JELD-WEN

For JELD-WEN (NYSE:JELD), a $4.5 billion door and window manufacturer headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., it’s the 100-technician Customer Experience team that represents one of its top safety risks.

As Dave Miller, JELD-WEN’s Senior Site Services – Customer Experience Operations Manager, explained, “While our Customer Experience group is small, its technicians are disbursed all across North America and constantly on the road. That’s a much less controlled environment than our manufacturing floors. In fact, driving is one of our top safety risks, and we do everything we can to make sure they get home safely each day.

“Also important, with the JELD-WEN logo displayed on their vans and trucks, our technicians are the face of our company, and their behavior has a direct impact on our reputation. When there’s an accident, the damage can be devastating, starting with the risk to life and health and extending to the financial and brand impact. As a publicly traded company with a decades-long dedication to safety, this matters.

 “We became particularly aware of our exposure in 2017 when we had three serious accidents. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, but the financial damage was over a million dollars, and it was a wake-up call. We began looking for a system that could extend our ‘Safety First – Zero Injuries’ commitment from the manufacturing floor to our road operations.”

JELD-WEN first learned of the GreenRoad Driver Safety Platform in 2017 and deployed it in all of its Customer Experience team vehicles in 2018.

“What we were after was a program that would help us achieve fundamental, permanent change in driving habits,” continued Mr. Miller. “When we looked at the options out there, we realized that it was one thing to develop training programs and vehicle inspection standards but quite another to get the behavioral change that we were looking for.

“What intrigued us about GreenRoad was the real-time information it gives the driver, helping them independently train out their risky habits. The other systems we looked at provided good information, but all after the fact, not real-time.

“This real-time feedback is why we chose GreenRoad – and it has proven itself in spades. Our vehicle incidents have dropped way down, and the Customer Experience team is now one of JELD-WEN’s safest divisions.”

Rollout and ongoing operations

In 2018, JELD-WEN deployed the GreenRoad Edge™ Driver Safety solution in all of its North American Customer Experience Team vehicles. First, GreenRoad Edge™ devices and LED feedback panels were installed to monitor driving behavior and to provide real-time driver feedback. Then, drivers downloaded the GreenRoad Drive™ mobile app to their own phones to check their safety scores and incidents, Fleet Elite rankings, and personalized driving tips.

“We were very careful with our messaging. The motivation behind the system really was safety, the need for all of us to change our driving habits. We were doing it for them: it wasn’t ‘Big Brother’ watching over their shoulder. When the positive results started rolling in, it was enough to overcome any initial pushback. The system was truly helping them stay safe, and they understood its value. The technology is invaluable: it changes driving habits.”

Given the cross-continent distribution of the JELD-WEN team, technicians are personally responsible for their own GreenRoad scores. Field managers expect technicians to check their scores frequently, and monthly team calls reinforce the safety focus. Managers also check the system’s overview metrics and consider technicians’ GreenRoad scores in their annual performance and salary reviews.

• Collisions: Since implementing GreenRoad, the Customer Experience team has achieved a significant decline in the number and severity of accidents. “My group is now one of JELD-WEN’s safest teams in terms of its number of recordable incidents,” commented Mr. Miller. “The incidents we still have are all very minor, like backing into someone’s driveway and hitting an overhead branch.”
• Decline in Risk Scores: Within five months of implementing GreenRoad, the team’s average Risk Scores declined from ~50 to below 25, moving its risk level from red to green. It has remained “in the green” ever since.

“This proves that our technicians’ driving habits have actually changed – and that’s huge,” continued Mr. Miller. “Most of us just don’t realize how aggressively or thoughtlessly we drive until we get this kind of feedback. It makes you stop and think: maybe I drive too fast or don’t look ahead, maybe I tailgate. The system has made our technicians reassess and empowered them to change independently, with minimal management intervention.”

• Fleet Elite: JELD-WEN takes advantage of GreenRoad’s Fleet Elite Safety Acknowledgement Program to further motivate safe driving habits. 20% of its drivers attained the challenging Fleet Elite standard in 2022, and more drivers are entering the Fleet Elite “club” each year.
•  Additional value: JELD-WEN also uses GreenRoad as an auditing/documentation tool and a tracking system for the location of technicians. Providing an objective record of technicians’ whereabouts helps JELD-WEN resolve disputes.

Mr. Miller concluded, “Five years after deploying GreenRoad, driving remains one of our top safety risks. But GreenRoad enables us to keep it under control, keeping our wonderful employees safe, fulfilling our Duty of Care, and living up to our ‘Safety First’ commitment.”

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About JELD-WEN

JELD-WEN (NYSE:JELD) is a leading global designer, manufacturer, and distributor of high-performance interior and exterior doors, windows, and related building products serving the new construction repair and remodeling sectors. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., the company operates facilities in 16 countries in North America and Europe and employs approximately 18,000 people. Since 1960, the JELD-WEN team has been committed to making quality products that create safe and sustainable environments for customers, associates, and local communities. The JELD-WEN family of brands includes JELD-WEN® worldwide, LaCantina®  and VPI™ in North America, and Swedoor® and DANA® in Europe. For more information, visit JELD-WEN website