Metro Caulking & Waterproofing Increase Productivity by 34%

How Mobile Forms Helped Metro Caulking & Waterproofing Increase Productivity by 34%

Overview

Industry: Construction
HQ Location: Pompano Beach, FL

Quick Facts

Increased productivity by up to 34%
Recognized full ROI within 3 months
Saved over $32K since implementing

The Background

Change is never easy, especially for small businesses who are used to doing things a certain way. The same was true for Metro Caulking & Waterproofing. For over 25 years MCW had been using paper forms to service and complete construction jobs in South Florida but found as their business grew, it became increasingly more difficult to maintain their high standards of efficiency and productivity.

The Problem

Paper forms become an issue for any small business as it begins to scale and take on more projects, and that is exactly what happened to MCW. As they started to expand outside of their general South Florida region, MCW began having issues with the visibility of the data being collected. This was primarily caused by paper reports not being returned on time, being lost during transit, as well as the increase in time spent on manual reporting. MCW couldn’t afford to wait days or weeks in order to know the status of a project. These delays would effect the proper billing of projects and ultimately cost the company money.

These reasons and more are why Johnny Raffio, IT Specialist at MCW, sought out a solution to streamline the way his field users collected, shared, and analyzed project data.

The Solution

The start of making the transition from paper to mobile forms began with thoroughly understanding Metro Caulking & Waterproofing’s processes, and locating where the biggest speed bumps resided. Once understood, converting the most used daily inspection reports was key to gaining early adoption by MCW’s field users. It was extremely important to show MCW’s field users the instant impact that GoCanvas could make on their daily data collection process in order for them to embrace this new technology. Fortunately, thanks to GoCanvas’s no-code App Builder, MCW’s technicians were using the new mobile versions of their original paper forms in just a few days. The feedback, to say the least, was amazing.

“I’ve been able to make new reports that would never be able to happen on paper.”

It quickly became obvious to Johhny and his team from the beginning why mobile forms would make a huge impact on their growing small business. The ability to capture and attach photos directly to their site reports, the integration of project and cost codes directly into their mobile forms, and the backend connection of their GoCanvas Database to their 3rd party cloud software are just a few of the reasons why MCW has never turned back to using paper. Johnny Raffio commented that GoCanvas has allowed him to “make new reports that would never be able to happen on paper. Using GoCanvas has sparked new ideas, made employees aware of safety regulations, (allowed us to) easily find and view all reports, and automatically import payroll.”

The Outcomes

Since implementing GoCanvas to their field staff just over 2 years ago, Metro Caulking & Waterproofing has seen a dramatic shift in the way they collect and share data. Instead of spending hours every month on data lookup, manual re-entry, and report creation, MCW now focuses this time on acquiring new clients and completing more projects.

Going paperless has allowed MCW to:

Recover close to $3K worth of paper costs annually
Streamline client billing via automated data exports to their accounting systems
Increase job site safety through digital documentation and verification of training/education
Improve decision-making via universal visibility to daily job performance data
Increase overall productivity by 34%

Ready to Rethink How You Work?

GoCanvas has helped a variety of businesses across multiple industries transform their safety processes and rethink their efficiency, ultimately saving them money. Why not do the same? Reach out to one of our experts today to kickstart your process revolution.

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Smarte Carte Saves 200 Hours Per Month with GoCanvas Inspections

How Smarte Carte Saves 200 Hours Per Month on Inspections

Overview

Industry: Transportation & Logistics
HQ Location: White Bear Lake, Minnesota
Website: Visit Here

Quick Facts

Created & deployed 10+ mobile forms
Recovered 200 hours/app per month in productivity
Over 26,000+ digital records captured annually

The Background

Founded in 1970, Smarte Carte has grown into a global enterprise of 1,300+ employees that service over 1,900 locations worldwide. Their inventory of self-service luggage carts, lockers, strollers, and more can be seen in almost every major airport, train station, mall, amusement park, resort, and fitness club across the world. With their ever-expanding footprint across the world, it quickly became a top priority that Smarte Carte was able to view and access field data in real time.

The Problem

Every day, hundreds of Smarte Carte service technicians are dispatched to various client locations to inspect and service equipment. When service technicians were previously using paper forms, data would routinely come back to the office late or with data errors. These mistakes made it almost impossible for team leaders like Eric Zitelman, Retail Regional Manager, to be able to efficiently track the daily production of their field employees.

The Solution

This is why Eric and several other team leaders at Smarte Carte decided to deploy GoCanvas mobile forms in order to increase the consistency and accuracy of the data collected at client locations

For Smarte Carte, the deployment of GoCanvas mobile forms started with a pilot of 450 fitness clubs across the United States. The reason? Eric Zitelman and his fellow regional team leaders needed a better way to track the daily productivity of their field service technicians.

With GoCanvas, Smarte Carte was able to create mobile forms that require service technicians to collect all the key pieces of information about the equipment they are inspecting before they are able to submit it. Once completed, the technician reports now automatically transmit directly from their mobile device to their regional supervisor. This allows for the instant analysis of each report in real-time, as well as the tracking of the productivity of each technician on a daily basis. Due to the success of the pilot program, Smarte Carte now uses GoCanvas across 1,600 fitness clubs!

The Outcomes

Since then, Smarte Carte has expanded its use cases to include everything from Field Service Reports to Driver Time Logs. These mobile forms utilize features such as:

GPS Capture
Photo Capture
Reference Data
PDF Designer

These features help Eric and the upper management at Smarte Carte to quickly verify the accuracy of all the data being collected, as well as to generate highly detailed reports. This enables them to track critical performance KPIs on the backend and to make proactive decisions within their global operations process.

Since starting with GoCanvas in 2017, Smarte Carte is still finding new ways to integrate GoCanvas mobile forms into their various departments and workflows. In their first year of using GoCanvas to replace paper reports, Smarte Carte has captured and stored over 26,000 digital records. This has resulted in a recovery of over 200 hours per month in productivity!

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PVFC Saves Hundreds of Hours with Digital Inspections

Pikesville Volunteer Fire Company Saves Hundreds of Hours with Digital Inspections

working firefighters. male fire fighters. fire. fire department record management. Fighting fire and fighting paperwork. Saving time and saving people. Pikesville Volunteer Fire Company saves hundreds of hours. Paperless fire company.

The Background

Pikesville Volunteer Fire Company (PVFC) has been protecting Pikesville, Maryland since 1897. As the second oldest volunteer fire department in Baltimore County, it is the only station in Baltimore County that operates an engine, tower, heavy rescue squad, and medic, offering a full range of fire suppression, rescue, and EMS services for the community.

The Problem

Though much has changed since 1897, record keeping has continued on paper. Yet, with a full volunteer force, paper record management has become a heavier and heavier burden for the department.

This burden was affecting the PVFC in various ways. When members would go out and buy supplies for the station, it could take weeks for reimbursement (if the treasurer could even read the crumpled receipt).

When a truck or piece of equipment would break, the process to verify/repair it was especially slow. If a fire truck malfunctioned, the lieutenant/engineer would have to come into the station to verify the issue and order the correct part. If a lieutenant was out on the road for business, it could be days or over a week before that truck would be serviceable again.

Justin, both 1st Rescue Lieutenant at PVFC and Director of Channel Sales at GoCanvas, saw GoCanvas as a solution to these slow and cumbersome processes.

The Solution

In April 2014, they decided to go with GoCanvas, the global leader in mobile apps for business. PVFC found the transition easy and full supported. “I received a report from a volunteer I hadn’t even trained.” Justin said, “that shows you how accessible the platform is.”

PVFC found itself in the same position thousands of GoCanvas customers have; the GoCanvas platform—with 20,000+ customizable mobile apps, the app builder, and real-time app management—was revolutionizing their internal processes.

The Outcomes

By eliminating paper forms, PVFC has dramatically sped up their repair cycle. What once took over a week to order now happens in a day or less.

More Accurate Data

In addition to improving their equipment repair process, PVFC now captures more accurate information with GoCanvas. The Department of Transportation requires inspections of fire company vehicles twice a month. PVFC often struggled with incomplete forms, information filled out that didn’t pertain to the vehicle, and uncertainty on who inspected the vehicles.

With GoCanvas, these issues have been largely eliminated. By utilizing required fields, PVFC forms come back with all the necessary information. If a form is missing fields, then the volunteer won’t be able to submit the form. This forces completion of inspections with all necessary documentation.In addition, conditional screens ensure that inspections occur quickly and cover the appropriate parts of the truck. For instance, their Heavy Rescue doesn’t have a pump, so that section of the inspection can be skipped.On mobile devices, information is now safe from coffee spills and dirty cars. By no longer having to do manual data re-entry or chase down missing information, PVFC estimates that they’ll save hundreds of hours this year.

Easier Volunteer Tracking

In PVFC, there’s a credit system. Volunteers get credits for showing up to training, or fundraisers. With paper forms, employees had to sign in by hand at these events. Afterward, someone else would have to enter this information a second time, and try to decipher messy handwriting or illegible ID numbers. Not only did this take away time from other projects, but also allowed room for human error.Today with GoCanvas, PVFC can track volunteer credits more easily with almost no admin work. Volunteers can pick their name from a drop down list, and their ID number automatically populates. Hours automatically calculate eliminating mathematical errors. This means less time trying to find information, reduced mistakes, more accurate systems, and more time to focus on keeping Pikesville safe.

Flexibility to Meet Evolving Organizational Needs

As a cloud-based, mobile platform combined with an easy-to-use mobile app builder, GoCanvas provides PVFC the flexibility to quickly add new features and functionality to any of their mobile apps. As needs evolve and change, GoCanvas apps can be updated easily, with no programming required.For instance, as they have new volunteers, PVFC can go into their GoCanvas account and simply update the volunteer list they use in their check in app. Within seconds, the list changes will be updated for all their future events. This allows for an easy transition, with limited possibility for errors.Other mobile app alternatives make this process cumbersome or costly, weakening the effectiveness of their platforms. With GoCanvas it is a frictionless process at no additional cost.

With GoCanvas, PVFC continues to get rid of their paper forms. They’ve cut down administrative work, and improved information accuracy. Though much has changed since 1897, PVFC’s commitment to Pikesville safety remains the same.

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Sonoma Valley Pool and Spa Goes Paperless with GoCanvas

The Background

Sonoma Valley Pool & Spa offers premium pool service and repairs to the heart of America’s Wine Country: Sonoma, California.

Husband and wife team, Saul and Jolie Rozema aren’t just focused on a pool’s chlorine level, total alkalinity, and cyanuric acid level, but equally important, on the clients they serve. Each weekly visit requires pool cleaning, chemical testing, and maintenance of the pool.

The Problem

In the past, all of their pool maintenance notifications were filled out by hand. However, these paper forms caused additional work. The tags that were left could easily get lost. In addition, clients would often inquire about the services provided. If the wind had blown leaves into a pool shortly after a service call, they couldn’t be sure if a cleaning had actually occurred. Sonoma Valley Pool & Spa needed a process more reliable than paper forms.

The Solution:

In January 2013, Sonoma Valley Pool & Spa addressed this business challenge by turning to GoCanvas, the global leader in mobile apps for businesses. Thousands of organizations leverage Canvas’s cloud-based, “Software-as-a-Service” mobile app platform to replace cumbersome paper forms with highly customizable mobile business apps that improve their data collection and productivity. Businesses can search from over 21,000+ ready-made apps in the GoCanvas Application store that can be customized to an individual business user’s needs. Many of these apps are designed specifically for pool service and pool repair companys. In addition, GoCanvas offers a do-it-yourself app builder that enables non-technical users to build apps in minutes.

They started with apps from the GoCanvas Application Store, including the ‘Weekly Pool Service Report’ from Canvas’s partnership with Deluxe. Deluxe has decades of experience with business forms and GoCanvas was a perfect match to help Deluxe create mobile versions of their forms. While Saul and Jolie hadn’t been customers of Deluxe previously, they love using their mobile forms.

Now Saul fills out his service reports on his tablet. With GoCanvas he can:

Include a time stamp and GPS location capture for his work, so clients can rest assured that the service was performed.
Add photos of his work to better explain any issues or malfunctions that need repair, reducing time spent explaining issues to customers.
Track the chemicals he uses at each job, and time spent on both repairs and cleaning.
Email a customized PDF to clients with his work, including the photos, and any repairs that their pools may require.

The Outcomes

Saul has ditched the clipboard for a tablet, having turned all his forms into mobile apps. Sonoma Valley Pool & Spa has seen dramatic results from their switch, including:

Real-Time Savings

Sonoma Valley Pool & Spa has saved hundreds of hours due to optimal communication with its customers and faster invoicing. Previously, Saul took down all service notes with pen and paper, and would leave a tag at the pool. Yet clients could easily lose their tag receipts for cleanings from wind or other weather factors. This slowed down their sale cycle as well as customer response time.

Communication was also difficult before switching to GoCanvas. Coming back to perform repairs on a swimming pool took longer as well. Customers were often confused by what service was needed. This confusion required extra time on the phone explaining issues or additional visits to clients’ homes at no cost. Today, Saul fills out the form once on his iPad. All his service tags go immediately to the cloud. Instead of retrieving carbon copies, customers enjoy clean PDFs. Instead of long technical notes, customers get easy-to-understand visuals of the problem.

GoCanvas saves Sonoma Valley Pool & Spa time in multiple ways. Saul and Jolie have less administrative work. All the service tags, including photos and any notes, go immediately to the cloud. With bulk downloads in Excel or CSV files, it’s easy to integrate this information into their own systems.In addition, customers have a better understanding of the work done from the beginning, and so have fewer questions or concerns. This means less time on the phone and more time doing billable work.

Differentiation from Competition

Additionally, GoCanvas differentiates Sonoma Valley Pool & Spa. “One of my biggest selling points,” Saul says, “is the digital service tag.” While competitors continue to leave paper, Sonoma Valley Pool & Spa’s customers get branded PDFs straight in their inboxes. They love getting his emails with visuals. “Some look forward to it every week,” Saul explained. Sonoma Valley Pool & Spa’s business has never been better. Today the company only relies on word of mouth, coupled by their web presence. “We have a wait list now” Saul notes, “and we’re not even in the Yellow Pages anymore. It’s just our reputation and our website.” Still his waiting list grows due to customer referrals.

“I can’t imagine any service-type business not profiting by using GoCanvas. From landscapers to pest control, I don’t see a single type of industry that wouldn’t benefit from optimizing productivity and presenting your clients with professional e-mail-based communication.” –Saul Rozema

Flexibility to Meet Evolving Business Needs

As a cloud-based, mobile platform combined with an easy-to-use mobile app builder, GoCanvas provides Sonoma Valley Pool & Spa the flexibility to add new features and functionality to any of their mobile apps. As needs evolve and change, GoCanvas makes editing apps a frictionless process. For instance, as their pool supply materials change, it’s easy for them to upload a new list of materials and new prices into their GoCanvas apps. They don’t need to rely on IT support or have any knowledge of coding. With GoCanvas, it’s a simple drag-and-drop interface that anyone can use. Other mobile app alternatives make this process cumbersome or costly, weakening the effectiveness of their platforms. With GoCanvas it is a frictionless process at no additional cost.

With one switch, Sonoma Valley Pool & Spa has saved paper, time and money that has more than paid off its investment in mobile apps. GoCanvas has given this company an easy-to-use mobile experience that allows the company to focus on doing quality work for all their customers.

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