Cayin Case Study

Cayin helps balance the scorecard for Balfour Beatty Plant & Fleet Services

Based in Derby, Balfour Beatty Plant & Fleet Services is an Operating Company within the Balfour Beatty Group, and provides national coverage in crane services, accommodation & site services, trackside plant & equipment, plus general and strategic plant. Balfour Beatty is celebrating its 100th birthday in 2009.

When Andrew White, Service Delivery Manager started researching digital signage solutions, he turned to his favoured audio visual suppliered with whom he had built a strong business relationship, and so had every confidence in seeking their advice for a bespoke digital signage solution.

The requirement

The main requirement was a need to communicate the company’s metrics such as their operational figures and daily business performance measurements, in a clear, accurate and timely way across multiple offices and sites.

Key technology

The recommended solutions was CAYIN digital signage, a Linux based system which is highly reliable and functional, supplied through distributor Audio Visual Materials. With AVM’s support, the reseller initially supplied a demonstration system, and successful trials led to a decision to implement a full system installation. Andrew was not only impressed by the technology, but found the reseller and AVM very supportive throughout the whole research and installation process.

Use of system

Information is displayed over 12 Panasonic professional plasma screens across multiple sites and buildings at the Derby, Balfour Beatty Plant & Fleet offices. The system is network controlled by six CAYIN SMP WEB-3 boxes and two CAYIN SMP PRO-3 multi media digital signage devices with a Cayin CMS MINI server driving the whole system.

The SMP WEB and PRO-3 display the company’s metrics and ‘balanced scorecard’ information across the site. The ‘balanced scorecard’ is a system which allows the organisation to measure how far along it’s journey towards achieving it’s mission it is. By ensuring all areas of the business are spotlighted within four areas, customer perception, financial performance, internal processes and learning & growth, it allows the business to ensure a fully balanced approach towards its mission and any areas which are not performing well highlighted so that improvements can be made.

The system has also been used to raise morale and engender a strong team spirit, for example, at Christmas, photos from the Christmas party were displayed and lunch menus were shown as well as a Christmas speech from the Managing Director Steve Farmer. This went down so well that the marketing team is planning to create a regular TV slot with schedules of what will be shown throughout the week.

Product confidence

The reseller had complete confidence in recommending the Cayin system, having received outstanding product support from AVM, and have since successfully supplied systems for a number of other major blue chip clients. The CAYIN system gave Balfour Beatty maximum functionality within their budget.

The results

Andrew White commented, “I am very happy with the work and the support received from CAYIN. The project was delivered on time and on budget. Communication was excellent throughout and some very tight timescales were accommodated. In fact, the system is now being watched with interest by other parts of the Balfour Beatty Group.”