Demonstrating Applied Advantages Of The DPS Extend™ Package
Calderon Brothers Achieves Exceptional Service and Superior Product
What makes Calderon Brothers Vending Company the largest privately owned vending machine company in the state of Indiana? "Fast and efficient service," according to Mark Replogle, Office Supervisor for Calderon Brothers. "Anyone can be in the vending machine business," says Replogle, "but the key to differentiating ourselves is service." DPS Extend Service Management software is the tool chosen by Calderon Brothers to deliver the best service in the business.
More than 160 trucks operate out of the Indianapolis-based warehouse and the other four Indiana branches. These trucks carry the stock and parts needed by Calderon Brothers' delivery and service technicians to efficiently handle its customers. Service calls come into the center and are entered into the DPS Extend Service Order System. These orders are then reviewed for dispatching the service technicians in the field. When a problem arises, a technician is assigned to that particular call based on his current location, daily load, and technical expertise. The Service Department notifies him by "beeping" him on an alpha pager through the DPS Extend Dispatching System, which has been integrated to a paging network.
Calderon Brothers Service Coordinator Renee DeVore remarked, "One of the best features of the product is our ability to notify the appropriate technician of the customer site and the specific machine number with the problem as the call comes in." Since large customer accounts, such as Eli Lilly, often have more than one location and numerous vending machines, the DPS Extend selection screens are used to list every option to determine the proper location and to identify the specific machine in question. When there is a problem with a machine, that specific machine can simply be selected from the screen and the appropriate technician can immediately be notified of the exact machine or machines with the problem. The customer's location and contact, the machine number with the problem, and other pertinent information is sent via pager to the service technician. The technician can then proceed to the next customer site without delay, take a look at the machine, and key notes from a series of codes into a handheld device that tracks what was done to fix the machine for future reference. "The beauty of this," says DeVore, "is that we are able to track everything at once... the customer, the machine in need of repair, the nearest technician and his route, and ultimately what he does to remedy the problem."
This is yet another benefit of using the DPS Extend software: the availability of history on repairs made to each machine. The activity can be evaluated for service technician performance analysis, as well as machine failure rates. This information is readily available to everyone with access to the service system. And the Service Module is integrated with the DPS Financial applications to provide streamlined workflow to accounting.
The Service Department has also been quite pleased with the fact that they have been able to save a significant amount of time by combining routing activities with repair activities. The two can be combined for any single customer location through the accurate scheduling information provided by DPS Extend.
The company's future plans will not only allow for smoother internal procedures, but, more importantly, customers will be able to expect quicker and more accurate dispatching service for their problem calls. Calderon Brothers' goals and mission statement are based on maintaining an excellent rapport with each and every customer. The company prides itself on its confidence to provide continued excellence in customer service.
"Our mission is to exceed customers' expectations with exceptional service and superior product." Always having those words in mind is what keeps the company in a league of its own. Clearly, Calderon Brothers Vending Company is a customer with a vision and a valuable partner for DPS. |
