National Windscreens, the UK’s largest independently owned vehicle glazing specialist, has revolutionised its capability to complete all windscreen replacement jobs ‘Right First Time’.
The innovative company has developed a unique piece of software, ‘Partscheck’, which correctly identifies the exact piece of replacement glass needed for a specific vehicle by simply entering the Vehicle Registration Number – addressing a problematic issue that affects the whole windscreen replacement industry.
Significant advances in the range of technologies used in windscreens has resulted in the availability of a variety of screen models for the same vehicle, as Regional Director, Phil Lomas, explains: “As well as heated windscreens, recent industry developments have seen the introduction of acoustic glass, windscreen mounted cameras, integral Heads Up Displays (HUDs) and a variety of sensors which mean that identifying the correct piece of glass needed can be quite difficult. For example, there are more than 20 different screens available for the current model BMW Series 5, so expecting a motorist to know the exact replacement windscreen type they require is unrealistic.
“Partscheck has been developed to eradicate this issue and is achieving outstanding results for National Windscreens. We introduced it early last year and it is currently running at 99.5% accuracy.”
This innovation is not only benefitting motorists who can be confident their job will be completed in one visit with minimal information required during the job booking process, but it also brings considerable benefits to National Windscreens’ fleet and insurance clients who can be accurately quoted for every job before the technician has even seen the vehicle.
Chris Nicholson, Fleet Maintenance Manager at Thrifty Car and Van Rental, testifies, "The introduction of Partscheck means that National Windscreens is not reliant on our locations or customers identifying the type of screen fitted to vehicles as they know the specification purely from the registration number.
"This is particularly important as our fleet model comprises of new high specification vehicles having features reliant on screen sensors. This takes all the difficulty out of the booking process and means jobs are completed in one visit greatly improving the customer experience and reducing vehicle down time.”
National Windscreens operates 108 fitting centres throughout the UK supported by more than 800 mobile technicians, serving over 1,000,000 drivers every year. The sheer volumes of jobs processed by the company every day means providing customers with the best experience possible is absolutely crucial.
Managing Director, Pete Marsden, elaborates, “No motorist wants the inconvenience of a technician arriving to complete a windscreen replacement only to find out that they’ve brought the wrong piece of glass and the job will have to re-scheduled. This is not only annoying for the driver, but also a very inefficient way of working for the service provider.
“We are constantly looking at ways to improve customer service and we believe that Partscheck is the most significant development the windscreen replacement industry has seen for a long time. Its potential is enormous.”
Customer satisfaction sits at the heart of everything National Windscreens does. The company is firmly committed to its national network of fitting centres, believing these to be key to providing the local glass stocks and local service necessary to deliver truly excellent customer service. The comprehensive service coverage provided through this network and a supporting team of over 800 mobile units, means that on average a UK motorist is never more than 11 miles or 20 minutes away from a National Windscreens technician, resulting in industry leading ‘time to serve’ and customer satisfaction scores.