Bailies Coffee Company was founded in 1993 by Russell Bailie, who recognised the growing demand for quality freshly roasted and traceable coffee amongst an increasingly knowledgeable consumer base in the UK and Ireland. The business was born out of Bailie’s own passion for quality hand roasted coffee.

The company began life as a roaster and supplier of coffee to the business to business market and quickly developed a reputation for quality and dependability. Under the guidance of managing director, Russel Bailie, they have expanded into the supply of commercial coffee machines, barista training, engineering support and ancillary products to wholesale coffee accounts – mostly artisan coffee shops, restaurants and some hotels, while continuing to be an artisan coffee roaster.

Bailies specialise in sourcing single origin and single estate coffees and aims for full traceability to origin, farm and farmer wherever possible. They also source and roast Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance and Organic coffees, and develop working relationships with ethical suppliers who have strong focus on sustainability for local farmers and growers. However, roasting coffee is only one part of what they do. In addition they provide barista training at the Bailies Academy and also provide a one stop shop from machines, engineer support, telesales and ancillary products.

The company has experienced further growth more recently and has expanded into the retail market through its online channels. The workforce has grown and Bailies moved to new state of the art premises in 2014.

By 2013, Bailies recognised the need for an automated system for managing their field service engineers. Done on a case by case basis, call–outs and preventative maintenance were driven by customer contact. Russell Bailie decided that a system was needed to manage the engineers, so that their time would be used more effectively and customer service would improve. A second catalyst for a new system was the need for a company undergoing growth to have an integrated system that was fit for purpose. The software needed to be suitable for the current business but also scaleable to support the needs of a fast growing business.

With two different but related sides to the business (roasting coffee and maintaining customer equipment), the challenge was to find a business solution that would meet the needs of both. “What we liked best about the Eagle solution was that it was one system that could solve the needs of two distinctly separate business units” said Russell Bailie.

Bearing in mind all of these factors, Bailies embarked on the process of sourcing the software solution and company that would be the best fit to their needs. Profitsflow.com and the Eagle Field Service product were quickly identified as the preferred option for the company and the initial consultation and implementation process commenced. “The ability to provide a turnkey product that they had the expertise and readiness to customise, without compromising on future upgrade paths was instrumental in our decision to go with Eagle and Profitsflow,” continued Bailie.

Since going live with Accounts and Order Processing as a first phase in December 2013, Bailies have incrementally rolled out the system across the Telesales, Field Sales, Field Service, Quality, Stock, Manufacturing and Purchasing departments.

In particular the Field service module has benefited the company through the following:

Job and Engineer scheduling: It is possible to schedule callouts and planned maintenance activities using Eagle’s “Assisted Scheduling” methodology which is based on relevant criteria, for example: availability, proximity, urgency and level of expertise. Through this superior functionality, the customer’s needs are met with greater speed and quality, saving time and money.

Engineers have access to critical data on their handheld devices in order to best address a customer’s request. The engineer app provides contact information, customer history, related documents and other information that is necessary and/or useful to complete the job.

Route Planning Bailies can now organise routine customer visits by location to streamline the preventative maintenance process. Customer service visits are now being conducted in this manner as well, ensuring a consistent and quality product is delivered to the end consumer.

Accurate data on time spent per job, per day, per engineer, per customer, per region is all accessible at the touch of a button. True profitability based on various criteria can now be viewed, and where relevant customers can be billed for the correct time and parts.

Stock management The Eagle system allows for tracking of parts, both in the warehouse and in each engineer’s van. The primary objective of the scheduling tool is to get the right engineer to the right place at the right time with the right kit.

Customer, Engineer and Scheduler Satisfaction Bailies are now a well-oiled machine. Engineers and customers have expressed much improved levels of satisfaction.