The added value of working with Centix for Fire Brigade Twente is greater control over the management of their equipment. Maintenance & Technology Coordinator Tom Steentjes explains: “Compliance with legislation and regulations, requirements from our suppliers, as well as our own policies and safety standards make periodic checks, inspections, and maintenance essential to us. By managing these processes in Centix, we remain fully in control.”
Of course, an important precondition for this is that the information in the system is accurate, Tom admits. “To implement the system, ten key users worked within Centix, with one colleague responsible for checking out all vehicles and equipment. As a result, over 8,000 items are now registered in Centix, along with all maintenance and inspection data. For each item, every detail is entered — from technical specifications to maintenance history and changes of location. In this way, the entire life cycle of, for example, ‘rescue equipment’ — from purchase to depreciation — is fully documented. The advantage is that the fire brigade has a complete inspection and maintenance history readily available in Centix,” says Tom, who expects the Fire Brigade to become increasingly data-driven in the future. Tom adds: “Our aim is to be able to generate the right data and insights with just a few clicks. This will give us full control and make it easy to create reports and analyses whenever needed.”
Tom Steentjes – “Is it necessary to bring a vehicle in for maintenance more often given its more frequent use? We can focus more on that in the future.”
Decisions can then be made based on that data. Currently, decisions are often made based on gut feeling or experience. “Imagine if you could count the number of cuts made with a knife on a vehicle until it becomes blunt — you could then anticipate when it needs replacing. We can also track how often a vehicle returns for repairs and how often it is fixed on the first attempt. Financially, of course, we need to be accountable as well. Analyses ultimately help us to create the budget. This provides a solid foundation to build on.”
Learned lessons
“This works much safer for us because the margin of error is smaller.”
Since the start of our collaboration with Centix, the key users have continually discovered useful features within the system. Tom explains, “One real eye-opener was working with object types. By organising product-related documentation under these object types, we ensure that the same documentation can always be found under the corresponding brand and type of object. This makes it easily accessible. It also helps us accurately record the odometer readings of ‘objects with meter readings’ when vehicles return. Furthermore, linking object locations has been a godsend. During incidents or exercises, multiple vehicles may be present at the same location, and materials can sometimes be exchanged between vehicles. By assigning each object a location in Centix, we can clearly see where the materials belong.”
Future
“As a fire brigade, we too continue to innovate,” says Tom. “For example, we are currently working on making our fleet more sustainable by switching to electric vehicles. Charging stations have been installed at several of our stations, and the first fifteen electric vehicles are on order.” Furthermore, the digitisation of operations, including through Centix, is an ongoing process, according to the Maintenance & Engineering Coordinator. “IT is becoming increasingly indispensable, both in fighting incidents and managing our equipment. It plays an ever more important role, from the software integrated into our equipment to the systems we use to maintain it. Additionally, we are generating more and more data, which we will be able to use increasingly in the future. By analysing this data, we can better tailor our management to actual usage. One of our ongoing wishes is to be able to monitor all this via a dashboard.”
Freedom to expand
Tom is positive about the partnership and thinks Centix is a good fit for the fire department. Like our fire department organization, Centix wants to keep improving itself. As a Maintenance & Engineering team, we want to do that to continue to help our colleagues as best we can. Centix helps us because it is very easy to manage objects. It is very user-friendly. With Centix, we have the freedom to expand, for example. That makes us more flexible as an organization. If we do have questions, something is scheduled immediately and we are also helped quickly.”
For more information about Fire Brigade Twente, please visit the Fire Brigade Twente website.
Discover what Centix can do for your organisation
After reading about Fire Brigade Twente’s experience, are you interested to learn more? I would be happy to guide you through the possibilities Centix has to offer in a product demonstration. Depending on your requirements, I will brief you in half an hour to an hour and a half to give you a clear picture of our complete equipment management solution!
