Dedicated materials store enables increased repair and maintenance efficiencies and cost savings
Managed Services, part of Travis Perkins plc, which provides maintenance materials and supply chain planning for public sector organisations, has opened a new store in West Oxfordshire, exclusively for housing association Cottsway.
Cottsway, the largest housing association in West Oxfordshire, manages all day-to-day responsive repairs and empty homes maintenance work for a portfolio of 4,500 homes, including houses, flats and bungalows, and also specializes in housing for the over 55’s.In addition to general repairs, the Cottsway team provides tenants with access to aids and adaptations to their homes including green technology installations.
The new store, which officially opened on 4th August 2015, is now fully managed by Managed Services and is part of a contract that will last a minimum of 4 years. Stocking all required heavy and light side materials, this dedicated store will provide everything Cottsway needs to maintain its properties in the local area with improved efficiency and at a lower cost. The dedicated store will ensure that the repairs and maintenance staff at Cottsway have instant access to whatever stock they need, whenever they need it – either by arranging delivery or paying a visit to the store.
The partnership with Managed Services will also help to ensure that Cottsway secures better-value products and more efficient stock levels – with a reduction in the reliance of third party suppliers. The implementation of Managed Services full-spectrum trade supply planning system; which includes full supply chain support and a dedicated relationship manager, will enable Cottsway to reduce the amount of time spent sourcing and transporting appropriate materials, which in turn will help the repair and maintenance teams increase their work rates.
The arrangement will also have a positive impact on tenants, enabling them to get their much needed repairs finished in a timely manner, whilst at the same time increasing the efficiency of scheduled property refurbishments.
Sue Lakin, Operations Director at Cottsway, said: “Our new central stores, run in partnership with Travis Perkins, is handling all our stores, waste and hire needs as well as delivering materials to our repairs team on site. This will significantly increase productivity, reduce costs and deliver a better service to customers.”
Stuart Hough, Managing Director of Managed Services said: “We are very proud to be opening our first Managed Services store dedicated for Cottsway and look forward to our continued partnership with the housing association. We have been working on streamlining processes and reducing costs, and the dedicated stores will help to achieve this. At Managed Services, we not only strive to improve service by providing better value and the right product selection, but seek to enhance the management of the supply chain by providing easy access to materials – freeing up employees and contractors to work more efficiently.”
A study commissioned by Managed Services has revealed that housing associations and local authorities around the UK could save over £285 million each year by re-engineering their repair and maintenance (R&M) materials purchasing and management. The analysis of a range of social housing providers, undertaken by MindMetre Research, found that by re-engineering R&M materials purchase and management procedures, social housing organisations could stand to save £1.7 billion in social housing R&M costs by the end of the decade. The study highlighted that with social housing R&M constituting a significant proportion of running costs, addressing supply chain issues could enable housing authorities and social housing providers to make substantial efficiency and productivity gains, as well as large cost savings.
