Underperforming repairs and maintenance operations are one of the biggest challenges facing social landlords. Growing financial pressures, tenant expectations and regulatory demands, including Awaab’s Law, mean improving efficiency is more critical than ever.

In response, there’s been a noticeable shift towards direct labour organisations (DLOs). Bringing repairs and maintenance in-house can improve service levels, lower costs, enhance tenant satisfaction and help achieve compliance with new regulations, including Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs). However, to realise these benefits, adopting the right technology is critical.

Barriers to progress

Although greater control over repairs and maintenance operations is one of the key advantages of a DLO, this is only part of the solution. If a DLO has to rely on manual or outdated processes to deliver their work, this will hinder performance and limit their potential to make tangible improvements.

Legacy technology, which is no longer fit for purpose or that doesn’t integrate with other systems, is one of the biggest efficiency blockers. This can make the management of repairs and maintenance activities costly and time consuming.

Ineffective systems can also result in misallocated resources. Engineers may be assigned to jobs that don’t match their skillset or they’re not prepared for, increasing the risk of incomplete repairs. More complex jobs, requiring the coordination of multiple trades, are often put on the back burner, causing further backlogs.

Reaching for the clouds

Propeller’s cloud-based job management software tackles these issues head on and crucially, enables a DLO to mobilise quickly.

As a SaaS (Software as a Service) provider, our software is accessed through the web rather than installed on a computer or server. As social landlords don’t need to deploy their own IT resources or infrastructure, this SaaS model ensures a quick, cost-effective installation process. Our solution can be fully integrated within weeks and once in place, no specialist IT skills are required to operate. 

Smarter scheduling

Thanks to intelligent scheduling, Propeller drives efficiency in multiple ways. Gas and electrical servicing appointments can be arranged in bulk up to three months in advance and within a matter of seconds. Appointment details are automatically sent to customers, and additional functionality can be added to manage no-access scenarios and automate follow-on visits.

The software can also be configured to automate visits for both planned maintenance and responsive repairs, including complex jobs requiring multiple trades on different days.

Engineers’ productivity is enhanced through specialist technology which continuously analyses the workforce to optimise workloads. Engineers are assigned appointments based on factors, including skillsets, travel time, and the estimated duration of the job. Over time, the system self learns from this data to further enhance efficiency and increase first-time fixes.

Compared to conventional scheduling methods, our technology can reduce operational costs by up to 40 per cent. It also has the potential to cut travel costs by up to 25 per cent and lower carbon emissions through more efficient routing.

Increasing visibility

Our software supports compliance with TSMs too. Once on site, engineers have instant access to essential information such as details of previous repairs, appliance conditions and asbestos registers. This data can be viewed via Propeller’s mobile app, updated in real time and consolidated into an online analytics dashboard. The information is presented in statistical charts providing real-time visibility across key areas such as compliance, engineer performance, no access reasons, and customer satisfaction scores.

This centralised reporting framework increases transparency, helping social landlords to meet new regulatory requirements while continuously improving service delivery.

Each visit can also be analysed in terms of time taken, actions carried out, and costs, enabling social landlords to monitor a DLO’s performance more effectively and remediate quickly if issues arise. Performance trends can be assessed over time to further optimise resources and improve productivity. 

No time to stand still

Record spending on repairs, rising compliance demands, and growing tenant expectations, mean the pressure on social landlords has never been greater. If an organisation uses a DLO to address these challenges, adopting cloud-based technology is essential.

Propeller’s job management software will enable an in-house team to hit the ground running, driving efficiency and reducing costs while delivering better outcomes for tenants.

To learn more about how Propeller can support your DLO and transform your repairs and maintenance operation, contact us today.