Case Studies Culligan creates the job scheduling of its technicians with Opti-Time.

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	Culligan creates the job scheduling of its technicians with Opti-Time.

Culligan creates the job scheduling of its technicians with Opti-Time.

Technology Category	Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems Functional Applications - Fleet Management Systems (FMS)
Applicable Industries	Utilities Consumer Goods
Applicable Functions	Field Services Maintenance Logistics & Transportation
Use Cases	Fleet Management Predictive Maintenance Remote Asset Management
Services	System Integration Software Design & Engineering Services
Challenge	Culligan, a market leader in water treatment, faced significant challenges in optimizing the planning and scheduling of its skilled technicians. The company offers a unique business service to its customers, including equipment maintenance, which complicates the visits and schedules of delivery personnel, technicians, and installers. Specific challenges included managing hundreds of technicians and installers, handling 80% recurring services, integrating emergencies and repairs, and maintaining high-frequency water delivery schedules. Culligan needed an optimized solution to manage 230 mobile resources in real-time, reduce mileage between visits, gain visibility into schedules for at least a month, move to a shared electronic format, and harmonize best practices across multiple markets. Read More
About Customer	Culligan is a market leader in water treatment, offering quality solutions to individuals, enterprises, and communities for over 75 years. The company operates through three distinct activities: Consumers, Fountains, and C&I (Communities and Industrials). Culligan is unique in the market as it provides a business service to its customers, including equipment maintenance, in addition to the production, sale, and delivery of its products. Headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois, USA, Culligan employs 5,500 people and has products available in over 90 countries, with 600 dealers in the USA and Canada. Read More
Solution	Culligan implemented the Opti-Time system to pilot its operations, starting in 2010. The initial results were positive, leading to the integration of the routing software with Optiservice in 2011. This integration was part of a larger project to harmonize best practices across the company. The deployment of Opti-Time, initiated in September 2012 and completed in November 2013, included a tool for territory balancing and a new ERP system. The solution allowed Culligan to master the workload, reduce mileage, and optimize job scheduling. The user-friendly interface enabled call center operators to manage technician planning efficiently. The system considered customer availability, professional constraints, and job nature, offering real-time solutions and quick rescheduling options. Centralized data on a server at each national headquarter improved delivery monitoring, performance control, and inventory management. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)

Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems

Functional Applications - Fleet Management Systems (FMS)

Applicable Industries

Utilities

Consumer Goods

Applicable Functions

Field Services

Maintenance

Logistics & Transportation

Use Cases

Fleet Management

Predictive Maintenance

Remote Asset Management

Services

System Integration

Software Design & Engineering Services

Challenge

Culligan, a market leader in water treatment, faced significant challenges in optimizing the planning and scheduling of its skilled technicians. The company offers a unique business service to its customers, including equipment maintenance, which complicates the visits and schedules of delivery personnel, technicians, and installers. Specific challenges included managing hundreds of technicians and installers, handling 80% recurring services, integrating emergencies and repairs, and maintaining high-frequency water delivery schedules. Culligan needed an optimized solution to manage 230 mobile resources in real-time, reduce mileage between visits, gain visibility into schedules for at least a month, move to a shared electronic format, and harmonize best practices across multiple markets.

About Customer

Culligan is a market leader in water treatment, offering quality solutions to individuals, enterprises, and communities for over 75 years. The company operates through three distinct activities: Consumers, Fountains, and C&I (Communities and Industrials). Culligan is unique in the market as it provides a business service to its customers, including equipment maintenance, in addition to the production, sale, and delivery of its products. Headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois, USA, Culligan employs 5,500 people and has products available in over 90 countries, with 600 dealers in the USA and Canada.

Solution

Culligan implemented the Opti-Time system to pilot its operations, starting in 2010. The initial results were positive, leading to the integration of the routing software with Optiservice in 2011. This integration was part of a larger project to harmonize best practices across the company. The deployment of Opti-Time, initiated in September 2012 and completed in November 2013, included a tool for territory balancing and a new ERP system. The solution allowed Culligan to master the workload, reduce mileage, and optimize job scheduling. The user-friendly interface enabled call center operators to manage technician planning efficiently. The system considered customer availability, professional constraints, and job nature, offering real-time solutions and quick rescheduling options. Centralized data on a server at each national headquarter improved delivery monitoring, performance control, and inventory management.

Impact #1	Culligan can now master the workload and reduce the mileage covered by each of its field force.
Impact #2	The jobs are optimized, and the user-friendly interface of Opti-Time allows call center operators to manage planning efficiently.
Impact #3	The system considers customer availability, professional constraints, and job nature, offering real-time solutions.

Impact #1

Culligan can now master the workload and reduce the mileage covered by each of its field force.

Impact #2

The jobs are optimized, and the user-friendly interface of Opti-Time allows call center operators to manage planning efficiently.

Impact #3

The system considers customer availability, professional constraints, and job nature, offering real-time solutions.

Benefit #1	Culligan optimized the visits of 230 mobile resources in real-time.
Benefit #2	The deployment of Opti-Time was completed in 14 months, from September 2012 to November 2013.
Benefit #3	95% of fountain maintenance interventions are recurring, with three support visits per year per fountain installed.

Benefit #1

Culligan optimized the visits of 230 mobile resources in real-time.

Benefit #2

The deployment of Opti-Time was completed in 14 months, from September 2012 to November 2013.

Benefit #3

95% of fountain maintenance interventions are recurring, with three support visits per year per fountain installed.

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Overview

Culligan creates the job scheduling of its technicians with Opti-Time.

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit