e.l.m. leblanc

A subsidiary of the Bosch group since 1996, e.l.m. leblanc is a French market leader in gas heating systems and hot water boilers. The company also has its own aftersales service department with 300 engineers. In 2006, the company’s turnover was €121 million and it employs around 700 people.

The Challenges of Mobility Solutions for Engineers: Optimisation of Appointments and Cost Control With e-dépanneur

In 2003, e.l.m. leblanc launched the e-dépanneur (“e-repairer”) project for its 300 engineers. e-dépanneur had several objectives: reducing the time taken to process documents, optimising the ordering of parts, following up jobs in quasi real time, providing card payment facilities to replace cheque payment, increasing the quality of work and strengthening the image of the e.l.m. leblanc brand.

Since June 2007, the first generation of IT equipment "mainstream PDA and portable printer" was replaced by Intermec CN3 devices equipped with a magnetic strip reader for bank card payments as well as a Zebra RW420 printer with Bluetooth connection. This equipment was chosen for its robustness and independent operation. The application was created using the .NET framework which enables rapid development of low-cost software versions. The devices operate under Windows Mobile 5.

With e-dépanneur, engineers receive their updated appointment plan each morning. They have access to client files, appliance files and maintenance contracts. After the service work has been carried out, payment can be made by card and an invoice or quotation are printed. The job records are posted at the time of synchronisation. The engineers are able to make automatic orders by ticking reprocurement boxes. They can also perform an inventory of the equipment in their vehicles using a barcode reader.

During the transition from fixed commuted network and GSM to GPRS/EDGE networks at the end of 2006, e.l.m. leblanc encountered some problems synchronising data with the back-office system. Engineers sometimes move into lowsignal areas or want to carry out data transfer in their moving vehicles.

Benefits of the EveryWAN Solution: Synchronisation and Over-the-Air Distribution

e.l.m. leblanc adopted the EveryWAN solution at the end of 2006. Several factors tipped the balance in favour of Sparus:

- EveryWAN resolved the synchronisation problem. The solution developed by Sparus enables cuts in the network to be masked when interfacing with the mobile application, with EveryWAN acting as a "buffer".

- Over-the-air distribution functions facilitate the updating of low-cost software versions.

- Remote technical assistance provides improved user support, a reduction in intervention time and a decrease in the number of returned devices.

- With the transition to GPRS/EDGE networks and the use of EveryWAN, e.l.m. leblanc has recorded an average reduction in consumption by more than a half and a more than 50% reduction in synchronisation problems. The benefits recorded should increase with the transition to differential synchronisation expected in 2008.

- Security is highly important to e.l.m. leblanc with payment being made by bank card. Engineers cannot modify the application. If modifications were to be carried out EveryWAN would automatically restore the parameters.

- With the EveryWAN solution, e.l.m. leblanc is able to improve consumption monitoring in order to check that the package is appropriate.

EveryWAN has played its part in the success of the e-dépanneur project in which e.l.m. leblanc has invested substantially: almost 1% of turnover. The main benefits are measured in terms of reduced delays in processing a file (previously this could take up to 20 days), in postage costs, in entry costs, in increased turnover associated with error reduction etc. All these benefits have meant that the project has paid off in less than 24 months.

Download IDC whitepaper about Windows Mobile Device Management and Security