Technology helps URM deliver on its commitments

URM Group uses Wastedge software to power its waste operations
URM Group is adding value to its waste management solutions by fusing traditional customer service with cutting-edge software.

URM Group may have been around 40 years, but there is nothing outdated about its operations. Its tech-savvy management team, headed by Managing Director Anthony Johnston and CEO David Johnston, has been applying technology to keep ahead of the game with its waste management services.

The firm is based in Chatswood, Sydney, and currently employs more than 500 staff and runs a fleet of over 300 vehicles. Its client list is just as long, from council kerbside collections to a wide variety of commercial contracts.

As a forward-thinking leader, David has embedded four goals in the company: exceptional customer service, offering waste services to meet the demands of the community and the environment, operating state-of-the-art waste management technology, and providing a safe working environment.

In December 2014, URM introduced the waste management software, Wastedge, to help the business achieve those aims. Hamish Kear joined URM this past July as Commercial Business Manager.

“I’ve a 17-year pedigree in the IT industry, so David employed me to manage URM’s Wastedge system, with a focus on improving customer service and optimising the software’s capabilities,” says Hamish.

URM has two main parts to its growing business. It provides waste collections for councils and a range of services to commercial clients. As they need to pay for their waste collection and any recycling services, URM
was looking to bring added value to its offering.

“We use Wastedge as a competitive advantage to ensure we can collect their waste when they want us to,” Hamish says.

He explains that URM uses the technology as a bolt-on to other systems it already had in place, predominantly as a booking-to-job management portal.

“When we receive a service request from a customer, we book those in through our Wastedge system. It goes directly to a tablet in a truck, and the driver is told in real time exactly where he needs to be,” explains Hamish.

“The added beauty of Wastedge is that if he isn’t sure where he’s going, it can also give him directions via GPS,” he adds.

When drivers arrive at a pick-up location, the mobile software allows them to take photos and log information for proof of collections, or record anything out of the ordinary. The data is saved in real time and easy to retrieve.

“Our clients can phone us a minute after a pick-up and we can tell them what the driver did at their premises, or pull GPS reports to show that we were at their site at a certain time,” Hamish says.

To continue reading this article, please see page 48 of Issue 9.

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