Exor. Being ahead by seeing ahead Page 16

28 EXOR

EXOR 29

Engineering management has changed beyond

recognition. So, if Exor didn't exist, it would have

been necessary to invent it.

Engineers are no longer people who build things, but

are now expected to think and behave like business

directors, project managers, town planners, lawyers,

regulators and even clairvoyants.

Nowadays, the business of building things is not

a separate, discrete process. It needs to fit into

an increasingly complex commercial model in an

increasingly connected and interdependent world.

Nothing you do can be judged without reference to

everything else that's being done or being planned,

because an incomplete view can lead to poor and

expensive decisions being made.

The good news is, this is no problem when you work

the Exor way. We've always believed that asset

management needed to be about giving engineers

the power to make decisions, based on having all

the information in one place, in an engineering way.

Whilst, at the same time, showing those who control

the purse strings what they need to know.

Our software puts the engineer at the pinnacle of

new management thinking, not at the mercy of it.

Instead of being asked to do more, struggling to

justify a budget against other competing worthy

civic causes, you can articulate the reason for your

need for funding.

Armed with a single picture of what matters now,

you can shift you attention away from sorting worst

first and concentrate on evaluating risk strategies

over the lifetime of your assets. Educated guesswork

can now be replaced by mathematical, probability

modeling, without the engineer having to think like

a mathematician or statistician.

Foresight and prediction can be employed, rather

than hindsight. Give an engineer the right tools

and he will do a good job. Exor gives that engineer

the best new breed of tools. The very best solution.

So that everyone can get on with the business

of managing your most expensive assets.

Together at last:

finance and

engineering.

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PIONEERING RETURN
ON INVESTMENT

GRAHAM MILES,
WARWICKSHIRE
COUNTY COUNCIL

OVER THE PAST DECADE
HIGHWAY AUTHORITIES HAVE
FACED INCREASING PRESSURE
TO IMPROVE LEVELS OF
SERVICE AND DELIVER HIGHER
QUALITY, SAFER ROADS AND
INFRASTRUCTURE TO THEIR
CITIZENS. AND, WITH PUBLIC
MONEY BEING IN SHORT
SUPPLY, THIS OFTEN LEADS
TO TACTICAL SPENDING,
WHICH APPEARS TO OFFER
SHORT-TERM SAVINGS.

HOWEVER, MANY, LIKE
WARWICKSHIRE COUNTY
COUNCIL IN THE UK, HAVE
ADOPTED A MORE STRATEGIC
APPROACH TO IMPROVING
EFFICIENCY AND INVESTED
IN FIELD-BASED TECHNOLOGY,
RESULTING IN AN ROI
OF £140,000 EFFICIENCY
SAVINGS IN YEAR ONE.

LIKE ALL COUNCILS,
WARWICKSHIRE HAS A
STATUTORY RESPONSIBILITY
TO DELIVER SAFETY
INSPECTIONS FOR THOUSANDS
OF MILES OF ROADS AND
PATHS ON WHICH THEY MAKE
INFORMED, YET CRITICAL,
JUDGEMENTS IN ORDER
TO PRIORITISE FIXES AND
REMEDIAL ACTIONS. BUT,
UNLIKE OTHERS, THIS
COUNCIL HAS REPLACED
PAPER-BASED PROCESSES
WITH EXOR TECHNOLOGY,
WITH COMPELLING RESULTS.

" THIS HAS MANY ADVANTAGES

FOR US, BUT IT WAS LIMITED
TO OUR OFFICE BASED STAFF
ONLY, SO WE WANTED TO
BUILD ON THE CORE SOLUTION
AND SHARE DATA WITH OUR
FIELD-BASED STAFF."

THROUGH THE INTRODUCTION

OF EXOR'S FIELD BASED
DEFECT AND ASSET DATA
COLLECTION MODULE,
WARWICKSHIRE COUNTY
COUNCIL WAS ABLE TO
IMPROVE DATA ACCURACY
AND TIME MANAGEMENT OF
FIELD BASED STAFF. MILES
EXPLAINS, "LOADING THE
SOLUTION ONTO A NUMBER
OF MOBILE DEVICES HAS
IMPROVED THE ACCURACY OF
INFORMATION COMING INTO
THE SYSTEM AND ALLOWS US
TO FOCUS MORE RESOURCE
ON OTHER CORE AREAS OF
OUR DAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIES."

ENGINEERS CAN NOW

INSTANTANEOUSLY ZOOM INTO
A SPECIFIC AREA OF THE ROAD
WHERE THEY FIND A DEFECT
AND RECORD THE FAULT USING
THE STANDARD SETS OF
CODING USED IN THE SYSTEM.
AT THE END OF EACH DAY
THIS INFORMATION IS THEN
TRANSMITTED USING WIRELESS
TECHNOLOGY DIRECTLY INTO
THE HIGHWAY NETWORK
DATABASE AND IS LOADED
DIRECTLY INTO EXOR'S
MAINTENANCE MODULE.

AS PART OF THE COUNCIL'S

CORPORATE IT STRATEGY
TO ADOPT A MORE MOBILE
AND FLEXIBLE WORKING
REGIME WITH THE AIM OF
IMPROVING COUNCIL-WIDE
COLLABORATION,
WARWICKSHIRE MADE
THE STRATEGIC DECISION
TO BUILD ON ITS ASSET
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO
PROVIDE A MORE FLEXIBLE
WORKING SYSTEM FOR ITS
FIELD BASED STAFF.

GRAHAM MILES, OPERATIONS

PROJECT MANAGER AT
WARWICKSHIRE COUNTY
COUNCIL, EXPLAINS, "OUR
CORE ASSET MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM IS AN ADVANCED
NETWORK MANAGEMENT TOOL
THAT'S BEEN SPECIFICALLY
DESIGNED TO PROVIDE US WITH
THE FUNDAMENTAL STEPS IN
FUNCTIONALITY AND USABILITY
TO ALLOW US TO UNDERSTAND
THE CONDITION OF OUR ENTIRE
ROAD NETWORK. IT PROVIDES
US WITH ONE INTEGRATED
PLATFORM TO ADDRESS OUR
KEY BUSINESS DRIVERS WHICH
IN TURN ALLOWS US TO
DISSEMINATE INFORMATION TO
CITIZENS AND KEY BUSINESS
STAKEHOLDERS.

" THE TEAM CAN ACCESS A

VARIETY OF INFORMATION IN
A SINGLE, INTEGRATED WAY
THROUGH ONE CENTRALISED
DATABASE WHICH CAN BE
TAILORED TO THE INDIVIDUAL'S
PERSONAL REQUIREMENTS
WITHOUT COMPROMISING
THE INTEGRITY OF THE DATA
FOR OTHER USERS.

SHAUN FENNINGS, HIGHWAYS

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
SYSTEM (HMIS) PROGRAMME
MANAGER SAYS, "NOW THAT
WE DON'T HAVE TO MANUALLY
RECORD THE DATA OUT IN THE
FIELD AND THEN PHYSICALLY
INPUT IT, WE SIGNIFICANTLY
REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF
DUPLICATION IN THE JOB.
THIS SAVES TIME AND MONEY
AND MEANS WE OFFER FASTER,
BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE."

EXOR OFFERS ENGINEERS

A METHOD OF COLLECTING
ASSET INVENTORY
INFORMATION, SUCH AS
THE LOCATION AND DEFECT
RECORDING OF EVERY
GULLEY IN A SINGLE COUNTY.
FENNINGS ADDS, "WE HAVE
TAKEN THE FIRST STEP
TOWARDS MOBILISING THE
ENTIRETY OF COUNTY
HIGHWAYS. WITH THE EXOR
SOFTWARE NOW ON MOBILE
DEVICES WE ARE ALSO ABLE
TO CAPTURE AND PROCESS
FAR MORE OF THE NON-SAFETY
SPECIFIC INFORMATION IN
THE FIELD, AND HAVE SEEN
SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN
OUR PRODUCTIVITY AS A
RESULT. NOT ONLY DO WE
CAPTURE MORE DATA, THE
SYSTEM MEANS WE CAN
MAKE QUICKER AND BETTER
INFORMED RESPONSES."