Iquality developed two applications for SGS Search: SIMS for the inspectors and SAMS for the lab technicians.
Previously, the inspectors and lab technicians of SGS Search used one information system together. Because this system was ready for further development, Iquality developed two new applications: SIMS for the inspectors and SAMS for the lab technicians. Employees now work on a tablet with an app that is tailor-made for their activities. The simultaneous exchange of data is no problem.
About SGS Search
SGS Search inspects, analyses and advises the built environment. With a focus on the fields of asbestos, soil, sustainability, safety and energy. Ever since 2014, Search has been a part of SGS, worldwide market leader in the field of inspection, control, analysis and certification in countless branches. So, not just real estate, but also automotive, toys and concrete, for instance.
From one system
Asbestos related service provision forms an important component of the service package of SGS Search. From the three steps in the asbestos chain: inspection - removal - control, SGS Search Ingenieursbureau performs the inspections and SGS Search Laboratorium performs the checkups after asbestos removal. It's all about determining whether asbestos is present and the inspection of whether a building or area are safely accessible again. Sander de Beer, operational manager at SGS Search, says that both company components could benefit from a scalable and easily managed information system due to a combination of a strong growth and frequent changes in laws and standards.
To two customized systems
SGS Search asked Iquality to develop two new systems: SIMS (Search Inspection Management System) for the engineering agency and SAMS (Search Analysis Management System) for the laboratory. De Beer: "We wanted two applications because the engineering agency and the laboratory are two separate and independent company parts. Our goal was to offer employees an application that exactly matches their activities, without any unnecessary functionalities. Moreover, with two separate applications, it is easier to adjust the functionalities to one company part, without disrupting the other. SIMS and SAMS are parallel, but have been developed simultaneously. The transfer of information is absolutely fluent and management information is very easily retrieved from both systems at the same time."
Invest in the commissioning and in the transfer of knowledge.
Sander de Beer, operational manager at SGS Search
Roadmap: process by process
SGS Search decided not to implement SIMS and SAMS at once, but according to a well thought-out roadmap. De Beer: "We started with activities that belong to a project for a visual inspection. These are relatively simple projects to process. The goal was to see the entire route of the project, up to the reporting and invoicing, operational. This meant that, in the beginning, only 20-25% of our total work went via SIMS and SAMS. Recently, in collaboration with Iquality we have added increasingly more activities. The inspectors were the first to switch to SIMS completely and, recently, the lab technicians have fully switched to SAMS as well.
More on location, more automated
The new applications SIMS and SAMS were made for tablets. For the employees of SGS Search, this means that they can perform much more of their work on location. This results in more inspections in a day and more time to advise customers. That is truly added value. The transfer to SIMS and SAMS also offers a great many advantages for the backoffice. It has become easier to print reports. When the inspectors and lab technicians haven't encountered any peculiarities that require additional attention, this is even done automatically, including invoicing. In case of particulars, the system issues a notification and the employees manually draw up the report.
Decisions
The inspected roadmap had a great many advantages, but also provided new challenges throughout the process. De Beer: "We had to choose whether we would give the employees an iPad or a Windows tablet. Because Iquality mainly uses Microsoft technology and business apps for the iPad were still in an early stage, we opted for Windows tablets for the implementation of SIMS. When SAMS went live, the situation had changed and we felt that iPads were a better choice. As a result, we had to deal with a third supplier, which required additional coordination. Because we wanted everything to remain perfectly synchronised."
Satisfied employees
De Beer is very glad that the SGS Search employees now have an application that suits their work: “Employees like working with SIMS and SAMS. This is essential in the daily operation of our service provision. Management and development remains important in the future, for instance because the legislation and regulations continue to change. SIMS and SAMS were designed with the purpose to easily move with such changes in our field."
