In 2021, the City of Canterbury entered into a new era of waste collection. Owned by Canterbury City Council, a local authority trade company, Canterbury Environment Company (Canenco), was launched to transform the city’s services and secure more flexibility and control.
Appointed as Director to run Canenco’s services, David Maidman explains that “a crucial part of the challenge when we took the contract over was ensuring we had the right technology in place to streamline our operation and optimise efficiency…as part of the mobilisation phase, vehicles and systems were our priority.”
Canenco chose to award the vehicle onboard camera contract to market-leading safety and security solutions experts, Contel, to provide live cameras, much needed to monitor round activity and progress. Alongside this, waste software from Bartec was introduced; integrating the Contel camera footage to provide a joined-up data platform.
David explains that “a key part of the success of the operation is traceability. We needed a solution that would enable us to trace all activity and monitor it in real time, if required.”
The Contel safety camera solution is now installed on all vehicles used for refuse collection, recycling, garden waste, food waste, road sweeping and street cleansing.
In addition to the initial contract requirements, since December 2021, Canenco now have responsibility for Canterbury City Council’s grounds maintenance works. The vehicles for this part of the contract are all fitted with Contel’s telematics solution, providing full visibility of their location and activity. Commenting on this addition to the scope, David says that “Contel’s responsiveness has been very impressive. From having a conversation, to placing an order and getting the equipment fitted took less than 6 weeks.”
Contel’s Managing Director, Andrew Kelly has managed the project from the start and explains that “we’ve installed the Defend Connected Live 4G DVR solution across the Canenco fleet, which are integrated with Bartec Collective waste management software. This provides our customer with real time data, which is shared alongside video captured within crew safety audit forms.
“All systems installed are integrated into Contel Connected – our hardware agnostic asset management system.”
Commenting on how Canenco are using the solution, David explains that “the technology is helping us to monitor the health and safety of our waste operations and if claims are made, we have the information at our fingertips to investigate and resolve quickly and efficiently.”
The core ethos of Contel is ‘service before sales’ and Andrew Kelly explains that “we provide bespoke solutions for our customers by listening to their requirements – we don’t just sell them a box and move on. We work with all our customers to squeeze every last drop of value from our solutions and make the technology work hard for their business.”
This is echoed by David Maidman who, when commenting on the partnership with Contel, says that “their approach is flexible, they deliver on what they commit to, their solutions are cost-effective and most importantly, they are solutions minded. If we have a challenge, they will think of a way to improve or resolve it. They understand our business and they’re more than just another supplier.”
When asked about the service that they’ve received from Contel, David says that “communication has been superb! There have been situations where multiple parties have been involved in vehicle logistics and Contel’s team have navigated this with ease. They’ve carried out onsite and offsite installations and they’ve demonstrated a co-operative style to get the job done efficiently.”
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