Real operational problems need practical, grounded solutions.

The business problem

The company relied heavily on spreadsheets to manage projects. Information was not always accurate, administration was difficult and this contributed to financial losses. A common problem was shortcuts taken by staff to speed up data capturing. Very often copy & paste errors resulted in hours of extra work to understand why summary figures were inaccurate. And then of course only one person could work in a sheet at a time.

The approach

ITCAN studied the project workflow, administration and the information needed by management. After hours of Remote Meetings and online interaction with Directors we nailed down the platform requirements. The initial specification has evolved and today we have a platform that far exceeds the initial concept.

• Administration is easier
• Procurement is better managed and includes a mobile app for on-site receiving of building materials and uploads of delivery notes.
• Financial management is better and controls are in place to prevent user errors
• Reporting happens in real time with a few mouse clicks - and where applicable data filtering selections
• Time & Attendance is better managed and staff attendance from any building site is immediately visible to management

The solution

ITCAN developed a cloud-based business-management solution with both a desktop application and a mobile application. One source of truth, no duplicate capturing and an immediate overview of operations.

Operational effect

• The company now operates multiple branches across the county
• The Directors can monitor operations remotely
• Management can see which employees are working at which sites
• Purchase orders can be authorized remotely and Bill of Materials managed effectively
• Building-material deliveries can be monitored
• Subcontractors, retentions and payment certificates are managed
• Project P&L Reports can be generated quickly
• Expenses and Revenue is managed efficiently and accurately
• Automation Wizard facilitate management of Salaries and Wages
• Reporting Wizard help Users generate data driven reports easily
• Backend Functions and triggers automate many processes to assist users and prevent capturing errors

The business problem

The business was using handwritten quotations, manual stock cards and handwritten job cards. Attempts to use Excel had not produced meaningful improvement and required hours of repetitive data capturing.

The approach

ITCAN focused on where information entered the business, how work moved through the operation, repetitive tasks and how to integrate the processes. Besides the obvious administrative requirements the Owner wanted to include some features to enhance Customer relations by giving them job card visibility and interaction without creating more admin for his staff.

The solution

ITCAN developed a cloud-based solution including a desktop application and mobile application. The systems are aligned and automation tools are provided to generate Job Cards from the Quotation feature. The Mobile Application is used in-house and off-site the facilitate Job Card management. We deployed the system on a Hybrid Server setup so the system does not fail if the Internet is down for any reason. A search engine was created to facilitate finding historical records.

Operational effect

• Quotations can be produced and emailed easily from within the Application
• Quotation templates can be created which help generate repetitive quotations quickly
• Job Cards are managed digitally and include time sheets, materials used, attachments and assignments
• Time & Attendance when performing field services is accurately managed
• Materials issue per job or for Counter sales are properly managed
• Stock control has became highly accurate
• Stock balances can be pulled with a few mouse clicks at any time
• Physical stock counts are now generally required only annually
• Staff can take photographs of work in progress and attach to the Job Card
• Job Card and Quotations are linked to ensure billing accuracy
• Clients can view job progress through a mobile application
• Clients can add important notes and upload documents to attach to a Job Card
• The mobile client experience contributed to the business securing national contracts

The business problem

The business required better visibility and controls in place to manager Fleet Maintenance and their Stores. Stock issues need to be assigned to assets and an audit trail was required to generate monthly reports.

The approach

The initial concept appeared to be easy but once we dug into the operations of the business it was clear that there were multiple layers to be monitored. Stock Control became the central feature or common element to all the layers.

In addition, the business elected to have a LAN based system. We therefore developed a straight forward MS Access Application where the backend ran on a desktop computer that was always on and then the Frontend was installed on each Users PC.

The solution

The solution allows for registering Assets, whether vehicle, buildings or equipment. From there Requisitions can be raised for Maintenance - Job Card opened - and then the materials required to perform the maintenance can be ordered or issued through the Procurement features. In addition, the Stores also provide rations to staff. Therefore allowance had to be made to issue stock without a Job Card or Asset Register record. The User interface had to be clean and very easy to use.

Operational effect

• Purchase orders are properly managed and approved
• Stock/Materials are issued correctly with accountability strictly enforced
• Multiple types of Procurement Reports can be generated.
• Asset Maintenance is now properly Managed and the cost per Asset can be properly assessed
• Fuel issues to Vehicles and applicable equipment is regulated and secured
• Stock control has became highly accurate and balances can be checked with a few mouse clicks