Case
Study
Hi-Way Equipment gains greater control of
its inventory and mobile devices
About Hi-Way Equipment
Since 1948, Hi-Way Equipment Company has supplied customers
with a wide range of new, used and rental equipment, plus parts
and service from its Houston, Texas headquarters. From 11 facilities
throughout Texas, approximately 150 employees help customers with
their heavy equipment needs.
Olenik has been with Hi-Way Equipment for only five years, but
has already performed three different roles. He attributes this array
of responsibilities to his willingness to learn and get things done.
“Working in a smaller company, we have the freedom to make changes
that make sense,” said Olenik. “If someone has a good idea, upper
management listens.”
Situation
Inventory Made Easy
Manual processes along with “pen and paper” were predominantly
used at Hi-Way Equipment. The company wanted to automate and
standardize its business processes across all locations to better
manage its inventory and growing number of smartphones.
To help field salespeople respond to customers’ equipment requests,
Olenik needed better visibility of the company’s inventory. “One of
my main responsibilities is to locate and price equipment for our
sales reps,” said Olenik. “I knew if we could streamline our inventory
management process, our customers and business would both benefit.”
Solution
With Actsoft® from AT&T, Hi-Way Equipment has automated its
inventory management process with wireless forms for greater
accuracy and speed. MobileIron Basic Connected Cloud from AT&T, a
Mobile Device Management solution, gives the company more control
in monitoring mobile devices and applications.
Freedom to Make Changes
Hi-Way Equipment Facts
Business Needs
Standardize and streamline business operations
With more than 20 brands in its new equipment portfolio, Hi-Way
Equipment provides customers with the inventory benefits of a large
enterprise coupled with the personalized service of a small company.
For 64 years, the company has sold, rented and serviced heavy
equipment of all types for construction, demolition, cleanup, and road
building projects.
Networking Solution
“We cover every angle and every corner of construction, whether roads,
building, or site work,” said Jason Olenik, Director of IT and Operations.
“One of the best things about working here is our extensive product
line. We carry everything our customers need.”
Conducted annual inventory process in half the time;
increased productivity; improved inventory management;
improved control of mobile devices and applications;
increased protection of company information
As a former salesman, Olenik understands what it takes to be
successful in this highly competitive market. “Our business model is
like a car dealership’s,” explained Olenik. “My job is to make sure we
have what our customers are asking for – to have the right mix of fleet.
Being successful in this business means effectively managing inventory.
It also means being the first to respond to customers with price quotes.”
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ctsoft from AT&T for wireless forms; MobileIron Basic
A
Connected Cloud from AT&T for monitoring smartphones
and applications
Business Value
Industry Focus
Heavy equipment
Size
150 employees in eleven locations
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Case Study - Hi-Way Equipment_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2
With this goal in mind, Olenik called on AT&T for consultation. “I’m
not a typical IT professional,” said Olenik. “I had some ideas about
what I needed and asked AT&T to help with the technology. The AT&T
mobility specialist worked with me to understand our business then
recommended Actsoft from AT&T and its wireless forms capability.
It turned out to be a real solution for our company’s labor-intensive
process of taking inventory.”
In past years during this annual event, managers from each location
accounted for each piece of equipment and its many parts, using a
manual process.
Each piece of equipment and part has an attached tag number as an
identifier in the company’s inventory system. With the manual method,
every manager would list his location’s tag numbers on account sheets
and attach corresponding photos. All equipment and parts photos were
to be downloaded onto the company’s server; this step required that
the manager rename each photo with the corresponding tag number.
“At headquarters, we developed detailed instructions for them to
follow,” said Olenik. “Even with these instructions, no one conducted
the process quite the same way. Even small inconsistencies made
big issues. Some managers might use capitals when listing the tag
identifiers, and others might not. In the end, we didn’t have an inventory
database that was very useful.”
With the Actsoft mobile application, this year’s inventory process and
results were dramatically different. Olenik distributed a smartphone
to each manager with a new Actsoft-enabled wireless form that he
had created. With only the smartphones in hand, managers efficiently
completed a form for each piece of equipment, then clicked a
photo. The electronic files were easily downloaded to complete the
new process.
“The managers love our new mobile inventory process,” added
Olenik. “They were able to complete the task in half the time,
saving about five hours. And I now have an accurate inventory in
one, searchable database.”
Increase Control of Mobile Devices
Hi-Way Equipment’s salespeople are constantly on the road, selling
equipment to new and existing customers. Field technicians are equally
busy, traveling to customer sites for troubleshooting and service calls.
“In our industry, it can take between two weeks and ten months to
make a sale,” explained Olenik. “Because of the lengthy sales cycle,
turnover in our sales force is high. As a result, we typically have all
levels of experience in the field – veterans with over 20 years to
rookies with only a few months.”
With nearly 90 smartphones in the field and a high turnover
rate, Olenik needed a way to effectively manage devices and the
applications running on them. “Protecting customer information is a
major concern for us. It’s our confidential business information and a
competitive advantage,” said Olenik. “If a salesperson quits, I must be
able to immediately and remotely wipe his phone.”
“The managers love our new mobile inventory
process. They were able to complete the
task in half the time, saving about five hours.
And I now have an accurate inventory in one,
searchable database.”
– Jason Olenik, Director of IT and Operations, Hi-Way Equipment
The AT&T specialist recommended a Mobile Device Management
solution, MobileIron Basic Connected Cloud from AT&T. Now Olenik can
wipe a lost phone to protect valuable company information. He is able
to monitor, add and delete what applications reside, or don’t reside, on
the mobile workers’ phones.
“I can also push new applications to our salespeople and technicians,”
said Olenik. “The MDM solution allows me to make sure all the right
people have the right applications that are needed for their jobs. I can
also delete applications that are not useful and require that passwords
be administered. It gives me the necessary control and peace of mind.”
As for the future, Olenik looks forward to exploring new ways of
working with the Actsoft solution. “With Actsoft and its wireless forms,
we can continue to change and automate our business operations,”
said Olenik. “Mobile applications like our new inventory management
process can help us work better and faster. And with the MDM
solution, I can confidently manage new devices and applications as
new ideas unfold.”
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04/15/13 AB-2673
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