Bruner Corporation, a leading mechanical contractor in Ohio, encountered operational challenges as its business grew. The company’s reliance on paper-based processes created bottlenecks that slowed down workflows and affected overall efficiency. To address this, Bruner adopted GoCanvas’s mobile platform, which transformed its operations by digitizing paperwork. As a result, the company saved over 800 hours annually, increased efficiency by 62.5%, and saw a significant return on investment, all while streamlining processes across its field teams.
The Problem
TheProblem
Bruner Corporation’s paper-reliant workflows became a major obstacle to the company’s rapid business expansion. The growing volume of paperwork caused delays that often stretched project completion times to as long as eight days. Coupled with the administrative burden of managing physical documents, these inefficiencies demanded a solution that would reduce turnaround time and boost overall productivity. Bruner needed to move away from traditional methods and find a way to modernize its processes for greater operational efficiency..
Highlights
800+
productivity hours saved annually
62.5%
increase in efficiency
$490,144
annual ROI
The Solution
The Solution
To begin the transition from paper to mobile, Dan Spurgeon, service operations manager at Bruner, started searching for options. While the company’s existing ERP system had some capabilities, the system came with a hefty price tag of $5,000 per user plus an annual fee. Then Dan discovered the GoCanvas platform, which featured a do-it-yourself mobile form builder and flexible pricing options.
After signing up for a free trial, Dan presented the team at GoCanvas with over 20 different types of paper forms that Bruner was using, including service orders, work orders, machine cleaning reports, and preventative maintenance reports.
The GoCanvas team worked with Dan to convert these paper forms into mobile-based versions, then began testing the new digital forms with a group of technicians to gather feedback. They quickly found that giving technicians the ability to complete forms from a smartphone and submit these in real time significantly reduced the number of lost and incomplete reports. Additionally, the ability to collect signatures, photos, and GPS coordinates enhanced data quality compared to handwritten reports.
After Bruner’s free trial ended, the company began steadily rolling out GoCanvas to its 70+ field technicians, incorporating features such as Dispatch, Departments, and Folders to improve data organization. The Departments feature has been particularly useful, as it has allowed the company to separate forms and data for its Construction, Warehouse, and Service groups. This helps users know exactly which forms to fill out when logging on via their mobile devices, and the back office can easily export data based on department.
Additionally, the managers in the office gained real-time insight into the daily activities of all field technicians.
“I like the dashboard a lot,” said Dan. “I can see how linear the activity is, especially for the daily work orders. If I see it spiking, then I know [technicians] aren’t turning things in as they should be.”
These changes have reduced Bruner’s entire process from eight business days to just three and allowed the company to recoup 845 hours in annual productivity.
The Outcomes
The Outcomes
Along with increased efficiency in data processing and reporting, Bruner has seen significant improvements in cash flow and expense management.
Before GoCanvas, technicians delivered expensive parts using paper forms—and when parts went missing, Bruner was responsible for replacing them. Today, Bruner uses a mobile form to capture a photo and a GPS stamp that confirms the location of the delivery, a feature that saves the company between $1,000 and $12,000 per month.
Altogether, the 20 mobile forms created with GoCanvas save Bruner $6,000 annually in paper costs alone.
Ready to Rethink How You Work?
GoCanvas has helped a variety of HVAC businesses transform their jobsites and rethink their project management, ultimately saving them money. Why not do the same? Reach out to one of our experts today to kick-start your process revolution.
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NAC Mechanical Services—or NAC Group—was founded in 1983 by the Noyes family. The family has been involved in the HVAC service industry since the 1950s, and their early commitments to integrity and excellence have allowed NAC to flourish in the Washington, D.C., metro area. As a full-service mechanical contractor that specializes in HVAC systems, NAC is one of the most innovative providers in the industry. From being one of the first companies offering 24-hour equipment monitoring to joining the U.S. Green Building Council, NAC has continued to evolve to better serve its customers.
NAC provides a range of HVAC services, including design/build construction, mechanical renovations, repair/maintenance contracts, emergency rentals, and energy efficiency consultations, just to name a few. To provide better services to customers and continue to expand the business, NAC needed a solution to help its HVAC technicians work more efficiently in the field, as valuable time was being lost to outdated paper processes and systems.
According to General Manager Chris Kaufman, repeat site visits emerged as another issue for the business. Repair quotes usually required a sales engineer to make a second trip to a site—which, in the D.C. Metro area, averaged out to a three-hour trip at $100 per hour, plus fuel costs.
The Solution
The Solution
In September 2014, NAC adopted the GoCanvas platform to address these challenges. GoCanvas, the global leader in mobile forms for businesses, has helped thousands of HVAC businesses replace cumbersome paper forms with highly customizable mobile forms that improve data collection and productivity.
Businesses can search the GoCanvas application store for over 20,000 mobile form templates. These templates can be completely customized with the online drag-and-drop App Builder tool, which many businesses use to build their own forms from scratch. Factor in features like Dispatch, Workflow, uploading price and customer lists, and integration with other systems, and GoCanvas dramatically changes the way work gets done.
“Before choosing GoCanvas… we tested several tablets and platforms, as well as using fillable PDFs and third-party file-sharing apps. At one point, we thought we had finalized an acceptable process using iPads and a file-sharing service, but we discovered GoCanvas and it was an enormous change for the better.” –Chris Kaufman, General Manager
Setup
As with most GoCanvas subscribers, NAC’s implementation was done in stages, with the substantial benefits outweighing the time commitment.
“After testing some GoCanvas forms with five users, we went all in and pushed [GoCanvas] to the field with very little difficulty,” Chris said. “Surprisingly, it was very smooth.”
To facilitate this smooth transition, GoCanvas worked closely with Chris throughout the entire adoption process, from testing to full deployment.
After Adoption
NAC now has over 50 technicians using the GoCanvas platform and filling out a combined total of over 1,200 mobile HVAC forms each month. All data from these forms is immediately transmitted to the office.
Technicians
NAC’s HVAC technicians receive jobs on their mobile devices via GoCanvas’s Dispatch feature, which tells them where to go and what to do on the job site.
The HVAC Work Order Ticket form contains a list of serviceable items (boiler, chiller, cooling tower, heat pump, evaporator coil, etc.) and provides the ability to capture detailed information about the work technicians do and the materials they use. Technicians can even take and upload pictures of the unit name tags on each piece of HVAC equipment they service.
Drop-down fields and checkboxes are used whenever possible to speed up the data entry process.
Technicians use the “talk to text” feature on their iPads to quickly capture information. This allows them to provide more detail than ever, without taking any more time out of their busy days.
To streamline time tracking and payroll processing, technicians record their hours and capture a GPS location for each job.
Technicians do not receive their next job until they have submitted their completed ticket or HVAC report.
Back Office
To automate the payroll process, GoCanvas’s Professional Services team connected GoCanvas to a SQL server database that automatically generates a spreadsheet.
Billing is now done daily instead of weekly, with NAC typically billing customers within 30 minutes of HVAC services being completed.
With GoCanvas, sales engineers can quote jobs more accurately and much sooner without having to drive out to sites, as they’re now able to access pictures of HVAC equipment and unit labels that show them exactly what they’re dealing with.
The Outcomes
The Outcomes
For NAC, switching to GoCanvas has had a dramatic positive impact that includes:
$405,000 in saved billable hours annually: Technicians no longer have to make weekly paper form drop-offs at the office, freeing up an average of 2 hours per technician per week. “Rather than wait for Mondays to collect tickets for billing, we are actually billing daily, so cash flow has increased,” said Chris.
$47,940 in annual payroll processing savings: What previously took two employees 16 hours per week now takes one employee just two hours per week.
Increased customer satisfaction: Because there is no fixed limit to the length of a GoCanvas form, NAC can give customers detailed breakdowns of the services they’re receiving. These in-depth documents help customers develop a greater understanding of the value being delivered.
Ready to Rethink How You Work?
GoCanvas has helped a variety of businesses across multiple industries transform their jobsites and rethink their project management, ultimately saving them money. Why not do the same? Reach out to one of our experts today to kickstart your process revolution.
Comprehensive Guide: 5 Steps for Job Safety Analysis
Learn the five critical steps to conducting a successful job safety analysis, ensuring workplace safety and compliance. Enhance your safety protocols now…
