Accommodation firm 138 Student Living Jamaica Limited (138SL) has commissioned the first phase of the online inventory, asset management and maintenance software, Manager Plus.

In a statement, 138 Student Living Jamaica explained that the commissioning is aimed at achieving greater operational efficiency across the roughly 1,500 rooms it currently operates in nine towers. 

CEO Cranston Ewan said the new system will enable the occupants of the rooms, using a dedicated QR code, to log their maintenance, housekeeping and other issues into a central system, thereby allowing the Company to schedule the tasks to be undertaken and to track each activity to completion.

“This will result in a faster and more efficient response to customer-related issues while maintaining adequate control and management of inventory, assets and associated costs. It will also assist in preventative maintenance scheduling,” indicated Ewan.

Among the features of the Manager Plus software are a real-time customer interface for the reporting of maintenance and housekeeping issues; general maintenance scheduling; preventative maintenance scheduling, inventory management and asset management.

On January 30, the maintenance and housekeeping customer response feature became operational, while the inventory and asset management component are scheduled for implementation by March 31 this year.

According to Ewan, the Manager Plus software is a complement to the current ‘resident at the centre’ programme and is in keeping with 138 Student Living’s vision to further embrace digitalisation as a key driver of its operations.

“One of the most important components of our business is the service we offer to our residents. We are always exploring ways in which we can improve our service delivery and the living experience. Reducing the length of time it takes to resolve issues is a key component of this strategy and is in keeping with our core values,” he said.

He explained that 138SL found that the existing four channels of communication by its residents regarding maintenance and other issues were too fragmented and inefficient to manage. “The result of this was that sometimes issues would take longer than our standard commitment of less than 24 hours to resolve or would sometimes go unresolved. Manager Plus will consolidate these channels into one electronic system for ease of management and control. When fully rolled out, we expect to improve our response time to within an average of eight hours from the time the issue was logged,” Ewan noted.

The implementation of the Manager Plus software, he said, was a key milestone in enhancing the operational efficiency of 138SL.

“In 2020 we implemented “Proxy Click”, a visitor management system which facilitates the registration of visitors, contractors and other service providers entering our premises as part of our security and safety measures. The introduction of Manager Plus signifies the company’s commitment to a continuous process of improvement through the digitalisation of our operations. This is a vital component in the future growth of 138SL,” he said.