Garden Grove Landscaping Improves Operational Efficiency by 50%

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How Garden Grove Landscaping Improved Operational Efficiency by 50% with Mobile Forms

Overview 

  • Industry: Landscaping Management & Construction
  • HQ Location: Waterdown, Ontario

Quick Facts

  • Recover $12,000 in paper costs annually
  • Return on investment of $75,800 in first 18 months
  • Mobile forms: Time Tracker, Work Order, Fuel Log & more!

The Problem

David Lammers, President of Garden Grove Landscaping, approached GoCanvas looking for a solution to their “data overflow” needs. Garden Grove was really beginning to scale as a business, acquiring new clients and more paperwork, but this explosive growth was also hurting them as well. They quickly realized that the massive amount of data they were collecting from their numerous job sites was now taking even longer to receive, organize, and analyze. In simple terms, their manual paper process was actually slowing down the business and causing them to become less efficient as they acquired more clients.

David knew that Garden Grove needed a better way to collect, share and learn from their data and that a platform like GoCanvas could provide the tools for his employees to have the real-time access to information that they so critically needed.

The Solution

The Senior Mobile App Consultants worked with David and the team at Garden Grove Landscaping to ensure they understood which processes were the most inefficient, and what key areas of the business were being most affected.

David and his team decided to take a more holistic approach. They took anything they did on paper and turned it into a mobile process within the GoCanvas platform. The goal was to have a single place where their employees could go to collect data, review reports, or share information in real time. This has ultimately led to the creation of over 10 different types of mobile forms across 5 different operational departments. It has also led to the implementation of the GoCanvas Dispatch and Workflow tools, which allows for the Garden Grove office staff to conveniently create, track, and assign tasks to their mobile field workers.

Check out the list below for examples of the types of mobile forms that Garden Grove has created and implemented for their team thus far:

  • Heavy Equipment Inspections
  • Fuel Logs
  • Vehicle Circle Checks
  • Incident Reports
  • Expense Reports
  • Quality Control Reports
  • Site Evaluation

The Outcomes

After just a year of creating, testing, and deploying the GoCanvas platform to their team, Garden Grove Landscaping has already seen amazing results.  “(Today) we’re able to complete worksheets in 30 minutes. Before it took us 3 hours. It’s saving us about $1,000 a month in time and paper costs”, said David Lammers, President of Garden Grove Landscaping.

David and his team have truly embraced the GoCanvas platform and the ability to build out their own processes without the need for IT support or coding knowledge. This has enabled them to build out a mobile form for every one of their processes and to grow their business without the fear of losing efficiency. In fact, David and his team are currently looking at even more ways they can integrate GoCanvas into their back-office operations including a direct integration with QuickBooks.

But the biggest benefit of implementing GoCanvas has been the confidence that it gives the Garden Grove employees. They no longer have to worry about losing a paper form or filling in the wrong information. All the data needed to complete their job is now in the palm of their hand, and that is what David truly loves about using GoCanvas.

“I start this business on my bicycle. I did invoices by hand. It is great to see the success of our company and the tools like GoCanvas can empower our employees.”

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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Online Reviews and Your Business: By the Numbers

Online Reviews and Your Business: By the Numbers

If you’re in the hospitality industry, one dissatisfied customer may seem like a minor issue. But if that customer posts about his or her bad experience online, it can impact all your potential future customers — making it a major challenge. In this infographic, learn how online reviews can affect hotel and restaurant profits and what matters most to online reviewers. test.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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The New GoCanvas is Here!

GoCanvas

The New GoCanvas is Here!

The Law of Three

The popular saying is that good things comes in threes. The American Constitution promises: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Even the planet we live on is the third from the Sun!

If last week is any measure, three events made it an awesome seven days for us.

First, we took a bold move to rebrand from Canvas to GoCanvas. While it may seem like a small change, it actually has a big impact. Most of our customers already know us best from our web site, which from beginning has been GoCanvas.com. So it makes good sense to harmonize the brand name and make us even easier to find.

Being empathetic to the challenges our subscribers face to run and grow their business, GoCanvas is also a great description of their journey with us. We help our customers Go somewhere that is new and different, with the confidence that Canvas is a destination where you can do something great for your company.

This week also saw the 9th major update of our platform. Improving the way our customers engage with GoCanvas is always a cause for celebration. But when we completely refresh our look and feel, it really stands out. GoCanvas 9 has now gone live, delivering a more fluid and intuitive customer experience on the web site. So, whether creating a digital version of a simple document or rewriting the way work is dispatched to field teams, it’s now even easier to collect important business information and automate your business processes.

Now to the third great thing that happened last week.

Hearing from our customers is how our inspiration begins. We firmly believe that shared knowledge is what sparks innovation. What was originally planned as a round table with 5 or so customers giving us feedback on new features, had to be rapidly rethought.. over 100 wanted to attend!

We decided to hold our first user conference: Transform.

It was exciting to hear people sharing how GoCanvas is the solution to their everyday operational headaches. Our thanks go out to Ed from Post Brands and Fran from Apex – each took the stage to give awesome presentations, showing the practical and impactful ways that GoCanvas helps them run and grow their business. It was real team effort at our HQ in Reston to bring everything together and heartening to receive the great feedback from the customers who attended. We look forward to holding Transform 2018 and will definitely need a bigger venue!

The brand name may have changed and the web site refreshed, but not our passion for innovating and creating impact for our customers. We are continually finding new ways not just to automate paperwork but go much farther, delivering moments that surprise, delight and help drive better results. We have some amazing things planned for 2018.

Welcome to the new GoCanvas!

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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Keeping Hotel Labor Costs in Check:  How Mobile Inspection Apps Can Help

Keeping Hotel Labor Costs in Check:  How Mobile Inspection Apps Can Help

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When guests visit a hotel, they expect a clean room, of course, but beyond that, they expect service. They assume a concierge will greet them at the front desk, a cleaning crew will tidy their room each day, and a whole host of staff members will be on call to meet their every need.

Service is an essential part of the hotel experience — so essential, in fact, that labor is one of the largest costs for hotels, accounting for 45 percent of total expenses.

And it will likely only get more expensive. As the unemployment rate in the U.S. drops, hotels must increasingly compete for talent by offering higher pay. And in some states, such as California and Washington, there’s been pressure to increase the minimum wage and pay hotel staff more.
To keep guests happy, hotels can’t skimp on service. They must continue to hire quality staff who can meet the needs of customers. But they also can’t succeed if profit margins get too thin. So as labor costs rise, hotels need to figure out how to increase staff efficiency to stay profitable and keep guests happy.

Here are a few ways hotels can improve employee efficiency:

To keep labor costs low, your cleaning staff must be efficient; the more rooms your employees can clean in less time, the higher your profit margins. At the same time, you can’t sacrifice quality for the sake of efficiency. If your cleaning staff rushes through the cleaning process and misses important tasks, your guests will probably notice — and those issues will likely end up in a negative online review that could hurt your business.

Mobile inspection apps can help speed up the cleaning process while keeping quality high. For example, staff members can document each room they clean with photos within the app rather than by writing lengthy explanations. And by using an app, the information for each room is immediately available to supervisors, eliminating the need to collect papers and return to the back office. Plus, staff members can quickly reference a checklist for the tasks they need to complete, so they don’t miss any critical steps in the cleaning process.

Maintenance costs can get out of hand if you have to keep addressing the same issues over and over again. Maybe the same toilet overflows every couple of days so you have to send an employee to fix it. Or maybe your staff has a habit of forgetting to empty the trash under the bathroom sinks, which means a team member has to routinely double back empty it, slowing down the cleaning process (and inviting guest complaints).

Having an efficient way to spot and track patterns is key to managing labor costs. If your staff is documenting tasks and inspections on paper (or not at all), it’s impossible to get a big picture of where recurring problems appear or which employees seem to be involved in high numbers of them. Mobile inspection apps allow you to identify areas of weakness, address challenges proactively, and be more efficient overall. You also get real-time access to your data, and the ability to easily create summaries that can show trends for future planning.

When you have new employees at your hotel, you probably require them to shadow a more senior staff member for a few weeks until they’re capable of performing their responsibilities without supervision. While that can make for effective training, it can also significantly slow down your cleaning teams until the new employees are up to speed. And when you consider the high turnover rate in the hospitality industry — 72.9 percent in 2016 — that less-than-efficient training time can add up.

Finding ways to train your new employees faster is key to keeping your labor costs down. For example, you can use mobile inspection apps to give your employees easy-to-follow checklists that are accessible on their own mobile devices. Employees are quick to train, more compliant, and have an easier time completing necessary forms using mobile inspection apps since they can choose from drop-down menus and common fields can be pre-populated.

Maximizing your team’s efficiency can help keep your labor costs low — but that’s only part of running a successful hotel. Get more tips for keeping your rooms full and guests satisfied in our interactive eBook, “Fresh and Clean: How Mobile Inspections Save Hospitality Industry Reputations.”

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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Release Notes: iOS 11 and other updates to our mobile app software

Release Notes: iOS 11 and other updates to our mobile app software

This release is all about improving our mobile app software for Android, iOS and our Windows Desktop App. For iOS we are excited to release functionality that leverages Apple’s latest operating system. We hope this helps our mobile users have a better and more productive experience when filling out forms with GoCanvas.

Apple has released their latest version of iOS and here at GoCanvas our mobile developers have been exploring the new software and beta testing it for a few months now.  We have added a couple of features to leverage new functionality offered by Apple.

This feature is available when capturing photos with GoCanvas. Your photo gallery and a capture screen appear where your keyboard normally appears. The screen within the Canvas form you are filling out remains in place. We hope this saves mobile users a few seconds per photo by reducing the number of clicks it takes to capture photos with GoCanvas. If you pull photos from your gallery regularly, this will save you a lot of time.

The multi-tasking capability that Apple launched in a previous release was enhanced with iOS 11. We now allow you to multi-task with GoCanvas.  This allows you to run two apps side by side on your iPad Air 2 or iPad Pro. So you can have your Photos app open on one side of your screen and Canvas on the other. You can quickly find the images you need to include with your GoCanvas submissions. Or if there are other apps you use for your job you can run that one along with Canvas. Our hope is that our mobile users gain some productivity benefits here saving valuable time while on the job.

Thanks to iOS 11 we are now able to allow you to drag and drop photos into GoCanvas. Using the photo “keyboard” you can now drag photos from your gallery right into GoCanvas. Or if you are using our new multi-tasking feature you can drag photos from your Photos app right into Canvas. This only works on an iPad Air 2 or iPad Pro. Apple only supports it on those devices.

Customers have asked for this and we are happy to deliver it with this release. When you are previewing images you have captured with GoCanvas you are now able to pinch and zoom in on them. This will help you confirm if the picture you have taken captures what you were hoping to capture. Or if you are using Workflow and send a submission to another user that person can zoom in to get a better look at the image.

As with iOS, we have released this feature for Android, too!

 

When we released our completely re-built Windows Desktop App there were some features we didn’t make available initially.  This was one of them.  This feature allows you to restart a Canvas form after a user hits the “Submit” button. So if you are using Canvas in a retail or kiosk environment (waivers, entering customer information, etc.) where your customers are filling out a Canvas form you can just have the form restart after the previous user hits the “Submit” button. This way you don’t have to have your customers tap on the name of the form to fill it out.

Let us know what you think! We love feedback. You can send it to feedback@gocanvas.com.  Thank you!

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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4 Innovative Ways to Better Train and Engage Hospitality Staff

4 Innovative Ways to Better Train and Engage Hospitality Staff

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In the hospitality industry, things don’t stay the same for long. Restaurant menus change, hotel room rates fluctuate, and perhaps most noticeably — at least for an establishment’s owners and managers — employees come and go.

The industry is well known for a high turnover rate. In 2016, it reached 72.9 percent overall, although some restaurants (quick service and fast casual, in particular) experience a turnover rate closer to 150-400 percent.

That revolving door of employment spells real challenges for restaurants and hotels. The higher the turnover, the more people to train — and subpar training can put your establishment’s reputation on the line. If a new hire provides bad service, doesn’t cook food to standards, or fails to clean every surface in a hotel room, there’s a high probability it will end up in a negative online review. And even one bad review can harm your business.

To keep your establishment’s reputation sparkling clean, try these innovative methods for training your staff members and keeping them engaged.

The hospitality industry tends to attract young workers. The average hospitality employee is 34 years old — the youngest average age of any reported industry in a recent study. But depending on the establishment, staff can trend even younger. In quick service and fast casual restaurants, the median age is 21.

With such a young group of workers, it can benefit hotel and restaurant management to meet their employees where they’re at — which, typically, is behind the screen of a mobile device. The average millennial spends more than three hours on a mobile device every day (25 percent spend more than five hours and check their phone more than 100 times a day — on average, every 15 minutes over a 24-hour period). And that’s clearly not limited to time off the clock. Most U.S. workers (66 percent) admit to using their smartphones several times a day while at work.

Considering that heavy smartphone use, young employees may find it easier and more natural if they can perform parts of their jobs using their mobile devices. Employees can complete mobile checklists, for example, to make sure they’re following correct cleaning and safety procedures every time. Performing parts of their job on a device they’re already familiar with (and likely already have in their hands) can help them get up to speed faster — and keep them engaged.

On average, companies spend more than 50 hours and $800 training each employee. In a high-turnover industry, those costs add up quickly. The faster you can get an employee up to speed — and with fewer resources — the better.

Restaurants and hotels can speed up the training process by using mobile checklist, guideline, and inspection apps. Rather than having to remember extensive cleaning procedures or safety measures, new hires can simply access the checklist anytime, on their own mobile device. In the end, companies can speed up the onboarding process, which can help make sure customers don’t notice a lag in service or cleanliness.

Providing feedback to your staff is essential to improving their performance and keeping them engaged. Millennials in particular need and prefer feedback on a daily or weekly basis, rather than at an annual review. And they’re not only talking about positive reinforcement. In a recent survey, 92 percent of respondents agreed that negative feedback, when delivered appropriately, is effective at improving performance.

But in a busy industry like hospitality, it’s not easy to constantly monitor all your employees for feedback opportunities. By the time a guest or patron complains about poor service or a dirty room, the responsible employee may be gone for the day — and may not work another shift until the next week. Will you remember to provide that feedback the next time he or she clocks in?

If your staff uses mobile inspection, guideline, and checklist apps to document cleaning or safety procedures, it’s easier to keep tabs on who’s up to speed on your establishment’s procedures, who could use a refresher, and who is (or is not) following process daily. With mobile apps, all this information is available to you at your fingertips, eliminating the need to personally check on employees to ensure they are following proper procedures. You can even require employees to snap photos of their workstation or cleaning handiwork, which can help you spot issues and provide feedback immediately. That gives you the opportunity to objectively and quickly correct problems, which can help keep guest satisfaction and employee engagement high.

Of course, not all feedback should be negative — and employees benefit just as much from recognition for a job well done. Seventy-two percent of employees say they would work harder if they felt their efforts were better recognized. But the most effective way to provide that praise isn’t necessarily an employee of the month award, or a shout-out at the next all-company meeting. Most millennial employees — 80 percent — prefer on-the-spot (and frequent!) recognition.

But again — are you going to wait until a rave review for your establishment pops up on TripAdvisor to recognize your staff?

To provide timely praise to your employees, it’s important that you know that they’re doing a good job as they perform their daily responsibilities. When employees use mobile inspection apps, the data is immediately accessible in the cloud ­— which means you can see who’s doing a good job and acknowledge their hard work before their shift is over.

Training and engaging your employees can help you combat high turnover and associated training costs. But beyond that, it can help you provide the consistent, quality service that your customers expect — no matter how long your staff has been employed.

Want to learn more about how mobile inspection apps can help you keep your rooms and tables full? Check out our new interactive eBook, “Fresh and Clean: How Mobile Inspections Save Hospitality Industry Reputations.”

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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Hotel vs. Airbnb: How Hotels Can Come Out on Top

Hotel vs. Airbnb: How Hotels Can Come Out on Top

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In the battle of hotels vs. Airbnb, hotels can gain a competitive advantage by using mobile inspection apps to deliver 3 benefits that rentals often lack.

For some travelers, Airbnb and other short-term rentals provide benefits that hotels can’t always offer — like lower rates, eclectic accommodations, and amenities like full kitchens and living rooms.

When you look at the data, Airbnb rentals seem to be steadily gaining ground. Airbnb revenue increased 89 percent in July 2016 compared to the same month in 2015, while hotels only saw an average of 19 percent growth in the same timeframe. And this “sharing economy” model seems to especially appeal to the millennial generation, with almost half of Airbnb patrons between the ages of 18 and 34, while only 28 percent of guests who booked through Marriott.com fell in that category.

With more and more guests booking rental properties, what can hotels do to come out ahead of Airbnb? The key is successfully delivering some of the benefits that Airbnb rentals often lack — including service, consistency, and safety. Here’s how.

When travelers arrive at a hotel, they know they can expect a certain level of service: Someone will be at the front desk to check them in and hand them a room key. If they forgot their toothbrush, want more pillows, or start craving a cheeseburger, all they have to do is pick up the phone, and the hotel staff will bring them whatever they need. And travelers can be sure that every day, housekeeping will stop by and leave the room — and bathroom — sparkling clean.

Individual rental properties can’t guarantee any standard level of service — and it tends to vary widely depending on the host. Guests can message or call their host, but they’re not guaranteed a response — or that the response will helpful, let alone friendly. If they find the sheets missing (or dirty!), there is no guarantee that anyone will come to their aid at 11 p.m. While there are many positive reviews about Airbnb stays, there are plenty of stories online about uncommunicative or completely unavailable hosts.

Hotels have the opportunity to come out ahead of rental properties by offering friendly, consistent service that puts guests first. By using mobile inspection apps, hotel management can collect real-time data about maintenance and guest issues — which means you can address those concerns immediately, rather than keeping guests waiting. And that kind of service can make your hotel stand out from less service-oriented accommodations.

In general, guests know what to expect when they walk into a hotel room. They know there will be someone at reception, a clean bathroom stocked with travel-size toiletries, a neatly made bed, TV, phone, closet with hangers, and maybe a couple of extras — like a microwave or mini fridge.

Airbnb rentals are anything but consistent. Sure, some offer extras like toiletries or an in-room coffee maker. But sometimes they don’t — or sometimes, it’s unclear. Since Airbnb hosts often rent out their own homes, they may have half-empty toiletries and no hand soap in the bathrooms, or food in the fridge that may or may not be meant for guests’ use.

And cleanliness isn’t guaranteed. Even if a home rental site offers pictures of properties, the images may be deceiving. One guest reported booking an apartment that looked clean and bright in the photos — only to arrive to space that was cluttered, dark, stuffy, and had a distinct aroma of mildew.

Hotels that prioritize consistency offer guests peace of mind — so they know exactly what to expect when they walk into the room. Mobile inspection apps provide staff with easy-to-follow checklists that can be used in every room, every day to help keep your facilities consistently clean and guest satisfaction high. And with the data you collect, you can understand where the recurring problem areas are and decide how to address them.

Every Airbnb is different — which can be appealing to some travelers. But the lack of safety standards has led to traumatic guest experiences. For example, one traveler recalls discovering an infestation of bed bugs in his Airbnb. He eventually rebooked his stay at a nearby hotel, but first had to seek medical attention and sanitize all his clothes and personal belongings. Another traveler discovered the condo he booked through Airbnb was one of only a handful of units that were still occupied — the rest of the complex was completely abandoned and overgrown with weeds.

Hotels have much more control over these situations and, with regular inspections, can help ensure guest safety. Mobile inspection apps make it easier for hotel staff to inspect rooms for hazards including bed bugs, damaged furniture, burned-out light bulbs, etc., and can guide staff members through checklists to ensure the rooms are all free from dangers that could put guests at risk.

For any travel accommodations, guest perceptions are key. One bad online review can significantly impact future business. Learn more about using mobile inspection apps to keep your guests coming back in our eBook, “Fresh and Clean: How Mobile Inspections Save Hospitality Industry Reputations.”

Free Mobile Form Templates - Room Inspections

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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East Berkshire Primary Care Reduces Paperwork & Increases Compliance

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How Healthcare Provider, EBPC, Reduced Paperwork & Increased Compliance with Mobile Forms

EMPC logo

Overview 

  • Industry: Healthcare
  • HQ Location: Berkshire, England
  • Website: Visit Here

Quick Facts

  • Recover $6,630 in paper costs annually
  • Return on investment of $25,000 in the first 3 months

The Background

East Berkshire Primary Care, a non-profit healthcare agency that services up to 85,000 patients a year in the United Kingdom, was drowning in the amount of paperwork that was being collected by their personnel on a daily basis.

The Problem

It came to a point where data could not be thoroughly reviewed in a timely manner, records were getting misplaced, and weekly reports were increasingly delayed. There was no way for Patrick Rogan, Chief Executive at EMPC, to get an accurate analysis of all the data being collected or to have a proper grasp of how the agency was performing as a whole. And since EBPC falls under the umbrella of the Quality Care Commission and its quality of service standards(similar to OSHA), it was of the utmost priority to Patrick that their data collection and reporting process improve.

The Solution

At the beginning of 2017, Patrick reached out to GoCanvas to see what could be done to improve EMPC’s operational data collection and reporting.

The first step for GoCanvas was to fully understand the different processes and operations that encompassed EMPC facilities. After understanding the processes, the second step was to identify the holes and speed bumps that were inhibiting the efficient sharing of data between the field and the office. After working through and evaluating EMPC’s processes, GoCanvas identified that the simple sheer volume of data being collected by the various groups within the agency, along with the manual/time-consuming nature of filing paper forms, was to blame for many of their issues.

Consider that a typical paper form takes between 5 to 15 minutes to fill out, now add in the 15 to 30 minutes of travel time to return the forms, and finally the 1 to 2 hours it takes to manually re-enter every form back into their digital database. EMPC was easily losing 100+ hours in productivity each month due to manual data collection processes, and the mission of GoCanvas was to recover this time with easy-to-use mobile forms.

The Outcomes

The process of going mobile came rapidly and across the board for EMPC. Patrick first deployed GoCanvas in a few operational areas of their facilities to test out the platform and make changes as they identified places of need. The first two mobile forms they deployed included a Crash Bag Checklist and Vehicle Checklist. After a few weeks of testing and seeing a major improvement in data visibility, Patrick and his team began building out additional operational mobile forms to further streamline their front-end data collection.

Since deploying GoCanvas in February, Patrick and his team have built an additional 10 mobile forms and counting. Every mobile form they build is used to increase their operation efficiency and keep them compliant under Quality Compliance Commission standards. Additional mobile forms they have created include CQC Vehicle Supervisor Checklist, Controlled Drugs Checklist, Nurse Cleaning Schedule, and Infection Prevention & Control Audit.

“We needed a way better to manage all the paper checklists that were coming back because we couldn’t prove that employees we checking stuff — now they have to take pictures and confirm.”

– Patrick Rogan, Chief Executive at EMPC

With all of EMPC’s mobile forms, Patrick has enabled specific features to make data collection. For example, Reference Data ensures that each mobile form is pre-filled with lists of locations, stock numbers, nurses, and drivers. No more manually looking up names or having to call someone for information. Patrick has also set up Folders that allow him to easily organize mobile forms by department, facility, and use case so that employees don’t get confused when looking for the right report to complete.

So far, after having deployed GoCanvas for just over 4+ months, EMPC has already seen a $25,000 return on investment and is on track to recover over 500 hours in productivity.

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.

Check out even more resources

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Reduce Data Entry & Billing Errors with Automated Calculations from GoCanvas

Reduce Data Entry & Billing Errors with Automated Calculations from GoCanvas

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Math is hard. Yes, I’ve finally said it. I still use the calculator on my phone to even conduct the simplest of calculations because I’m afraid of making the slightest error (and I simply write content all day)! Imagine the pressure that field users deal with when they are trying to put together estimates or invoices for materials that cost more than I could ever imagine.

Having to look up material or service costs from a catalog, transport that information to a paper form, and then manual calculate it all up is a process that is extremely open to error. 

This is why GoCanvas has the Calculation field!

This “quick-calc” field essentially allows your field users to input any sets of numbers into their mobile form and have those values run through the formula you have pre-created, which then results in an accurate final total. There is no need for calculators or doing math in your head, GoCanvas does the work for you instantly!

And if you’re using the Reference Data feature of GoCanvas, you can have all of your company’s materials and price lists be pre-populated into your mobile form as well! This means no more catalogs and no more manual calculations!

The best part about using the Calculation field in GoCanvas is that it’s incredibly flexible to use within many different processes. The Calculation field allows you to create formulas using any combination of Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division.

Canvas App Builder

With these different mathematical rules, you are able to create calculations using a variety of different form fields including Number, Time, and Date. 

This means you have the option to create simple or complex calculation formulas for determining everything including:

  • Quantity
  • Cost
  • Time
  • Days

If you are going down the path of using mobile forms, then you should definitely be using Calculation fields.

You will immediately realize the time (and reduced headache) benefits that come from taking the calculator out of your field users’ hands and letting the smart device do what it was meant to do.

Some of the additional benefits that you will realize include:

  • 25% Less time spent reviewing reports
  • 25% Increase in data collection speed
  • 50% Increase in data accuracy
  • 100% Less time honing your math skills

Also, remember that if you are using an inspection-type form that you can create built-in scoring using Reference Data and the Calculation field! This essentially means that you can have each question on your mobile form have an assigned point value based on each individual response. Once the mobile form has been filled out, each question’s point value can then be automatically calculated to give the report a final score! This is an amazing way to give you, your users, and even your customers instant insight into their performance! You can click here to learn more about setting up scoring!

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

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Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

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GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

3 Easy Steps to Create & Deploy Mobile Toolbox Talks

3 Easy Steps to Create & Deploy Mobile Toolbox Talks

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Workers using mobile forms

Over the course of a labor intensive 8 to 12-hour shift on a construction jobsite site, safety procedures commonly go by the wayside. The reason for this lapse in safe judgment is more times than none caused by the lack of proper routine safety training. Luckily this is an issue that can be easily solved and is why more safety supervisors across many different industries require Toolbox Talks to be conducted on every job site.

Toolbox Talks are an amazing way for safety managers to re-engage with field workers who may not always be performing their daily duties in the safest possible manner. Toolbox Talks are an easy way to get everyone together on the project site to discuss a relevant job topic like ladder or harness safety, answer any questions they may have about the particular subject or task, and also have each employee sign-off/acknowledge that they were present for the meeting. This documentation process is not only important for possible liability in the case of a worker injury, but it also gives you a clear record of when and where these critical safety sessions are being conducted.

Today, many companies conduct Toolbox Talks very informally with a packet of paper and a pen. The issue is that it’s really easy to forget, misplace, or damage this important packet of paperwork since it’s being transported constantly between multiple job sites and the main office.

These issues often lead to inconsistencies in proper safety procedures and documentation. Paper-based Toolbox Talks are extremely hard to verify for completion on a daily basis unless you are physically there to witness the collection of signatures. With mobile Toolbox Talks, you’re able to instantly eliminate the need for manual data verification, transportation, and reporting.

Conducting Toolbox Talks with a platform like GoCanvas allows you to conveniently store all your daily, weekly, and monthly OHSA related safety curriculum right on your smart device. This means that no matter where you are, you have the power to conduct a thorough safety lesson to your field employees. You can also conveniently collect signatures of your crew members in attendance, along with digital time, date, and location stamps for further data validation. This makes not only collecting the information a breeze, but back-office reporting is now made effortless since all the data is now automatically stored in the cloud for real-time analysis and/or data export.

Canvas Mobile Toolbox Talks
Canvas Mobile Toolbox Talks
Canvas Mobile Toolbox Talks
Canvas Mobile Toolbox Talks

Transitioning your process from paper to a mobile platform like GoCanvas is not as difficult as it seems. All it truly takes is a spreadsheet, a laptop, and a smart device!

The first step is to organize the weekly or monthly content of your Toolbox Talks into a .CSV file (Excel).  Your spreadsheet can be as simple as two columns named “Topic” and “Description”. This file will be used as Reference Data and connected to your GoCanvas account and mobile form. This file should contain the content that you wish to populate within your mobile Toolbox Talks form. You can source Toolbox Talks content from a variety of sources as well, including www.oshatraining.com that contains content for every month of the year!

The second step, after you have created and uploaded the Reference Data file, is to begin the creation of your own Toolbox Talks mobile form. The creation of this mobile form can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be by customizing it with the GoCanvas App Builder. We suggest including Signature, Time, Date, and GPS fields to assist with data reporting. But if you’d prefer to not create a mobile Toolbox Talks form from scratch, download pre-built templates from our template library and customize the fields to fit your company’s needs!

Once you’re finally happy with the layout of your mobile form, the final step is to make sure you connect your Reference Data file to it. This will ensure that the specific safety topic that you select to discuss with your crew populates within the mobile form automatically. And if you need any assistance in connecting your Reference Data file to your mobile form.

Now you are well on your way to a safer work site with GoCanvas!

Mobile Form Templates

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

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