Fuji Xerox Australia teams with PicNet to create new Customer Support Mobility Solution

Client background

Founded in 1960, and with annual turnover of nearly $1BN, it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific that employs more than 2,000 people.

Business challenge

In 2007, Fuji Xerox Australia invested in a customised mobility service solution to enable its engineers to service its equipment on customer’s premises. The system was designed to provide specific fault details and enable its field service team with real-time access to this critical data to meet Fuji Xerox Australia’s stringent service times. The field service engineers could then review the hardware’s service history, research similar problems, check inventory levels of parts and enter details about the fault on their PDAs in real time.

However, the user interface for inputting data was not intuitively designed, and as a result, engineers avoided using the system, instead entering this critical data when back offsite increasing margins for error and inefficiency.

“The legacy system was being used to maintain all FXA equipment, ranging from Office equipment all the way up to high-end production machines that banks use. The PDA suffered from frequent breakdowns, we couldn’t buy hardware on the open market anymore and there was considerable time lost due to the hardware being out of action leading to productivity issues,” said FXA’s Head of Strategic Partners and Systems Services, Nayyar Ghaznavi.

In 2013, Fuji Xerox Australia decided to resolve these issues by sourcing and implementing a streamlined mobility platform that could accessed easily through the latest smartphones..

PicNet delivers

In October 2013 PicNet was chosen to implement a new enterprise mobility platform for delivery in July 2014 based on Fuji Xerox Australia’s requirements.

PicNet’s designers worked closely with Fuji Xerox Australia stakeholders, using an agile approach to development to create and refine basic working models of the system’s core pages, tested and alterations made accordingly. To facilitate a smooth transition, PicNet hosted Fuji Xerox Australia’s team in-house to ensure the system meets their requirements in full.

Business benefits

The improved forward-compatible enterprise mobility platform from PicNet was implemented on time, on budget and on brief, using HTML5 technology. PicNet also designed the platform so engineers could use it offline. The platform stores the information entered by engineers when out of Wi-Fi or wireless range and uses HTML5 capabilities to synchronise with FXA’s central server when back in range.

“PicNet’s design team was highly communicative and took a collaborative approach to development. They were forthcoming with their views, and we are very happy with the end result. The new system has led to improvements in productivity, staff engagement and our ability to respond to customers’ problems. More importantly, it has moved us to a future-state platform,” Mr Ghaznavi said.

The new platform’s intuitive user interface and connectivity has also led to better-quality data being collected and fewer process inefficiencies. Based on the platform’s success in Australia, Fuji Xerox Co Ltd is now planning to roll it out to field service teams around the Asia-Pacific region.

“The system has been recognised as the premier mobility solution within the Fuji Xerox Group and will be progressively rolled out to 12 other Asia-Pacific countries,” Mr Ghaznavi said.

About PicNet

PicNet is one of Australia’s most respected IT service providers. PicNet has worked with many leading organisations, including Fuji Xerox, Reckitt Benckiser, Novartis Australia, Serco, Fremantle Media and others.

PicNet offers services ranging from enterprise software development, IT infrastructure management, project management and consulting. PicNet helps medium-sized and large organisations use technology to lower costs, increase efficiency and grow strategically.

To learn how PicNet can help your business, contact Marco Tapia today at marco.tapia@PicNet.com.au or visit www.PicNet.com.au