Custom software · National window manufacturer
One system instead of five
We replaced a patchwork of spreadsheets and old software with a single system built around how the business works, including an app for engineers in the field.
- Outcome
- 50%less time spent processing each job
- Duration
- 20 weeks
- Tools used
- .NET, Azure, React, Flutter, PostgreSQL
The problem
The business was still running on software it had bought when it was a fraction of its current size. The operations team used several applications that didn’t talk to each other, so details for every job were typed in again and again.
The old software didn’t fit the way the business worked, and staff relied on workarounds to get things done. Some of the most important parts of the business didn’t exist in the system at all. Field engineers needed access at all times, so any replacement had to work offline. No off-the-shelf product came close, so a custom build was the only sensible option.
What we did
- 1Followed a job from first enquiry to completion, noting where things slowed down at each stage
- 2Logged where, when and why information was being typed in more than once
- 3Built an operations system around the way the business actually describes and handles its work
- 4Built a mobile app for field engineers that works fully offline and syncs when it gets a signal
- 5Connected the new system to their accounting software, so figures no longer had to be copied across by hand
What changed
- Nothing is typed in twice any more
- Every department works from the same information
- The workarounds are gone. The system fits the business instead of the other way round
- Time spent processing each job cut by 50%
- Staff spend their time on useful work rather than fighting old software
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