UK leading charity enhances its maintenance operations with ShireSystem CMMS

The Mare and Foal Sanctuary is a leading UK charity dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and providing lifelong care for horses and ponies. By implementing ShireSystem CMMS/CAFM software, the organisation has centralised maintenance operations and enhanced compliance management across its diverse facilities.

Key benefits since implementing ShireSystem:

• Accurate, centralised asset and work management across the sanctuary’s multiple sites
• Enhanced compliance to safeguard people and animals, resulting in a 97% health and safety audit score (over 30% increase on previous score)
• Optimised scheduling and resource allocation to maximise productivity among the charity’s small maintenance team
• Rapid response to maintenance requests with photo-enabled work orders for clear instructions

First-class animal care relies on a well-run operation

The Mare and Foal Sanctuary in Newton Abbott, UK, cares for 631 horses and ponies, with 400 in foster homes and the remaining animals under direct care at their facilities.

With 120 staff members spread across five sanctuary sites, a retail warehouse, equine operating theatre and six charity shops, operations are extremely busy day-to-day. The organisation’s maintenance requirements are coordinated by a small team of five people who face constant and diverse demands.

Colin Day, Head of Property at The Mare and Foal Sanctuary, oversees all aspects of planned and reactive maintenance across the charity’s locations.

“It’s quite a diverse role. One minute I might be in a hay field with someone cutting hay, the next I could be dealing with something in a charity shop. Everything from planned maintenance and compliance to refurbishment projects falls under my responsibility.”

Colin Day, Head of Property, The Mare and Foal Sanctuary

Before implementing ShireSystem, the charity relied on a rudimentary Excel-based system for logging jobs and managing maintenance tasks. This approach presented many limitations, which impacted the efficiency and responsiveness of maintenance operations.

“Our old system was just a way to log jobs. There was no way of recording any detail for each task, and we couldn’t track how many jobs had been done at a particular site or report on work completed.”

Searching for the sanctuary’s ideal CMMS solution

The Mare and Foal Sanctuary decided to elevate its maintenance operation in 2022 by investing in ShireSystem SaaS CMMS/CAFM software.

Having used ShireSystem in several previous companies, Colin recognised its potential to meet the sanctuary’s specific needs.

As a charitable organisation, The Mare and Foal Sanctuary needed a solution that provided value for money and predictable costs. ShireSystem offered financial certainty alongside comprehensive functionality and an intuitive interface.

“I looked at a few CMMS systems and found that, with ShireSystem, all the functionality we needed was covered in the standard licence, which was not the case with other solutions.”

Another key advantage of choosing ShireSystem was Colin’s existing knowledge, which helped to streamline the onboarding process. Tailored manuals were created to explain the key functionality users would need across The Mare and Foal Sanctuary’s maintenance, retail, and animal welfare operations.

“I already knew ShireSystem was user-friendly; you don’t need to be a super user to operate it properly. With the tailored training manuals, our workforce got to grips with new processes with very few issues.”

ShireSystem delivers significant benefits for The Mare and Foal Sanctuary

Since implementing ShireSystem, The Mare and Foal Sanctuary has improved all aspects of its maintenance operations. The most notable changes include:

Easier compliance and auditing

As a charitable organisation dealing with animal welfare and public interactions, maintaining high standards of compliance is crucial for The Mare and Foal Sanctuary.

For example, the charity holds several open days each year, during which it uses a catering truck to serve food and drink. Food hygiene requirements dictate that all refrigerator and freezer temperatures must be recorded: that data can now be captured and stored within ShireSystem.

As a result of the compliance improvements facilitated by ShireSystem, The Mare and Foal Sanctuary scored 97% in its most recent health and safety audit. This is a huge increase on the 61% score the charity achieved previously.

“I could sit in front of the auditor and bring up any asset with a picture and all documentation,” Colin shares.

The charity also now has a complete, accurate record of all their assets, right down to the number of wheelbarrows and ladders at each site.

Centralised task management and maintenance records

All planned and reactive maintenance tasks across all sanctuaries and retail sites are now logged within ShireSystem.

The software automatically generates and assigns weekly tasks to sanctuary managers, retail managers and maintenance staff. Documentation and data related to planned maintenance is stored in the CMMS software to maximise safety and efficiency.

For example, staff must carry out Legionella checks on water systems monthly, and water should be stored at 60 °C to kill Legionella bacteria.

Colin has uploaded temperature information to ShireSystem so whoever carries out checks is working with accurate information. All hot and cold water temperatures are set within the task, automatically passing or failing as staff enter the readings into the software. If any of the temperatures fail, ShireSystem will automatically raise a job for maintenance to investigate the issue.

In addition to scheduled workload, any unplanned maintenance work can be added directly to ShireSystem and prioritised above less time-critical jobs, ensuring the wellbeing of both people and animals at The Mare and Foal Sanctuary.

“If a groom is working in the field and sees a broken fence post, or a retail store manager has a leaking tap in their toilet, they can log the problem in ShireSystem. If that job has a high priority rating, we can get to it straight away.”

Improved communication and task allocation

Centralising tasks has also enhanced the way The Mare and Foal Sanctuary manages resources. With only four members of the maintenance team plus himself, Colin can closely monitor their workload through ShireSystem and assign tasks more efficiently.

The four maintenance team members have the ShireSystem Mobile Pro app downloaded to their smartphones so they can access their task list and relevant documentation wherever they are on-site.

Colin also uses ShireSystem to assign any work outsourced to external contractors to a specific job number, so he can track progress and costs. Requesters can attach photo evidence to each work order, which Colin sends to contractors to ensure they understand exactly what’s required of them.

“When someone makes a request, it is not always clear what needs doing from the description notes. With ShireSystem, they can take a picture to show us. Not only does this help us get onto the job quicker, but it can also help us with parts management. We can see straight away what needs repairing or changing, which cuts down on site visits.”

Empowering charitable work through efficient maintenance

As The Mare and Foal Sanctuary continues to grow and evolve, ShireSystem remains an integral part of its operations.

“Every company has different requirements for CMMS software. For us, it’s about having a quick, easy way to manage workload and being able to produce evidence for our compliance reporting.”

The charity’s successful implementation of ShireSystem demonstrates how the right CMMS/CAFM solution can transform maintenance operations, improve compliance management and enhance overall efficiency for organisations with diverse facility management needs.

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