How Van Diest Supply Company Saved Over $200,000 in Paper Costs Alone

The Background

Van Diest Supply Co is a family-owned business that was started in 1956 out of Webster City, Iowa. They are an industry leader in producing and distributing crop protection chemicals. With over 700 employees, the company includes 20 plants and 17 distribution centers. 

The Problem

Adanga Biddle-Roush, the Assistant Director of Health & Safety, first looked into using GoCanvas for training purposes. However, since implementing the platform, they have expanded it for all of their daily, weekly, semiannual, and annual inspections. Adanga mentioned, “I can’t even estimate the time it took to put together a report from paper data and now it’s at our fingertips in minutes.”

Before discovering GoCanvas, everything at Van Diest Supply Co was done on paper forms. There was an overwhelming amount of data that needed to be collected across forms such as incident reports, production reports, daily attendance, safety talks, supply requests and work orders. With the processes they had in place, Van Diest knew they needed a more effective way to collect this information, so they turned to GoCanvas for help. 

The Solution

Today, with GoCanvas, work orders are submitted to maintenance supervisors for approval and then sent to maintenance workers, who are able to get the assignments on their tablets. When a job is completed, it goes back to being approved and then is stored in the cloud. The ability to upload information in real-time and streamline communication between supervisors and maintenance workers has been able to save Van Diest Supply Co time in productivity.

The Outcomes

Van Diest Supply Co has since moved away from paper and is fully utilizing GoCanvas for all of their paperwork. Adanga mentioned, “Going paperless is so freeing! And your information is available, organized, and can be used in multiple formats.” Now all of the information collected is stored in the cloud and dumped into an Excel spreadsheet. Having everything in Excel allows them to gain insights into their data from any specific time range. This comes in handy when auditors request inspections or maintenance records.

Since implementing GoCanvas, Van Diest Supply Co has noticed a huge difference in their productivity. Just in this calendar year, they have tracked $228,429 in paper savings as well as $162,545 in productivity savings. Adanga said, “The value is priceless and I can’t imagine doing business any other way. It has really helped our business keep up with the pace of the industry.”

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.