WOLFFKRAN

This leading European supplier of cranes needed a single integrated system to manage everything from quotes and orders to plant allocation and tracking.

The background 
 
WOLFFKRAN is a leading supplier of tower cranes to the UK and European construction industry. They asked Wave to deliver an IT solution for the management of their tower crane, hoists and lifting accessories rental business. This included everything from order enquiries and quotes to management of the rental contract throughout the hire period. 
 
The task 
 
WOLFFKRAN were looking to implement a single system to support their tower crane rental business that would replace the separate tools and manual processes currently in use. Quotations, orders, plant allocation and tracking, as well as asset management and maintenance all needed to be taken care of.  
 
This functionality would need to support a mobile workforce in both the sales and operations teams. 
 
External interfaces to a SAP accounting and invoicing system were also required. 
 
The solution 
 
A phased development approach was agreed, with the quotation and order management functionality being the first to be developed. Separate quotation modules were developed for Tower Cranes, Hoist and Lifting Accessories. Each module was individually tailored to deal with the unique elements of each part of the rental business. Driven from a centralised table of rates, rules-based code was developed to ensure accurate pricing of contracts for different tower crane and hoist configurations, including labour, delivery and removal pricing elements. 
 
This solution has enabled a more efficient and consistent approach to the quotation process with sales staff able to quickly generate detailed for the customer in an electronic form within a matter of minutes. 
 
The online storage of the quotation data enables the sales team leader and administrative support resources to review and report on the entire quotation and order activity. 
 
The subsequent phases of the development will address the following key functional areas: 
 

• Interface to SAP accounting and invoice system.

• Asset management for tower cranes and associated plant/accessories to include tracking from point of allocation through to end of the hire period. Manage details of planned and reactive maintenance during the hire period.

• Scheduler to review and plan tower crane demand, utilisation and availability.