“It is important that our firefighting colleagues are provided with the safest possible equipment.”
In order to manage all firefighting equipment across the 14 municipalities within the Dutch Safety Region Twente, Fire Brigade Twente uses Centix. Maintenance & Technical Coordinator Tom Steentjes explains the quality improvements they have achieved with Centix: “We use Centix to ensure our colleagues can work safely.”
The Maintenance & Technology team at Fire Brigade Twente is responsible for the procurement, inspection, assembly, maintenance, repair, and decommissioning of all vehicles and equipment across the brigade’s 29 fire stations. The team also inspects and maintains equipment used at the training centre, the Twente Safety Campus (TSC). In total, they manage around 8,000 items that require regular inspection and upkeep — including the vehicles and tools used by firefighters during incidents. This work is carried out daily from their own workshops, located at three fire stations in Enschede, Hengelo, and Almelo. Tom explains: “The biggest advantage for us is that, with Centix, we can now complete all our inspection and maintenance tasks entirely digitally. It’s essential that our firefighting colleagues from other emergency response regions are equipped with the safest and most reliable tools possible, enabling them to respond to incidents in Twente with professionalism and confidence.”
Situation before Centix: Inspection on paper
Since 2013, the fire services in Twente have been regionalised, merging the 14 municipalities into a single safety region. As a result, Fire Brigade Twente marked its 10th anniversary in 2023.
To properly manage all equipment used by the fire service across these municipalities, an asset management system had already been in place. This system was used until July 2021. All materials were recorded in the system and labelled with asset tags. Tom Steentjes explains: “Until recently, we were still carrying out our inspections on paper. In 2021, we decided to take a closer look at how we managed our equipment and implement several quality improvements wherever possible. For instance, we worked towards standardising the equipment across Fire Brigade Twente. This led to similar vehicles being equipped in the same way, which offers advantages not only in purchasing, but also in maintaining and managing equipment. It also benefits training and maintaining the competence of our colleagues. Purchasing and implementing Centix was one of those key quality improvements.”
Centix solution: Easy to analyse
Fire Brigade Twente chose to implement Centix Online to carry out inspection and maintenance tasks entirely digitally. This enables the brigade to build a comprehensive inspection and maintenance history for all its equipment. “We also recorded the history in our previous system,” says Tom. “However, since inspections were still carried out on paper, it wasn’t easy to analyse. With Centix, it’s much easier to quickly retrieve and analyse the information we need. In combination with the seamless import of measurements from the PAT tester, it saves us a lot of time.” To instantly access the right information during inspections and maintenance, Fire Brigade Twente uses Centix QR-code stickers. “One of the advantages is that these can easily be scanned with a smartphone or tablet,” says Tom. “This gives us immediate access to the data without needing special reading equipment.” Tasks in the workshops are managed using Centix’s additional planning module. This module gives the fire brigade greater control over workflow and helps with scheduling maintenance activities more effectively.
Benefits/Results with Centix: In Control
- Because inspection and maintenance operations at Fire Brigade Twente have been fully digitised, the organisation now benefits from:
+ improved insight – Centix uses colour indicators to show when inspection deadlines are approaching.
+ a complete inspection and maintenance history for all equipment.
+ faster and easier analysis of key information when needed. - Digital inspections make work significantly easier, because:
+ inspections can be carried out more efficiently using a smartphone or tablet, rather than on paper.
+ automatically importing measurement data from the PAT tester saves the fire brigade considerable time. - By deploying Centix’s QR-code stickers, the fire brigade was largely able to do away with expensive scanning devices and special tags. The QR codes:
+ can be easily scanned using a smartphone or tablet, providing instant access to the relevant data. - The planning module, an addition to Centix Online, enables Fire Brigade Twente to implement centralised planning, providing visibility of activities across various workshops. Tom explains: “This gives us a complete overview of the team’s activities. Another advantage is that it helps with workload management — knowing how much work needs to be done within a given timeframe.”
As a result, the Fire Brigade:
+ has clear insight into the schedule and knows which vehicles are booked for bumper-to-bumper inspections during specific periods.
+ is in control, with better visibility of open work orders per vehicle and tasks yet to be scheduled.
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!
