Surge in COVID-19 Increases Demand for Unstaffed Stores and Remote Operations
As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, the rising demand for remote work and unstaffed establishments became apparent. The crisis underscored enterprises' need to be proactive in digitization and cloud adoption. Familiarity with mobile and online operations became vital to avert crises and seize opportunities.
ServiceJDC, developed by Mercuries Data Systems (Stock Code: 2427), is a cloud-based management platform offering integrated information services. This platform empowers both management and employees to utilize smartphones, tablets, and computers for comprehensive work management, enabling real-time task assignment and recording.
Within the ServiceJDC mobile app, administrators can customize various forms to create work "tasks." These tasks are then assigned to field workers, who can instantly document text, data, images, customer signatures, and more during their assignments. Data collected on each terminal device synchronizes in real time, allowing managers to access information anywhere, anytime. The system generates various reports at a single click, offering a complete cloud-based solution for office, fieldwork, and task assignment checks.
Superior Leads Self-Service Laundry Industry with ServiceJDC Platform Adoption
Superior, founded in 1985, primarily promotes industrial laundry equipment and designs self-service laundry facilities and professional laundry rooms. According to Chairman Chen Zhihua, self-service laundry stores represent one of the most mature models of unstaffed establishments. International experience suggests that these stores thrive with urban development and increased national income.
Superior's Chairman Implements Digital Management with ServiceJDC Image provided by Mercuries Data Systems
Recognizing this trend, over the past 30 years, Chen has established over 800 self-service laundry stores across Taiwan. The services span from setting up store equipment, operational maintenance, distribution of laundry supplies, and payment collection, to equipment upgrades. Self-service laundry has now become the company's main revenue driver. Even in outlying areas such as Kinmen, Matsu, and Xiao Liuqiu, Superior has assisted in establishing points of service.
Chen emphasizes that while digitization might seem easy, it requires keeping pace with the times. For over 30 years, Superior has been active in the Taiwan self-service laundry market, but its pursuit of digital reform has never wavered. With a keen eye on the potential of 5G for unstaffed businesses, Chen's proactive use of digital thinking has continued to optimize their self-service laundry business.
Having made a commitment to digitalization, Chen Zhihua took steps to enhance the efficiency of managing maintenance tasks for over 800 self-service laundry stores across Taiwan. He established a dedicated maintenance engineering team within the company and concurrently assigned official vehicles to the maintenance personnel. Consequently, he identified that managing daily maintenance attendance and the usage status of official vehicles had become a major challenge. According to Chen Zhihua, the scope of management for self-service laundry store operations includes five field sales representatives, ten engineering personnel, and a fleet of ten official vehicles. They conduct weekly inspections of 50 to 80 stores, translating to an average of 5 to 8 field tasks to be resolved per person every week.
Self-Service Laundry Pioneer Image provided by Mercuries Data Systems
Prior to the implementation of ServiceJDC, field workers had to fill out travel logs detailing visit locations, vehicle usage, mileage, parts taken, and more before embarking on their assignments. This process required writing four to five record books daily. Handling parts and supplies added further complexity, and merely writing out these forms was both time-consuming and inefficient. When field workers forgot to fill out these reports, it led to even greater challenges.
Chen Zhihua mentioned that three years ago, he stumbled upon the ServiceJDC solution through a radio broadcast and decided to give it a try. Upon adopting ServiceJDC, all record books were migrated to cloud-based storage. This transition eliminated the need for supervisors to spend over an hour reviewing paper-based records and attending meetings each morning. Now, a mere 15 minutes suffice to address the previous day's work review, facilitate communication, coordinate tasks, and log assignments in ServiceJDC. This swift process enables employees to commence tasks promptly.
Managing People and Vehicles – ServiceJDC: A Human-Centric Technological Solution
Chen Zhihua pointed out that previously, after morning meetings, field staff would rush to Taoyuan and Hsinchu for assignments, which often left them with only lunchtime upon arrival. Work often had to be postponed to the afternoon. However, now they can complete tasks in the Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli regions in the morning, and still have time to schedule additional tasks in the afternoon, thus enhancing problem-solving capabilities.
In case of any unexpected situations, while using ServiceJDC, field staff have the option to report them directly through the app. Additionally, ServiceJDC is utilized to record pending receipts and accounts receivable, speeding up financial operations. Chen Zhihua noted that Superior stands out as one of the few companies that include vehicle assets in their mobile field management. The management, maintenance, and refueling records for their fleet of 10 service vehicles are entirely managed through ServiceJDC. With a simple report, they can track the status of vehicle usage, thereby minimizing concerns about potential oversights due to human error.
To facilitate the seamless adoption of ServiceJDC by field staff, Chen Zhihua noted that Superior provides employees using ServiceJDC with telecommunication subsidies and company smartphones. This not only underscores the company's sincerity and support but also addresses the issue of uneven task assignment among mid-level managers. With reports recorded in ServiceJDC providing clear insights, inconsistencies previously unnoticed can be detected, ensuring that proactive or highly efficient frontline staff receive fair bonuses or commendations.
Superior Enhances Management Efficiency through ServiceJDC Solution Image provided by Mercuries Data Systems
Adopting ServiceJDC: Digitization of Documents Adds Significant Value to Company Image
Chen stressed that ServiceJDC's most significant contribution lies in simplifying and clarifying personnel management. Staff can efficiently execute tasks assigned by the company. In cases where customers question task execution, work content, or outstanding payments, cloud-based records can be easily accessed and promptly reported, enhancing the company's image and customer satisfaction.
Chen stated that customers have praised their digitization of documents for being environmentally friendly. Yet, concerns about the absence of hard copies persisted. Workers would instantly send service form duplicates via mobile phones. In situations where customers were unclear about equipment maintenance, there were instances of them mistakenly believing that identical parts had been replaced during previous repairs. In such cases, the engineering team could promptly retrieve records from the ServiceJDC system, providing evidence that the current and previous repairs involved different components. This has greatly satisfied customers.
ServiceJDC User Interface Image provided by Mercuries Data Systems
Chen Zhihua emphasized that they plan to continue leveraging ServiceJDC's form functionality. He looks forward to advancing the integration of field task records with inventory systems, enabling real-time checking of parts inventory quantities and prices. This would allow for instantaneous customer quotations and appointment scheduling for repairs, thereby streamlining tasks.
ServiceJDC offers consultancy services for implementation. It serves as a partner for companies venturing into cloud-based management, addressing the challenges of cumbersome paper-based administrative approvals or remote management in traditional industries. This includes the dispatching of field tasks, remote clock-ins, electronic form management, online approvals, and even multilingual support for international corporations. With ServiceJDC, the concern of not being able to work due to a pandemic is eliminated. Employees can clock in while working from home, making it easy for business owners to manage overseas branches. This maximizes the potential of cloud-based management services, and the entry-level version is free for businesses with five or fewer employees. For more information, please visit the official ServiceJDC website.
