Jaguar Land Rover, a UK-based luxury automotive company with 38,000 employees, produces 600,000 vehicles annually and generates £22.98 billion in revenue. The company has adopted Microsoft Power Platform to enhance operations, aiming to improve safety, efficiency, productivity, and reduce costs. A key figure in this transformation is Gareth Crompton, a Senior Digital Engineer in Human Resources and a leading citizen developer at the company. Crompton has developed over 160 apps, delivering significant benefits such as managing workspace capacity, enabling contact tracing during the pandemic, and streamlining the work-hazard reporting process, among other improvements.
With an increased knowledge and understanding of the platform, I’m able to deliver global solutions to Jaguar Land Rover that are available to all employees via Teams.
Gareth Crompton: Senior Digital Engineer, Human Resources
Jaguar Land Rover
Bringing an idea to life through technology
In 2017, Gareth Crompton, then a frontline storeman at Jaguar Land Rover, suffered a back injury that required four surgeries. His physically demanding role, which involved tasks like handling heavy barrel drums, posed a risk of further injury, prompting him to seek alternative ways to contribute to the company.
With a natural curiosity for technology, Crompton began learning Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and Python programming languages, creating digital tools to simplify his work. “I’ve always loved technology and how you can digitally create something from nothing with just an idea,” he reflects.
His journey into app development accelerated when he was introduced to a Microsoft Gold partner during Jaguar Land Rover’s transition from Google to Office 365. This exposure to Microsoft solutions, including Microsoft Power Platform, sparked his passion for app-building. “They showed me the light,” he says.
After three months of prototyping, building, and testing in Microsoft Power Apps, Crompton developed his first app, Prototype Build Books. As his interest in app development became known, requests for his apps began pouring in. “I was soon developing day and night, mostly by choice.”
Crompton’s work gained the attention of Jaguar Land Rover’s Board of Management, leading to his promotion to Technical Engineer in 2019, shortly before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
My Workspace: A mobile-based workspace management solution
Jaguar Land Rover needed an efficient system to manage workspace bookings, optimize limited office capacity, adhere to pandemic safety guidelines, and enable contact tracing across multiple sites.
Initially, the company relied on paper sign-in sheets at each location. “If there was a COVID-19 outbreak in the workplace, you can imagine the challenge of sifting through all those papers to identify who else was present that day,” says Crompton. “It was an absolute nightmare.”
Recognizing the need for a digital solution, the company explored options with various vendors, but the cost of custom development was prohibitively high. That’s when Jaguar Land Rover turned to Crompton for help.
Within a month, Crompton designed, developed, and deployed My Workspace, a mobile-based Power Apps solution integrated with Microsoft Teams. The app allows employees to reserve workspaces up to seven days in advance, monitors capacity and facilitates contact tracing in case of a positive COVID-19 test.
Employees can access the app through their computer or mobile device via the Teams interface. They start by selecting a job site, then choose the building and a specific area within it, with the option to set this as their default. Next, they pick a date and a morning or afternoon time slot. If a workspace is available, the employee receives a calendar invitation for the requested time, confirming the booking.
Crompton developed the My Workspace app using Power Apps, utilizing SharePoint lists as the data source. When an employee submits a booking request, the app's logic connects with the relevant SharePoint list to tally current bookings, compare them against the capacity limit, and decide whether to approve or deny the request. Upon approval, Microsoft Power Automate flows to connect with Outlook to generate a calendar invite and send a confirmation to the employee.
Crompton also implemented back-end maintenance flows to manage active and archived lists, automatically removing archived lists after one year.
Facilitating contact tracing
While archived lists are valuable for tracking overall numbers, they serve a more immediate purpose: contact tracing. Crompton explains, “If I'm in the office tomorrow and someone who was there the same day reports testing positive for COVID-19 the next day, I'm considered a 'contact.' I can then be notified about the potential exposure. The My Workspace app feeds this information into another COVID-19 case management app I developed, which alerts the incident management team about the positive case and any additional contacts. This reliable data is crucial for making informed decisions during an outbreak.”
Jaguar Land Rover also uses this data to identify broader trends. “We can run analytics to answer questions like, ‘How many people were in the office this week compared to last week?’ and ‘Has there been any COVID-19 exposure at a specific site?’ As we shift toward data-driven decision-making,” says Crompton, “the more data we can provide to our managers and senior leaders, the better our outcomes.”
Intuitive and simple
The My Workspace app facilitated over 700,000 booking requests within its first year, earning positive feedback from both employees and the Board of Management. “The most common feedback I receive is that it’s incredibly easy and intuitive to use,” says Crompton. “And since it’s integrated within Teams, everything is in one place, so users don’t have to leave the platform they’re already using.”
AiR2 app: Onsite accidents and incidents reporting
Jaguar Land Rover faced another challenge in managing the reporting of onsite hazards, near-misses, and incidents like injuries. The company's initial reporting system consisted of a traditional web form, built with JAVA and HTML on the front end and supported by a SQL back end. Employees would submit safety reports, which the company then had to manually compile and process for investigation and resolution. Employees perceived This system as outdated and cumbersome, leading to concerns that some hazards, near-misses, and incidents were going unreported. Additionally, the original Accident and Incident Reporting (AIR) system, developed by an internal team, costs £60,000 annually to maintain, with expenses rising each year.
To streamline the reporting process, encourage broader participation, and reduce operating costs, Crompton developed an app called AiR2. This app allows employees to quickly file reports from anywhere using their mobile devices. Built as a canvas app in Power Apps, AiR2 uses Microsoft Forms to gather intake information. “There’s a need within our manufacturing facilities for employees to report hazards and near-misses. Not everyone in the facility has Microsoft accounts, so we found that integrating Microsoft Forms was the best solution,” explains Crompton.
The app is accessible on both desktop and mobile devices, with QR codes posted throughout the manufacturing facilities that employees can scan to file reports on their mobile devices. The person submitting the report, referred to as the "raiser," enters the name and employee ID of the individual involved, along with the location, date, time, and a brief description of the issue.
The app requires specific information based on the type of issue reported—whether it's a hazard (a potentially dangerous situation), a near-miss (something dangerous that almost happened), or an incident (someone was injured). For instance, an incident report would need additional details about the injured person, the location and severity of the injury, and whether first aid was administered, including by whom.
Upon submission, the raiser’s employee ID is validated against the company’s SAP employee data, triggering a Power Automate flow. This sends an email receipt to the raiser and a notification to the investigator, who then updates the ticket with actions taken to investigate or resolve the issue, as well as any safety measures implemented. The ticket is subsequently processed by Jaguar Land Rover's health and safety team. Both the raiser and the investigator can track the report's progress, and in some cases, the data is used as evidence in legal proceedings.
The new app not only simplifies the identification and tracking of open and resolved issues but also ensures that each investigation is thoroughly completed and that the company remains compliant with legal, health, and safety obligations. Additionally, it helps team members maintain accurate records, enabling them to identify trends and set health and safety priorities.
Crompton notes that the AiR2 app has resulted in significant cost savings and increased employee compliance with reporting issues. “AiR2 has saved approximately £60,000 to £70,000 annually on traditional software costs, maintenance, and upkeep. We’ve observed a marked increase in the number of safety issues being reported. Most feedback indicates that the app is very user-friendly and intuitive.”
Providing global solutions
By the end of 2021, Crompton had developed over 160 apps. “With a deeper knowledge and understanding of the platform, I’m now able to deliver global solutions for Jaguar Land Rover that are accessible to all employees, featuring enterprise-level design, build, and security,” he says.
Crompton has also adopted a pro-code and agile approach to application development, including the creation of APIs to integrate with existing systems and application lifecycle management (ALM) using GitHub.
Currently in development is the Authority to Hire (ATH) canvas app, which will allow managers to obtain hiring approvals for internal and external candidates. This app is expected to significantly accelerate the onboarding process, enhance labor forecasting, and lead to time and cost savings while improving the service and experience for company managers.
Reflecting on his work over the past few years, Crompton advises others on a similar path: “Experiment and have fun, work in small increments to address challenges, keep a goal in mind, and persist until you achieve it. Power Apps is quite addictive.”
The feedback I get most often is that [the My Workspace app] is extremely easy and intuitive to use. And because it’s hosted within Teams, everything’s together. Users don’t have to navigate away from the tool they’re already using.
Gareth Crompton: Senior Digital Engineer, Human Resources
Jaguar Land Rover
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