About Sotargruppen 

In Sweden, the use of wood for heating is a cherished practice passed down through generations. However, wood stoves can contribute significantly to particulate matter and local emissions. Despite this, Sweden maintains some of the lowest levels of mean population exposure to particulate emissions globally, thanks to government regulations that mandate regular chimney sweeping and inspections. 

‍Sotargruppen is integral in empowering the safety and efficiency of wood-burning stoves, ensuring that over 500,000 households comply with regulations to keep emissions in check and maintain high air quality standards.

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The challenges of chimney sweep operations

Sotargruppen promises timely, reliable, and high-quality services to their customers.  Traditionally, Sotargruppen would assign a Master Sweep to look after all customers within a specific zip code. However, as urban areas expanded and demographics evolved, this rigid allocation meant that some zip codes were overloaded with too many addresses for a single sweep to handle, while others had too few. To maintain standards, Sotargruppen needed a more location-intelligent way to organize chimney sweep operations.

Consistent address validation was another challenge. Sotargruppen had addresses of 500,000 customers dispersed across multiple spreadsheets on different computer systems, but consolidation into a single database was problematic due to many of the addresses being outdated or incorrectly formatted. The inconsistent and incomplete address data made it challenging to display addresses on a digital map or generate driving directions. It also created inefficiencies when chimney sweeps visited incorrect locations or were late for appointments.

Sotargruppen needed a flexible address search solution that could connect seamlessly with existing company systems. 

Enhanced operations with Mapbox Search address verification

Sotargruppen discovered Mapbox through a partnership with Afi Labs, a software consulting company, and Nordic Routing, which provides vehicle route optimization and uses Mapbox maps. Together, they identified that Mapbox Search had the missing ingredient for Sotargruppen’s location intelligence: address verification. Moreover, Mapbox compatibility with React enabled Afi Labs to build a custom territory planning interface tailored to the needs of the Sotargruppen operational and customer service teams.

For address verification, Afi Labs used the Mapbox Geocoding API to create an internal tool for Sotargruppen employees to convert batches of custom addresses into precise geographic coordinates. If an address matches multiple locations, it is flagged with a question mark icon, prompting the technician to select the correct location from a map interface.

After validating all the addresses, Sotargruppen can use the territory mapping tool to outline a custom polygon boundary around clusters of addresses and designate it as a territory. Each territory is assigned a unique color and the number of addresses within each territory is displayed next to its name, enabling users to easily determine the number of sweeps needed to service it.

Reliable address verification, combined with the ability to tailor how territories are mapped and assigned, has significantly improved Sotargruppen's operational efficiency and effectiveness and integrated seamlessly with the existing Nordic Routing systems.

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Faster operations for a lower cost with Mapbox location technologies

For Sotargruppen, their new custom location solutions for address verification and territory mapping have significantly improved operational efficiency. In particular, the Mapbox Geocoding API has reduced the time spent on routine administrative tasks and improved the reliability of the address data provided to chimney sweepers. Streamlining logistics and enhancing planning processes has translated directly into financial benefits, with a reduction of operational costs by 12.5% per year.