May 16, 2008 - With a service offering that includes 98% next day parts delivery, less than 3 hour response to breakdowns and over 90% first time fix rates, Briggs Equipment demands a lot from its engineers.

Mathew Smith is a 33 year old field engineer working in the Peterborough area for Briggs Equipment. He entered engineering from school, moving from the workshop into a field-based role in 2002, and has recently been promoted to Team Leader. His team of nine engineers covers a territory that extends from Huntingdon to Lincoln and are competent to service all makes and models of materials handling equipment as well as much of the other plant and machinery on customer sites.

Mathew looks after a dedicated territory and is assigned to individual customer sites. He believes this is crucial in building trust and confidence with his customers, “I am a familiar face and provide continuity for the customer. I know the customers’ sites well and their machines, and usually know what needs doing even before I arrive.”

After leaving home at 8am, Mathew gets his first breakdown call from his Controller in the Briggs National Service Centre in Cannock. This is for Mars Petcare, A Division of Mars UK Ltd. The challenge for the field engineer in an organisation such as Briggs, which offers maintenance and breakdown across more than 7,000 customer sites, is to balance maintenance scheduling with the reactive demands of breakdowns.

BREAKDOWN: Arrive on site - 8.45am
“I give priority to breakdowns and aim to get there within 2 hours. My aim is to get the truck up and running there and then. If possible I will call the customer first to discuss the problem. If I recognise the problem whilst I’m on the phone, I can make sure I have the necessary parts for the job.” With £1,500 worth of van stock, Mathew has most of the parts required for common breakdowns. Strategically located consignment stock around the region means Mathew can quickly get any missing part the same day.

Diagnosis: A faulty direction lever on a counterbalance truck means the machine is out of action and causes the customer expensive lost production time. Mathew takes the switch apart to replace a broken roll pin. In 45 minutes the truck is running again.

Mathew stays in constant contact with his Controller at Briggs’ National Service Centre. The Controller knows where he is at any one point and coordinates job reporting and record keeping on the service database. By managing engineering time through a central database, the company not only maximises the capacity utilisation of its 450-strong engineering workforce, it also minimises any non-productive time, thereby ensuring optimal response to customers’ needs.

After dealing with some queries from his team, arranging details for an imminent Health and Safety meeting, at 10.15 am he gets a second breakdown call from his Controller. This time two trucks are down on a large Tarmac site. Once he has taken note of the serial numbers of the trucks and the job number, he sets off to site.



BREAKDOWN: Arrive on site - 11.00 am
“Customers have my mobile number and they often call me for advice about other aspects of their account. I pass them onto the right people back in head office. Customers like to deal with someone they know, who will sort their problems out with minimum hassle for them.”

Diagnosis on First Truck: This is a Hyster truck that is working at Tarmac Precast Concrete’s slab handling plant; an arduous application. The forward/reverse level has sheared off. Matt tells me, “My priority is to get this truck running because they don’t have a spare and it will affect their business. I don’t have a spare lever so I will find a welding shop and make a temporary fix.” He finds the welding shop and gets the repair done. The truck is back in action in 30 minutes and Matt makes a note to order a replacement new lever.

Diagnosis on Second Truck: The Cat® Lift Truck 7 tonne diesel machine on short term hire has a warning light on that is stopping the truck running. Matt identifies low brake fluid level and tops this up quickly. He also performs a full check of the machine just to make sure it is working safely. “Often I will use a remote diagnostics tool via the laptop, this allows me to see inside the engine and make adjustments from the computer. Electronics are getting more and more sophisticated on Cat® machines and this technology helps to identify the problem quickly and efficiently.

At 1.00 pm he has finished, he updates the customer and leaves the site. He has assigned the afternoon to administration and team leader duties working from home. As well as supporting and advising his team of nine engineers around issues such as identification of parts and pricing queries he liaises with an insurance company about thorough examinations on lifting equipment. He also has to prepare for a monthly team briefing session and a Toolbox Talk safety session that he is presenting for a colleague. Logging into the Briggs system means that he can monitor the daily KPI reports and monitor the performance of his team against targets. His key focus currently is to maximise engineer capacity and productive time.

A recent survey that Briggs conducted on its engineering workforce (see Box 1 below) clearly shows the high level of satisfaction and fulfilment that engineering offers. Apprenticeships are a popular entry route into the career and an apprenticeship produces a highly skilled, rounded engineer with a clear pathway for progression. With starting salaries, for a trained engineer, of close to £20,000, it is certainly worth considering by the 70% of 18 year olds who choose to start earning a living instead of continuing further education.



Boxes 1: Briggs Survey - the Attitudes and Skills of Engineers
A survey was conducted on Briggs’ engineering team in May 2008. In terms of what these engineers enjoy most about their job the wide variety involved in the work and challenges it offered, as well as the satisfaction in making a difference to customers came top. When asked ‘what attracted you to becoming an engineer?’:
• 83% of respondents said it was the hands on mechanical skills involved
• 77% said problem solving was important to them
• 60% agreed that freedom and initiative were key
• and over half agreed that working with people was important to them.

- Ends -

Media contact:
Tiffany Clowes
Changeworks Communications
T. + 44 (0) 1785 247588
E.

Company Contact:
Scott Bullock
Briggs Equipment
Orbital Way
Cannock
WS11 8XW
T: 01543 430 455
W: www.briggsequipment.co.uk

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