Aegion has been a leader in the pipe maintenance industry for over 45 years. Founded to focus on sewer rehabilitation, the company has expanded significantly with the acquisition of oil and gas businesses.
With this expansion, there is an increase in the complexity of business processes in the warehouse and in the field. To accommodate this expansion, Aegion implemented DSI® Cloud Inventory®, a mobile-first inventory management solution designed to help companies track inventory efficiently using a single, adaptable platform.
Prior to implementing Cloud Inventory, Aegion used a manual, paper-based approach to inventory management. As Aegion sought to optimize the efficiency of their growing field operations, they decided to transition to a more modern inventory management approach.
Aegion had approximately 400 crews in the field on a daily basis, creating field tickets by hand. This meant that there was a delay in getting valuable information captured and into customers’ hands. Aegion’s concern was that this delay had a detrimental impact on its ability to meet its customer service goals.
To achieve optimal efficiency and responsiveness in its customer service, Aegion sought to gain a more accurate, real-time understanding of what was happening each day in the field.
A large amount of data was being gathered using the hand-recorded system, but prior to implementing Cloud Inventory, all Aegion’s data was being recorded on paper. Aegion sought a solution that would allow it to share information with more people and in a more time-efficient manner.
The streamlined efficiency and configurability of Cloud Inventory’s platform not only reduces complexity but also reduces costs. Because Cloud Inventory is a single platform with few additional IT needs, Aegion benefits from a reduced cost of ownership.
“When it comes to the type of information that we capture in the field itself, there was nothing out of the box available to address those needs,” said Thys Lourens, Chief Information Officer, Aegion. “That’s where the custom development piece on the DSI side helped us tremendously.”
Using the Cloud Inventory platform to build applications specific to their needs, Aegion was able to streamline its processes. Since moving to digital, Aegion has significantly decreased the time it takes to complete invoices.
Aegion has projected a 200% reduction in the time to process daily field tickets. This effectively solves the company’s initial problem of facing the increasing demands for timely service from a growing customer base.
The Aegion IT team is now able to develop applications themselves. For example, using the Cloud Inventory platform Aegion is currently developing a mobile application that allows every employee to capture safety observations in real-time.
This information will be utilized to create more effective training materials and programs that address the most common safety issues that Aegion employees encounter.
Because Cloud Inventory is a mobile-first platform that emphasizes usability, the transition to a cloud-based inventory management approach has been easy to implement across Aegion’s widespread business locations.
For Tim Bremer, Director of IT Applications at Aegion, the deciding factor in choosing the Cloud Inventory platform was its ease of use. The adaptability and easy implementation of the Cloud Inventory platform has enabled Aegion to see immediate benefits.
In deciding to choose DSI’s Cloud Inventory platform, Bremer asked three critical questions: “Is the tool friendly, is the solution practical, is it something we can put in the hands of any user, and it is. It has been that type of tool. Whether it is people out in the field, or a project manager in the office, it’s very easy for them to use and understand in a common way.”
Aegion’s partnership with DSI highlights Cloud Inventory’s ability to leverage cloud-based technology to provide agile and accurate inventory management solutions that optimize inventory control and reduce costs.
