When your business operates in the service sector, you expect the unexpected, plan for the unplanned and agree to the impossible. It is part and parcel of service, and often the fault of no one on either side of the ledger. Sometimes, it is purely circumstance at play.
A recent national contract was awarded that required HydroChem to provide services to almost 500 sites annually. The staged rollout was to have taken place within two months of the contract being initiated and was to cover over 600 individual systems.
HydroChem has locations in all states and territories in Australia
Two weeks into the rollout, the client approached us with a bombshell request. They needed to have the servicing of the remaining 448 sites completed by the end of the first month – 12 days away. Adding a layer of difficulty, some of those remaining sites were in the most remote locations in Australia.
The HydroChem service, administration and account management teams swung into action immediately. With cross border co-operation still proving difficult due to COVID-19 restrictions being firmly in place, the coordination role of the states in arranging laboratory and supply chain support would be vital to the operation’s success. The challenge could be broken down into a simple equation; visit, sample, analyse and report on over 50 sites per day for two weeks.
With near military precision, an operational plan took shape that included flights, accommodation and rental cars. Safework and service procedures for every site had to be prepared and disseminated.
Over the ensuing days, the client received a daily progress briefing from HydroChem management. Throughout this period, the client frequently remarked on the proactive, can-do attitude of the HydroChem team.
“The result, which is impressive, was no less than we expected,” says HydroChem CEO Mike Lenton. “Our experienced national team ensured we delivered on our promise and met the tight timeframe we had committed to. HydroChem has once again demonstrated itself to be an agile, customer focused business that delivers and deploys the most innovative technology necessary to lead the water treatment industry in Australia.”