INTRODUCTION
Webbing Industries Australia (WIA) is a manufacturer of industrial webbing products and elastic fabric for various applications. The company began operations in 1949, this becoming the first factory to produce lace in Australia and today is an importer of raw materials that enables them to design and manufacturer of a wide range of products used in the marine, medical, transport and defence industries.
The plant has expanded across 3 sites in Victoria with its own dyeing and finishing plant, they can colour match, dye and finish elastic, webbing and industrial webbing to almost any customer requirement.
THE SITUATION
Over the past 3 years, WIA have been steadily upgrading their manufacturing plant, machinery and adding additional square metres of floor space.
This expansion also necessitated an upgrade of their communications infrastructure. Auswide Communications were asked to advise upon what customers are looking for today and to provide a customised communications solution based upon current requirements whilst allowing for future growth in personnel and software development.
Some key areas of concern for management were
- To provide the ability to communicate more effectively with key roles on the manufacturing floor
- To reduce call backs to key customers and provide immediate advice of their products and services quickly by having access to key staff
- To provide the ability to enhance access to internal management at a variety of hours of the day for staff and their families.
- To reduce unneccessary communications costs with legacy technology
- To reduce the impact and potential risk to general operations of legacy equipment failure
THE SOLUTION
A new IP Office telephone system with voice messaging and mobility features was the preferred options for WIA. Their telephone lines were upgraded from analogue to digital and a communications enclosure was installed to house the IP pbx, Public Address and other associated data equipment.
Digital lines enabled caller ID, which immediately improved their customer service so that they could separate customer and staff calls and appropriate the call flows to correct departments. Their new telephone system gave them the ability to transfer calls off site and twinning capability. Twinning permits similar functions to portabe phones but at a fraction of the cost.
Remote Programming and diagnostic support capability will improve maintenance and fault resolution and could eliminate the need for onsite visits for most minor moves and changes.
THE BENEFITS
The Avaya IP Office telephone system has improved internal communications between head office, manufacturing plants and warehouse. Call queuing off their main number and voice mail have ensured that calls are never missed, even after hours as the time matrix for incoming calls has been customised to suit staff shift variations and customers in different time zones.
We would like to thank Auswide Communications for their consultative approach in delivering the desired outcomes necessary to meet our customer service objectives.
Throughout the process we were kept informed of our options and have deployed a system that enables us to enhance our communications between our customers and staff.
This has enabled our business to become increasingly flexible at our manufacturing plant in Melbourne whilst providing mobility for our staff to enhance customer service.
The IP PBX was delivered on time and on budget, the after sales support has also been excellent and beneficial to ongoing improvements.