Automated QR code system transforms Swindon's waste management

Challenge

Swindon Borough Council wanted to reduce the need for additional resources (and associated costs) that had been brought in to assist with the management of the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) COVID-19 service delivery. They were mindful that residents are passionate about the HWRC and any changes to waste services are highly emotive.

Swindon’s award-winning Emerging Tech team saw an opportunity to use technology to automate manual checks, simplify residents’ booking and visits to the HWRC, and create an overall better customer experience. 

Solution

A rapid discovery was carried out to better understand site usage, patterns, and influences. This determined that the current manual paperwork, checks, and operations could be managed through technology, and an optimal site operation based on data-driven decisions was achievable.

The solution lay in a simple QR code.

Residents would be able to make online bookings on the website, receiving a QR code that when scanned at the HWRC would allow them entry through a barrier system. AG Automation - gate automation systems specialists - were perfectly placed to design a barrier entry that would operate with the kiosk entry technology, whilst meeting strict safety standards. Tornado Storage Solutions were able to provide a fully customisable and automated check in control kiosk that would be supported by 24/7 remote engineer assistance.

We developed and built custom barrier entry software which was installed on the Tornado hardware. This process takes the HWRC booking data from Jadu and validates it on entry and raises the barrier when required.

Every scan is written back to the reporting database so entry information and patterns can be used to build insightful reports such as how many people arrive early or late etc.

We also built workflow in Microsoft’s PowerAutomate to generate and send the entry QR codes to customers when a booking is made to tie the Jadu booking process and Kiosk software together.

Impact

1. 217 hours per/year Site Manager time saved.
   
   
2. 25% additional booking slots available.
   
   
3. 1-2 second entry mitigating the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by vehicles standing in the queue, contributing towards the Councils goal to achieve Net Zero Emissions.
   
   
4. Near real-time reporting database for data driven decision making.
   
   
5. 6-month payback period.
   
   
6. Residents feedback Go Live ascertained:
   • 98.6% rated the experience of booking their visit as easy or very easy.
   • 85% said they used their QR code to scan in and 93% said the experience of using the QR code was easy or very easy.
   • 84.5% confirmed they read the information provided about the site layout and what to expect on their visit, and 98% said the information was helpful.
   • 98.5% describe their overall visit as good or very good, with 88.9% stating their recent visit experience was as good or better than previous visits.