CHIPS PROPERTY TRADE SERVICES
CHIPS Property Trade Services uses myFLO to better manage their jobs all the way from initial requests through to invoicing. They were able to cut their administration time by 70% and increase process efficiency.
The problem: Simplify and remove manual work from the job workflow.
Outcomes:
- Manual handling in paper-based workflow eliminated
- Reduction in administration time by 3 FTE staff
- Reduced travel time by tech staff
- Streamlined, mobile communication
- Up-to-the-minute information, on all devices
- More jobs completed per day
- Faster invoicing, which leads to higher cash flow
- Secure data storage
Background
CHIPS Property Trade Services began as a plumbing business. Over time it added more divisions, and now includes both electrical and pump services. To expand effectively, CHIPS Property Trade Services needed to add service and technical personnel. The increased administration this required meant that they also added new administration staff members.
The administration workload grew faster than work in the rest of the company. This was because the company received more work requests, and had more involved in this process.
This is what the workflow looked like:
- All work requests were entered manually, and job assignments were printed
- All techs had to go into the office each day to receive their jobs
- Administrators called techs during the day to advise of new jobs
- Techs would fill in job reports and hand them back to administrators
- Job reports were manually keyed into MYOB, which then issued invoices.
The workflow was already complicated, and was at risk of going wrong at any number of the manual entry and handover points. To track the work for each order, job numbers were hard to track, because there were a lot of parts to each job. The job numbers were also used to order supplies, which then had to be manually reconciled.
And finally, after all of this manual administration, techs had to complete timesheets manually so that they could be paid.
The problem was clear
The company was overcome with workflow inefficiencies. The manual handling was significant, and the risk of losing any of the pieces of paper was high. In fact, if a work order went missing, it was lost forever!
At the time when CHIPS came to us, they had four (4) full time administrators , and one (1) part-time administrator.
At myFLO we worked closely with CHIPS’ staff and management to identify all of their frustrations and to analyse their processes and procedures.
The solution - and what happened next
The myFLO team worked closely with CHIPS’ staff and management to identify all of their frustrations, processes and procedures. The result was that we were able to provide them with a work order management system to overcome their workflow inefficiencies. But we were also able to streamline their information handling, give them a ‘single source of truth’, provide security and peace of mind about their data.
The service techs went from juggling pieces of paper to managing job information on-site via mobile phones.
Within a couple of weeks of using their myFLO system, CHIPS estimated that they only needed one (1) full time and one (1) part-time administrator to cope with the same level of work.
That’s a saving of three (3) full time administration personnel!
Aside from the resource savings, CHIPS Property Trade Services found that they are able to allocate and manage their other resources more effectively. Service techs can now receive jobs, clock time, add photos, add charges and create quotes all from their mobile phones.
Every tech has been given the tools they need to complete more jobs in a single day’s work.
And if these savings weren’t enough, CHIPS found that their improved data security is significant. They no longer have any risk of losing work orders, invoicing people incorrectly, or completing data entry incorrectly due to poor handwriting.
What CHIPS Property Trade Services had to say
“Implementing this job management system has made a big impact on our company’s job management work flow. We have been able to cut down our admin staff by 70% and at the same time increase our process efficiency and information accountability not only internally but with our clients. With the system there is no actual grey areas, because as events occur they are logged against the job itself, so there is no need to rely on any one person any more, as there is one point of information access. The system has become the administrator of the company, to minimize the amount of time wasted on each job, thus allowing us to service more jobs, and invoice the jobs quickly and efficiently as they are performed“
– Matthew Maggs, Technical Supervisor