The secret to sustainable scheduling success

As the sector continues to unlock the potential of sustainable scheduling and route planning, Lee Hawkes, housing lead at real-time scheduling specialist FLS – FAST LEAN SMART, explains how innovative tools and tech can help speed up the shift.

With challenges in the sector including damp, mould, and condensation; skills shortages; and the pressure to complete voids as soon as possible, social landlords are increasingly choosing supportive technology that designs productivity in the background, giving time and resources back to teams to focus on their tenants.   

Household carbon emissions and their impact on climate change have once again been highlighted at the COP28 climate conference. Decarbonisation across estates is gathering pace, yet successful field service capabilities are at least equally important for housing providers and their contractors; fleets typically comprise 80 per cent of their total carbon footprint, with service vehicles as a whole directly responsible for more than 20 per cent of UK carbon emissions.  

Reducing driving distances and vehicle idling and mitigating unsuccessful appointments are possibly the best ways for the social housing sector to address its carbon footprint. Doing so is a long-term win for all. 

Achieving field service success 

Field service success begins with optimising the scheduling of repairs and maintenance operatives, as well as housing teams including gas, care, support workers, housing officers, and surveyors. 

The combination of scheduling the right operative at the right time means driving less and with an improved first-time fix rate. Vehicles can be maintained more efficiently, reducing fuel costs and emissions. ETA data and customer reminders are also cutting hundreds of ‘no access’ appointments every day.  

Reducing driving distances and vehicle idling and mitigating unsuccessful appointments are the best ways for the sector to address its carbon footprint

Simply reducing the miles driven by your field service fleet through enhanced accuracy and efficiency of scheduling solutions can lead to massive CO2 savings, in turn combatting climate change. For example, moving to a solution that optimises appointments using embedded route planning software can lead to your field operatives reducing travel distances by up to 52 per cent per job or appointment. 

Many social landlords have embraced the sustainability outcomes that new technology produces. For example, in the solutions space, projects that improve tenant self-service and smart building monitoring each support ESG (environmental, social, and governance) targets. These medium to longer-term results come at a time of modernisation, where social landlords are facing critical daily pressures, such as the 15 per cent increase in demand for reactive repairs.   

AI predictive servicing models  

Using AI (artificial intelligence) algorithms streamline field service and supports sustainability, for example, exploring the likelihood of first-time fixes. It takes realistic distances, traffic patterns and more into account to predict how long it will take a mobile worker to drive to a job.  

Data-driven decision-making using geocoded mapping to plan exact street routes and house number addresses, enables skilled field workers to get to their appointments quicker, saving time and fuel, and typically cutting carbon emissions by 30-to-50 per cent.  

AI can also estimate how long a job will take based on the history of similar tasks in the past. In addition, AI can predict the tools and parts a job is likely to require, reducing the need for a second trip or overweight vehicle.  

Delivering sustainable scheduling success 

Valuable new ways of working are being designed, such as reduced depot visits and the ability to begin an operative’s shift from home. As in-house teams and contractors see further investment in electric vehicles, scheduling with embedding routing can factor-in the nearest electric charging points, eliminating range anxiety. These all add up to a huge difference for net-zero targets, creating massive carbon savings across the sector. 

Housing businesses are increasingly required to present their sustainability credentials during procurement exercises in terms of their operations and the solutions they use. By using real-time, best-of-breed optimisation of routes, as well as tracking and reporting carbon consumption to customers, for example, automatically through apps, social landlords are well on their way to choosing sustainable scheduling success.