TEST & MEASUREMENT
Quite often, the remote engineers we spoke to are required
to download results to a laptop via a USB stick or cable
and then email the results back to the office. Their laptop
is in the van, not the tool bag, so this process doesn’t mesh
well with their standard working day. Other engineers
downloaded the results when they return to the office once
a week, sometimes less. Either approach wastes time and
can cause a bottleneck at the end of the week where project
managers have multiple projects to process.
Cable installers told us that the process of transferring
results from their cable certifier leads to delays, and in
some cases lost results. The most common feedback from
engineers was that they want to be able to ‘press one
button’ to send the results back to the office to the job
site. As tester manufacturers, this need should guide the
development of our cable certifiers.
Improve management software
The right management software helps to minimise the time
required to organise reports for customers, helping to ensure
payment can be invoiced quickly. However, satisfaction in
this area in our research was low. Project managers typically
explained that they must follow a structured formatting and
quality checking process when creating reports. Often, the
data they receive from the certifier requires a significant
amount of time. This process assures customer acceptance,
warranty approval and quality, which in turn reduces
callbacks. So, the challenge when developing improved cable
certifiers and the related management software is to reduce
the labour involved, without compromising the objective the
process is designed for.
More efficient port labelling
Without accurate labelling, installers are handing over an
installation that will be difficult and time-consuming for the
owner to manage and resolving mislabelling issues takes up
a huge amount of time. It’s also vital that the completed
test report ID’s match the installed links on-site, whether the
labels are printed beforehand or while on-site. Issues occur
because the cable list is input to the tester and then into the
printer as well. This double handling can lead to mistakes
and mismatches. As the area of cable certification with
the largest market satisfaction gap, labelling is clearly an
important area to get right with cable certifiers.
Decrease the lifetime cost of ownership
A unanimous theme in our research was that test equipment
is a big investment for cable installers that can put pressure
on their business. We heard many tales of installers making
bad equipment choices which meant they didn’t have the
equipment needed to win work or enter an adjacent market
segment; the result of which was needing to purchase yet
more costly equipment. The investment required, in some
cases, significantly impacted the company’s ability to grow.
Cable installers also need to know that the certifiers they
buy will be supported long enough for them to get a return
on their investment and that they’re designed to meet the
testing needs of the future.
Reduced calibration and service downtime
Due to the relatively high unit cost, we found that many
cable installation businesses are running operations with
far fewer certifiers in their fleet than would be ideal, and
without carrying spares. If testers require calibration or to
be serviced, they require time out of the business, and this
needs to be carefully managed.
In our research, installers told us that this could result in
downtime on-site and complexities in managing completion
dates to fit in with resources. If calibration dates are
missed, sites can inadvertently be tested by equipment
out of calibration, which will mean warranties are denied,
certification needs to be repeated and profitability is
reduced. Installers are keen for manufacturers to support
them in keeping calibration and service downtime to a
minimum.
Overcoming challenges
Cable installers work in an industry which is constantly
evolving. As such, what they really need is access to cable
certifiers and test equipment that can change with them
and address their biggest day-to-day challenges. n
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