British American Tobacco

British American Tobacco (BAT), the world's most international tobacco group, with a turnover of billions and profit levels to match, is a company committed to producing excellent quality products. It also expects the same excellent quality
from its suppliers.

Systems bite if you push them too far
There was no obvious choice of replacement, when the Facilities Department at British American Tobacco’s head office in London needed to replace its outdated FM system. However, Planon was selected after an intensive period of research and evaluation. Phil Hepburn: "We sat down and analysed exactly what we needed and how complex and sophisticated the system had to be. We had to identify what we needed immediately and also what we would need in the future. I had learned to my cost that if you try and push a system too far, it will eventually come back and bite you. Therefore the system that we chose would have to be truly fit for purpose."

Planon fitted our requirements the best
After evaluating five competitive systems the decision was made. Phil Hepburn: "We came away feeling very reassured with the Planon product, Planon fitted our requirements the best! The modular system structure allows us to pick the functions we require and the Planon Implementation Method allows us to implement them when they are needed. For us, delivering a quality and responsive FM service is paramount so naturally our first priority was to establish a Facilities Helpline. We started development in September and the helpline, together with it’s back-office processes was fully operational in November. The areas that are currently supported include catering, the helpline, reception, security and maintenance management."

Extremely reliable software
Planon is very flexible and this is reflected in the broad spread of modules available and also in the way that the modules can be tailored. "We can follow our own workflow structures, give fields meaningful names and use our own terms. All aspects that ensure the users feel familiar with the new system. This was very important, because we moved from older inflexible software and paper-based systems to Planon and the users were either sceptical or in general unfamiliar with computers. Another key factor is that the software is extremely reliable and stable," says a relieved Phil Hepburn.

Planon helps us
And a final word: "Planon helps us to deliver a high standard of service to the business, and a measure of our success is the low number of complaints. In the bi-monthly Building User Group meetings, eyes widen when we explain that we carry out 2,000 tasks a month. We have always provided a good service, but by providing the data, Planon lets us demonstrate the fact. Needless to say, the data also allows us to track and improve our performance. The most important thing is that we’re here to support the business and the people in it – Planon helps us succeed in our task. You could say that it helps us go unnoticed."