How Bahrns.com Uses Paperless Estimates, Work Orders, and More

Overview 

Custom GoCanvas Mobile Apps Used to Go Paperless

• Time Cards (Several of them)
• Lawn & Garden Equipment Service
• Forklift Service/Work Order
• Forklift Pickup
• Estimate/Quote
• Estimate/Quote – Trade-In

Case Study Highlights

• This supply chain and materials handling company is saving $117,000+ annually with paperless work processes.
• GoCanvas is integrated with their back-office system, Softbase (www.softbasedev.com).
• Jobs dispatched to mechanics using Softbase and GoCanvas Dispatch feature.
• Used equipment inventory available to salespeople in the field via GoCanvas Reference Data feature.
• Mechanics and salespeople can use GoCanvas offline when they do not have data connectivity for their devices.

The Background

Bahrns Material Handling & Equipment Company is a supply chain business (focused on materials handling) that was founded in 1966 in Effingham, IL. Customer service has been the primary focus of Bahrns since the beginning. Many of their employees have been with Bahrns for over 25 years and have helped the organization expand from a single location to multiple locations and multiple businesses under the Bahrns name.  Initially, they served customers throughout Illinois and some adjoining states, but they quickly saw the opportunity the Internet provided and now provide warehouse supplies to customers throughout the world via their website.  Booms, cranes, dollies, lift tables, pallet trucks and much more can all be supplied by Bahrns to get your warehouse whipped into shape.  Logistics is critical to the world we live in today and operating an efficient, properly-outfitted warehouse is where the rubber meets the road for many businesses today. Bahrns has the insight, expertise, and equipment to get any warehouse optimized for maximum efficiency.

Visit Bahrns at www.bahrns.com or www.bahrnstoyotalift.com to learn more about their businesses and the services they offer.

The Problem

Like many GoCanvas subscribers, Bahrns operated their business processes with analog tools like multi-part carbonless paper forms, pens, and trucks. There were two different three-part carbonless forms for their forklift repair service where their mechanics documented the work they had done. Those mechanics also reported their time each day on a two-part carbonless form. There was also a two-part form for their used equipment inspections and a basic, one-part form for the sales department to submit quote requests.

Their mechanics traveled around with large clipboards that had compartments in them to store both blank and completed forms. The mechanics would have to drive all of their completed paper forms (except the lost ones!) back to the office at the end of each day so customers could be invoiced by the accounts payable group or quoted for additional services. Forget about being real-time; typically none of this happened until at least the next day. All paper forms (except the lost ones!) were stored in a filing cabinet. If there was ever a question from a customer then the paperwork had to be dug out of the filing cabinet.  If it wasn’t there then they were out of luck (And so was the customer).

There were a number of holes in this system that pushed Bahrns to look for another way:

• Lost service forms and purchase orders meant the customer just never got invoiced. Bahrns would write off that business.
• Mechanics and salespeople always had to drive back to the shop to return their paperwork. Any “next steps” were delayed until the paper form made its way back.
• Bahrns was not always billing customers for the time they were paying their mechanics for. Bahrns would write off this business, too.
• It took a few days for customers to get quotes for trade-in equipment. Sometimes it didn’t get done at all.
• Work Orders that were illegible or missing information were put in a separate pile. They would then have to sit down with the Mechanics or get them on the phone to review each one. At least 10 per week ended up in this pile requiring 5-10 minutes each to resolve (About an hour per week minimum).

The Solution

In February 2012, Bahrns addressed these challenges by turning to GoCanvas, the global leader in mobile apps for businesses. Thousands of organizations leverage GoCanvas’s mobile app platform to replace cumbersome paper forms with highly customizable mobile forms (We call them apps!) that improve their data collection and productivity.

Businesses can search from over 20,000 mobile form app templates in the GoCanvas Application store that can be completely customized with the online, drag-and-drop App Builder tool.  Using that same tool, many businesses elect to build their own from scratch.  Factor in features like Dispatch, Workflow, the PDF Designer, uploading your price and customer lists, and integration with other systems and GoCanvas changes the way work gets done.

Tara Funneman, the office manager at Bahrns, knew there had to be a better mousetrap and she found GoCanvas while searching the Internet.  This was at the end of 2011.  She reached out to us and got connected with Kalliopi Vlastos at GoCanvas.  Kalliopi supported Tara as she built out her initial apps on GoCanvas.  “I downloaded GoCanvas and immediately began designing and found it easy to use and when I would hit a snag I would call their support team.  And to be completely honest – that is what sold me on Canvas”, says Tara.

She started with one service tech and one salesperson. They started using GoCanvas out in the field as her “guinea pigs”.  They provided feedback as they were using GoCanvas.  “Since the online designing of the apps with the GoCanvas App Builder is so easy many times I could make the changes while they were on the phone or in my office. We had the entire service and sales staff on board in no time at all.”

Bahrns operates very differently today than it did back in 2011. Lots of processes have been smoothed out and they operate as efficiently as they advise their customers to operate their warehouses.  Over 1,200 GoCanvas Submissions (forms filled out) are made each month by over 25 employees using the service. That is a lot of paper saved and a lot less confusion compared to using handwritten documents.

Service Apps/Work Order Apps (They have several)

• Using Canvas’s Dispatch, API, and Reference Data features, jobs are assigned to mechanics inside their business software which then pushes out the appropriate GoCanvas App to the appropriate tech on his/her mobile device. The tech receives a notification on his/her mobile device, and is told where to go and what to do, plus the customer’s information is automatically populated (Reference Data) so the tech does not have to type it in.
• Pictures are included so customers can easily make a decision about whether to move forward with the work.
• These pictures also help in documenting the damage that might have been caused by abuse and is therefore not covered by a Guaranteed Maintenance program.
• The data is transmitted immediately back to the office for invoicing or other additional steps that need to be taken.

Timecard Apps (They have several)

• Timecards are now filled in as they do the work. Users punch in and punch out of jobs throughout the day.
• A single timecard is filled out throughout the day so Bahrns and the tech know how much time should be billed to the customer for each job.
• Timecards are submitted electronically each day using GoCanvas. It is easy to know who has and has not submitted one.
• Timecard data and data from the corresponding Work Order must align.  Customers clearly know how much time was spent on their equipment.

Estimate/Quote Apps (They have several)

• Their salespeople use GoCanvas to provide quotes for used equipment Bahrns has in stock. Reference Data is updated so the salespeople know what is in stock and can add it to their estimate. It auto-populates all the pertinent information about each item so salespeople don’t have to type it out.
• Now they can create an estimate on their iPad and the customer can view it on-screen and sign off on the purchase right on the spot. They pull images of the used equipment right off of their website and those can be included in the estimate document created by GoCanvas.
• If a customer has a trade-in then the salesperson or tech uses another GoCanvas App to capture information about the trade-in (especially pictures!). That is transmitted to the office right away where the value of the trade-in must be figured out before a quote is provided.

The Outcomes

Bahrns has seen a tremendous impact on their business over the years.

• Service jobs are rarely written off now that they are capturing and transmitting data electronically. Lost paper forms are a thing of the past. “We discovered a lot of unbilled work orders. If the tech would lose a paper or forget to turn it in it wouldn’t get invoiced unless someone went looking for the information”, according to Tara. $10,000 worth of write-offs is recouped each year that was lost to their paper process.
• Huge time and cost savings since mechanics and salespeople don’t have to drive back to the office to manually transmit paper forms. There have been savings in fuel consumption costs, too. Mechanics can return home without having to make extra trips to the shop. This also has the additional benefit of reduced environmental impact.
• Back office personnel gain back an hour of time due to fewer errors, blank fields, illegible handwriting, and other paper issues.
• Customer service is better than ever! Quotes are delivered much faster in real-time. Service forms are found easily and can be re-emailed to customers right away. Jobs are completed sooner since data is transmitted electronically. “If the customer happens to need a copy of it all we have to do is send them the digital version of the work order.” 
• Timecard data is more accurate now that time is captured on the job instead of mechanics doing it from memory at the end of a pay period.  No more end-of-pay period chaos to get people paid.
• Jobs are billed more accurately and Bahrns is doing less work for free. Errors in time are noticed right away instead of after a customer has already been billed.
• Cash flow is accelerated. Jobs can be finished sooner. Customers can sign-off on work right on the spot. There are a lot fewer disputes and billing questions.  “Now that we use GoCanvas the customer can actually be invoiced before the tech is even back to the office.”  Since the work was just done they remember it all and don’t question the work as much. Plus more detail is provided to customers on the Work Orders since using GoCanvas so they are less likely to dispute or question the pricing.
• This has all resulted in a huge competitive advantage for the company! A paperless supply chain business can be a reality with GoCanvas!

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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Universal Waste Management Saves $20,000 Annually with GoCanvas

Overview 

Universal Waste Management (UWM) is a medical waste transporter and storage facility headquartered outside Jacksonville, Florida. It specializes in the retrieval, transport, and storage of hazardous medical waste for organizations.     

UWM was started by professionals frustrated with the high price and poor customer service in the medical-waste transportation and medical waste disposal industry. UWM strives to create close personal ties with its customers, considering each an incredibly important relationship.

The Problem

But as UWM tried to provide great service, it struggled with the growing burden of paperwork. Florida law requires medical waste generators (who handle infectious waste, biohazard waste, infectious substances, clinical waste and more) to hold records for at least three years. As UWM’s customer base grew, so too did its number of filing cabinets and space required for paperwork.

Invoicing customers for service was also bulky. As a paper-based company, UWM had a four stage process. The office would give information about the customer to the driver. Then, the driver would return to the office with his carbon copy proof of service. An office employee would then add pricing to the carbon copy. Finally, it was sent to the bookkeeper.

The result? Invoicing customers would take anywhere from four days to a week. Not only was this process slow, but it also created opportunities for errors. “With paper and pen,” said Jason Kenny, President of Operations, “we couldn’t read what [drivers] were doing.” Carbon copies led to issues with inaccurate invoices and slowed down the company’s billing cycle.

As a growing business, UWM wanted to be able to continue to provide great service while reducing storage needs, increasing cash flow, and, eliminating human error. Management began to look for a solution that would streamline communication and get rid of paper.

The Solution:

In November 2012, UWM switch to GoCanvas, the global leader in mobile apps for business. Thousands of organizations leverage Canvas’s cloud-based, software-as-a-service mobile app platform to replace cumbersome paper forms with highly customizable mobile business apps. 

The Outcomes

Businesses can search from over 21,000+ ready-made form templates in the GoCanvas Application Store (many of which are for documenting hazardous waste, biohazardous waste and more) that can be customized to an individual business user’s needs. In addition, GoCanvas offers a do-it-yourself app builder that enables non-technical users to build their own custom apps in minutes.Over the past two years, UWM’s employees have ditched paper and use a mixture of Android devices with GoCanvas mobile apps. UWM even created a custom PDF output for a seamless brand experience.

The company has discovered measurable results.

Real-Time Billing

Previously, it would take up to a week to bill customers. Worse, the four-stage process allowed multiple opportunities for errors. “Once a customer called us [to complain],” Jason said. “She was billed for 11 containers, but only two had been picked up. The driver had put down two lines and the office saw it as eleven.”Going mobile has removed any confusion. Today, text is always clear. With drop down fields and barcode scanning, information returns in a standardized format.

By using GoCanvas, UWM receives all its medical waste transport details accurately and in real-time. All documents are stored in the GoCanvas cloud, making it easier to find and track submissions. Calculations are now embedded in the app, so invoicing can go straight from the driver to the bookkeeping staff. Going mobile has dramatically streamlined the invoicing process. Sending an invoice once took a week. Today, UWM can send it out in the same day.

Improved Customer Service

From the beginning, UWM has strived to provide the best in service to every customer. Yet it wasn’t happy with how carbon copies presented the company to its customers.
In addition, if a customer called UWM for a copy of a lost invoice, the office staff could spend up to an hour trying to find it. Instead of presenting tired paper tickets, drivers today show up on client sites with tablets and smartphones. In real time, tickets can be emailed to the client by entering the customer’s email at the end of a submission.

UWM’s customers also get the added benefit of having their medical waste removal documents saved in MyCanvas, a portal for customers of GoCanvas subscribers. Its customers get free cloud storage and easy access to their critical information.“We used to have to find records for customers at least once a day,” said Jason. “Today we only get a request once a week.” Improved access to information frees up UWM’s administrative staff for other important tasks. Canvas’ PDF receipts and MyCanvas help UWM provide better service to its customers as well as a more professional and clean layout of important work information.

Enhanced Data Security and Accessibility

Previously, employees would write down waste disposal manifests on a triplicate form. Then they would bring the forms to the office at the end of a long day. This time lag and multiple site visits made it easier for drivers to lose records, putting both clients and UWM at risk.

It was also difficult for UWM to access the information. It was only available at the office inside UWM’s filing cabinets. It took time to find the documents, and meant certain tasks could occur only inside UWM’s office.UWM now has two different places to store information. Canvas’ integration with Google Drive allows UWM to host its information both in the GoCanvas cloud as well as on Google. This provides double protection and copies of UWM’s data.

It also provides flexibility for access. “Our office manager prefers accessing information from the GoCanvas portal,” Jason explained. “For me, it’s easier to access the information on Google Drive from my smartphone. The Drive integration has been huge.”The changes in productivity, customer service, and billing have had a dramatic impact on UWM’s bottom line. “We spent a couple hundred a month on our paper forms alone,” Jason said.

Going mobile has reduced UWM’s labor, invoicing, and recordkeeping costs. Jason estimates that the organization has saved up to $20,000 a year by going mobile.

Flexibility to Meet Evolving Business Needs

As a cloud-based, mobile platform combined with an easy-to-use mobile app builder, GoCanvas provides the flexibility to update the mobile form’s content and even add new features and functionality. As needs evolve and change, GoCanvas makes editing form apps a frictionless process. For instance, as UWM grows, it’s easy for management to add new customer information into their GoCanvas apps. UWM doesn’t need to rely on IT support or have any knowledge of coding. With GoCanvas, it’s a simple drag-and-drop interface that anyone can use.

Other mobile app alternatives make this process cumbersome or costly, weakening the effectiveness of their platforms. With GoCanvas it is a frictionless process at no additional cost. Today, UWM has gone completely paperless with mobile apps. With more time in their workday, they can focus on providing the best medical waste management solution.

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Hafsco Achieves Business Success and Operational Efficiency with GoCanvas

Overview 

HAFSCO, founded in 1934, is a full-service food service company located in West Haven, CT that provides commercial and restaurant kitchen design, sales, and service along with consulting services.  As a family-run small business, the firm sells and services commercial kitchen equipment and products for restaurants, country clubs, universities, hotels, etc.  For 78 years HAFSCO ran its small business as many do, relying heavily on paper forms for business processes ranging from work orders to invoicing and human resources. This was especially true for HAFSCO’s 7 technicians out in the field responsible for delivering and servicing customers’ commercial equipment requirements. These technicians carted around piles of 3-part carbon work order forms – forms that were critical for ensuring customers could be invoiced, and that product, service, and maintenance requests could be filed in an accurate and timely manner.

The Problem

HAFSCO knew they had a problem with paperwork orders, but it wasn’t until mid-2012 that it realized how massive this problem was and that it was costing them upwards of $10,000 in revenue per month. Often, technicians would lose or misplace copies of the work order, which meant that HAFSCO could not invoice the customer and get paid or really have any insight into where technicians were on a given day and what they were doing. Equally damaging is that it might be 3-4 days before a technician would return to the office, which meant that a work order request for a product or service made at the customer premises on a Monday wouldn’t even be filed until the end of the week.

Convinced that inefficient paper processes were costing the firm revenues and customers, HAFSCO’s management team sought a mobile solution that could be deployed quickly, inexpensively, and with an intuitive user interface so that technicians would embrace the transition.

The Solution

After exploring several technology options and vendors, HAFSCO turned to GoCanvas, the global leader in mobile apps for businesses. GoCanvas has established itself as the fastest-growing mobile business app store in the world, with thousands of organizations leveraging the GoCanvas App Store to replace cumbersome paper forms with highly customizable mobile business apps that work on nearly every smartphone and tablet on the market. The firm’s app store now has several thousand ready-made apps to use or customize to an individual business user’s needs, and GoCanvas also offers a do-it-yourself app builder toolkit that enables non-technical users to build mobile apps in minutes.

HAFSCO was drawn to GoCanvas’ mobile solution for its ease of use, ease-of-deployment, and ability to allow technicians in the field to submit work orders at the customer premises – or anywhere – from smartphone and tablet devices. Equipped with Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet devices and using their GoCanvas work order app, HAFSCO technicians are able to:

• Capture all of customer information in real-time on their mobile device, ranging from, the parts they use to make repairs, the costs, the time they start and stop the job, and a customer signature.
• Customize any form depending on specific customer needs.
• Send work order and invoice information in real-time via the Cloud to proper HAFSCO back-office systems, so that parts can be ordered immediately and billing can be made promptly.

HAFSCO also uses GoCanvas to audit its billing.  All data collected with GoCanvas is stored in the cloud on GoCanvas’s servers where GoCanvas subscribers can access it anytime they wish.  HAFSCO logs into their GoCanvas account and visits the “Submissions” area to view all work orders that have been submitted by their mobile users.  They export the data in a CSV file for the time period they are interested in, and can then check them against what has actually been billed in their system to ensure that all work is being invoiced

The Outcomes

By transitioning from paper-based work orders and employee time cards, HAFSCO has realized several key benefits:

• Elimination of missing work orders – With GoCanvas mobile apps, the percentage of missing work orders has dropped from 25% to, in effect, zero, as technicians now use the GoCanvas app to send work orders from Galaxy Tab devices to back-office systems in real-time via the Cloud.
• Converted lost revenue into business growth – Eliminating lost work orders added thousands of dollars in previously lost revenue to HAFSCO’s coffers, and the firm has utilized those revenues to grow the business by hiring additional staff and purchasing more vehicles for technicians servicing customers.
• Rapid invoicing and payments– No longer would it take technicians several days to return to the office and manually prepare invoices. Through GoCanvas mobile apps, invoices are generated in real-time and sent to HAFSCO’s billing department via the Cloud. As a result, HAFSCO is able to receive customer payments much sooner than with the paper-based invoice system.
• Improved customer service – The elimination of missing and delayed work orders has improved the ability of HAFSCO to live up to its reputation providing the highest level of customer service. Customer complaints dropped significantly after transitioning to GoCanvas from paper forms

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