its engineers, as well as altering
the structure. Seven individuals have been
identified as champions and made 'lead'
engineers, assisting with the roll out of the
service sales and helping to get their
colleagues on board.
Interestingly, Parr has found that when
new engineers are recruited from other
industry sectors, they tend to be very
responsive to the sales side of the role in
terms of health and safety issues, particularly
those from the lift industry.
"They already understand the importance
of changing worn cables on a lift," he says.
"And if a cable goes on a door with no spring
break or cable breaking device, and it falls
down and hits someone, it can be just as
horrendous as a lift accident. Generally
though, doors are not perceived as a high
risk area, so we are trying to educate people
about health and safety obligations. After all,
it is a legislative requirement that they have
doors serviced."
Warranty & servicing
Servicing is also important in relation to
Crawford's warranty. "All the products we
sell come with a warranty, but this does
rely on the product being serviced you
wouldn't buy a brand new car, take it back
to the garage after 18 months without a
service and say 'it's not working'. Well, it's
the same with our doors.
"People can be surprised at the amount
of service and maintenance a sophisticated
door these days needs. Although previously
they might have had an old door that didn't
breakdown in 15 years, they also have to
take into account that it was operated
manually by a chain and everyone working
in the area was freezing!"
In addition to being well placed to hold
international key accounts on the service
and maintenance side, being part of a
larger, multi-national group also means that
Crawford is in an advantageous position
when it comes to product development. It
does not have to contribute directly to R&D
costs, yet can offer cutting edge products
devised with input and experience from
many countries. Crawford's range goes
beyond the basic equipment, offering
added value for its customers.
Management system
One of the latest developments offered by
the company is Crawford 101 Dock
Management, a system for the efficient coordination
of truck traffic and warehouse
operations. With the system, each docking
bay with Crawford doors, shelters and
levellers includes a control box that sends a
status update to a computer every three
seconds. This information is translated into
data on the dock activity and can be used
to increase warehouse and yard
management efficiency.
There are four Crawford 101 Dock
Management modules: Navigation, for the
control of truck fleets in the whole loading
area; Monitoring, for the measurement of
loading times, occupancy and sequences
for each loading bay; Service for scheduling
maintenance; and Security to control
monitor and record the opening of doors
and function of dock levellers.
To find out more about Crawford's
extensive product range and service
provision, contact the company on the
telephone number below or via
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