Forms

13 Ways to Create Better Forms

Posted on August 27, 2023November 18, 2024 by Nikki Kanev

13 Ideas to Create Better Forms

Business Operations | Forms

Converting your paper forms into digital forms instead? The switch from paper to digital brings you new possibilities on what to include and how to create your forms to optimize your results. This article covers some of the ways you can create better forms using digital form builders.

Instead of trying to replicate your exact paper form, it can be useful to think outside of the box to come up with smarter ways of collecting, sharing, and storing your information. You can definitely keep the same look and feel of your paper forms in the digital world, so think about how the technology can build upon what you have to make it even better. Here are 13 ideas on how you can start creating forms to maximize your results.

13 Ideas to Create Better Forms

#1. Make Fields Required

You never know what information your workers are going to jot down when it comes to paper forms. Many times you are left with missing fields or incorrect information that creates additional work to fix the mistakes.

But with digital forms, you can create required fields that help to ensure information is filled out completely. A required field you may see marked with an asterisk to denote that this field can not be skipped over. This is a simple feature of a digital form, but it can go a long way to helping you get the information you need for complete data.

#2. Create Standard Fields

While making fields required will give you more complete data, creating standard fields will help you to get more standard data. Standard data may seem unimportant, but when you go to run a report you will find that standard fields ensure you have accurate reporting.

Take for example a form field that is asking you to fill out a client’s address, including their state. If the client lives in DC, your submission from the field could be formatted as several different options (i.e. Washington, Washington, D.C., DC, etc.). When you go to run a report of all clients in DC, you may be left with incomplete data since the spelling is inconsistent throughout your data.

The best practice here is to standardize how you collect data with the digital form. By making the state field in this example a “drop-down” list with predetermined options, your data will come out uniform. Be careful with open-ended form fields and instead use a drop-down list or check boxes to ensure information is formatted consistently across submissions.

#3. Include Images

By moving from paper forms to digital submissions, you have the ability to include new types of media in your submission. Including images can be added to your form, so that an employee can take photos on their mobile device and have it attached to their submission.

This can be useful for things like inspections, where you also have a report that is generated after the completed inspection. Showing images in those inspection reports bring greater detail and more value for the client to see exactly what is being documented in the report.

#4. Collect Signatures

Signature capture is an essential part of many forms, from invoices and quotes to inspections and audits. This feature is simplified with digital forms, giving your teams the ability to sign documents directly from a tablet or mobile device. Make sure that you include signature capture on any of the forms where you need to verify approval or want a digital record in the future of an agreement between parties.

#5. Track GPS

Another added advantage of digital forms is the ability to use native mobile features, like GPS tracking captured by a cell phone. You can include this information in a form submission so that the exact location is captured and documented in your final report. This can be useful for use cases where you need to document and verify the exact location, like a job site inspection for example. GPS coordinates can also be tracked as a hidden field, so it’s collected automatically when the worker is on a specific job site.

#6. Include Calculations

One of the biggest challenges for field teams can be calculating math on the spot for an estimate or invoice. An added benefit of using digital forms is that you can actually create calculations within the form, so that all your calculations are performed automatically. For the person filling out the form, they will simply need to input the correct numbers (i.e. hours worked or parts used) and the calculation will be done for them. This simplifies the job for teams and ensures that there are no costly calculation errors.

#7. Enable Barcodes

Many industries rely on barcodes on the job, including industries like Retail, Manufacturing, Construction, or transportation and logistics. Digital forms can include barcode scanning, allowing your teams to submit this information directly from their mobile device or barcode scanning hardware. This feature saves companies time by enabling them to quickly scan codes into their forms without having to manually type 12+ characters into the form field. It also helps reduce errors in data collection, since typing out data manually can often introduce human error. Barcode scanning and QR code scanning is another great add-on to enhance your digital mobile forms.

#8. Enable Payments

Creating forms with the option to collect a digital payment is a nice feature for companies that work directly with clients. This feature can help your business get paid faster and simplify the process for clients with seamless digital payments and invoices. Many digital forms on the market today will allow you to connect to a payments platform like Square, so you can capture credit card payments directly from your mobile device or tablet from a customer.

#9. Enrich Data

A simple paper form can be time-consuming to fill out all of the appropriate information. When you move to creating your forms digitally, you can also leverage tools for enriching your form field data with information that is already known. For example, you could bring in data from your CRM system, so that a customer’s address is pre-populated in the form, rather than having that filled out by hand. This type of data integration allows for faster form submissions and makes the job easier for employees.

#10. Integrate data

Similar to a scenario where you would want to integrate data into your forms, you may also want to have a data integration set up to take your form submission data and push it into another database. For example, you may have an integration set up with payroll or accounting systems to process invoices or timesheets based on the data that is submitted within a form. This can streamline and automate your business processes, and helps increase productivity for your staff. Consider data integrations when creating forms, as this can be another advanced way to leverage the technology to save your business time and money.

#11. Collaborate with Others

When creating forms, you may also want to take advantage of the ability to assign and collaborate with different people at your organization. Form builders will allow you to dispatch or assign a form to one person at your company and then have a workflow setup to pass the submission to another person to complete their assigned task. This type of collaboration and workflow features within forms, allows you to create forms that can be distributed to multiple people in real-time.

After all of this hard work you have done to collect accurate and rich information through your form submissions, the final step is to make sure you are putting that information into the hands of anyone that needs it. This could be in the form of a report that is automatically sent via email to the appropriate stakeholders, or it could mean using analytics reports to identify trends in your business. A digital form builder allows you to share information in real-time, cutting down the time it takes to create and share reports. Analytics are becoming more widely adopted to spot trends within the submission data to discern patterns.

#13. Ensure Compliance

Another way to create better forms is to use a platform that is built to support compliance. OSHA and HIPPA are two of the common compliance requirements in the US when collecting information. When selecting a platform for creating digital forms, be sure that they can support compliance needs for your organization when handling this critical information. Most best-in-class form builders will have this feature built into their platforms, but it’s an important one to remember when you embark on creating your digital forms.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas is a mobile platform that makes it simple for any business to automate how work is done, replacing outdated processes and expensive paperwork. The GoCanvas App works on all smartphones and tablets, helping companies easily collect information across their organization, share it instantly with others and gain real-time insights on their business operations.

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

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5 Ways to Keep Your Welders Safer With Digitized Checklists and Form Templates

Posted on June 21, 2023November 20, 2024 by Danny Kanev

5 Ways to Keep Your Welders Safer With Digitized Checklists and Form Templates

Analytics and Data Collection | Compliance and Safety | Forms | Inspections

Welding carries a significantly high risk to both welders and end users. Whether they are facing ultraviolet radiation or excessive exposure to toxic fumes from welding, the need to keep welders safer can never be understated. Welders, like any other human resource, are integral to the success of your organization. Guaranteeing their safety also means better working standards for your team and, by extension, increased productivity and high-quality outputs. This is where the importance of digitized checklists and form templates comes in.

Read on to discover how to keep your welders safer with digitized checklists and form templates.

The Importance of Enhancing Safety for Your Welders

We’ve come a long way as a society. After all, there was a time when young kids swept chimneys without any form of personal protective equipment (PPE) and hazardous materials were frequently used in beauty and personal care items.

Today, the need to continually enhance safety practices is no longer debatable. There’s plenty of evidence on how working with hazardous materials can severely affect a person’s health. In fact, this sometimes leads to chronic conditions or, worse, fatalities.

That aside, welding products are everywhere in our lives, with almost any implement, tool, or machinery having some welded parts. When welders work under unsafe conditions, it’s only a matter of time before someone overlooks a critical procedure, and the results can be disastrous.

Beyond harming workers, the effects of unsafe conditions can boomerang back to involved companies or firms. The Occupational Safety and Health Act demands all employers/firms provide employees with sufficient PPE and ensure they work in safe environments.

Fail to do this and you’ll be looking at major lawsuits from aggrieved employees and, in some cases, end consumers. Thus, it’s important to prioritize enhanced safety for your welders and everyone on your team.

What are Digitized Checklists and Form Templates?

Digitized checklists and form templates are a way to ensure your welders stay safe while performing their jobs.

As the name suggests, they’re digital versions of traditional paper forms and checklists that can track the tasks, inspections, and certifications required to keep your welders safe. They provide a simple, organized method to ensure all safety precautions are taken before and during welding operations.

Digitized checklists and form templates are typically hosted online or in a mobile format. This allows quick and easy access from any device. These tools usually have customizable fields that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your welding operations.

The ability to customize means that your team can create forms and checklists tailored to the type of job required. Thus, making it easier for everyone on the team to stay up to date on safety regulations and best practices. Additionally, the online platform makes it easy for supervisors and managers to review results and quickly provide feedback as needed.

Working with the right digital platform can save time and free up your team to focus on other important elements of production.

The Most Valuable Types of Digitized Checklists and Form Templates

There are many digitized checklists and form templates that cut across industries. The following are among the most valuable for enhancing the safety of your welders:

1. Pre-Weld Inspection Checklist

This serves to ensure your team has all safety protocols and procedures in place. Ideally, it should cover all materials and equipment, safety measures, and PPE/clothing.

2. During-Weld Inspection Checklist

As the name suggests, this checklist is used while welding to ensure all operations go as planned and are in line with safety procedures. It also helps to forestall any problems with the weld early on.

3. Welding Procedure Specification (WPS)

This checklist serves as a blueprint for effective welding. More specifically, the WPS features an expertly drafted document that ensures your welds repeatedly and consistently follow all established codes and industry production standards.

Before developing a WPS, you’ll have to draft a Procedure Qualification Record, which forms the basis of your WPS and enables you to test your procedures and materials before going into full-scale production.

4. Post-Weld Inspection Checklist

The post-weld inspection checklist comes immediately after production. Its purpose is to ensure the weld complies with your WPS and other firm/industry-specific standards and procedures.

5. Quality Control Checklist

This checklist is optional, but it can be instrumental in ensuring the quality of your welding products and identifying any defects or policy violations.

Ideally, your quality control checklist should include visual inspections and measurements to verify the quality of welds. This can also double up as the post-welding inspection checklist.

Using Digitized Checklists and Form Templates to Keep Welders Safer

Here are a few tips to get the most out of digitized checklists and form templates:

Create checklists for each job. Every welding job is different and has its own set of safety considerations, so it would be wise to create customized checklists for each job. This will ensure that your welders know all the potential risks associated with the task at hand.
Ensure your checklists are up to date. Technology is constantly changing, and it’s essential to ensure that your checklists reflect any new equipment or safety regulations. Keeping your checklists current will also help ensure that your welders stay safe and your welds align with ever-evolving industry/regulatory standards.
Utilize form templates. Form templates can save time by automatically filling fields with relevant data. This helps ensure the collection and organization of all necessary information for easy reference.
Have your welders review the digitized checklists and forms. Make sure that your welders know all the safety protocols they need to observe. One way to ensure this is to require checks before, during, and after welding.

Final Thoughts

Upholding safety is a crucial concern when it comes to welding. However, having policies and procedures is only one part of the puzzle.

The only effective way to enhance safety for your welders is to create a systematic and easy-to-follow process to ensure everyone on your team follows established safety protocols and industry-accepted standards.

This is where digitized checklists and form templates come in. They allow everyone to stay organized and maintain uniformity while ensuring effective documentation of safety procedures.

But it doesn’t stop at that; digitized checklists and form templates can also enhance safety in other vital yet risky manufacturing processes like laser cutting and grinding.To learn more about how GoCanvas can help you uphold safety standards and maximize efficiency, schedule a demo with us today.

About GoCanvas

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

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5 Ways to Streamline Online Order Forms to Shorten Lead Time

Posted on June 21, 2023May 12, 2025 by Danny Kanev

5 Ways to Streamline Online Order Forms to Shorten Lead Time

The digital transformation of how customers and companies interact has had a huge impact on modern businesses. Ordering processes that used to take days can now be done in a fraction of the time. From browsing and selecting products to placing orders and receiving shipments, the entire process is now simpler and faster than ever before. Nowadays, many manufacturing companies are relying on online order forms to take their businesses to the next level. However, the transition from traditional paper-based orders to online order forms can be challenging. Many companies find themselves unable to keep up with customer demands and are faced with longer lead times.

How to Shorten Lead Time for Online Order Forms

As manufacturing companies shift from traditional order forms to online ordering, it is important to ensure that the process is as efficient as possible. To do this, having an organized workflow for handling online orders is essential. In this blog post, we will discuss five tips for streamlining your workflow to shorten the lead time when processing online orders. From automatically routing orders based on key inputs to developing systems that generate alerts if an online form isn’t responded to promptly, these tips will help you get the most out of your online order forms.

1. Automatically Route Orders Based on Key Inputs

Manufacturing companies that are transitioning to online order forms can implement a system that automatically routes orders based on key inputs. This helps streamline the process and allows customers to have an easier ordering experience. Automating order routing also helps companies increase efficiency, reduce time and labor costs, and easily scale as they grow.

How to Implement Automated Order Routing

Create rules for routing orders using specific criteria such as product, customer location, or shipping method
Allow customers to track their orders in real-time to ensure delivery is on time and to the correct destination
Automatically route orders to the most efficient fulfillment centers to reduce lead times
Implement an alert system notifying staff when orders need additional attention or require special handling

By implementing automated order routing, manufacturing companies can ensure that customers receive their orders quickly and efficiently. Additionally, it helps reduce time and labor costs associated with manual order processing, allowing companies to scale with ease. Automation also gives staff more time to focus on other tasks and helps ensure that customer service is up to the highest standard.

2. Generate Alerts If an Online Form Isn’t Responded to or Processed Promptly

Manufacturing companies that rely on online order forms to process customer orders can benefit from implementing a system to alert them if an online form isn’t responded to or processed promptly.

Companies can ensure that customers get their orders promptly by:

Setting up automated notifications for when orders aren’t responded to or processed promptly
Creating alerts for specific order types that need attention or may require extra processing time
Monitoring order completion rates and identifying areas requiring attention; will require a system for tracking and responding to customer inquiries quickly

Setting up automated notifications can help build customer loyalty and boost profits over time, as it can reduce the time it takes to process orders and provide better customer service.

3. Add Custom Fields to Forms

When transitioning to online order forms or rethinking your current approach, adding certain fields to forms can expedite shipments by reducing back-and-forth communication. Adding fields with options to upgrade is a great way to inform customers of available features and benefits to add to their transactions.

Reduce Back-and-Forth Communication

By adding fields to forms that automate the process, manufacturers can reduce back and forth between departments—such as billing and shipping—and shorten lead times for orders. Streamlining this process not only ensures that things are run more smoothly and efficiently but also creates an environment of accountability and transparency, which will ultimately lead to better results for customers.

Inform Customers About Additional Features

Adding fields for optional add-ons (such as expedited shipping, gift wrapping, and delivery insurance) to online order forms can help inform customers about features and services that they may not have been aware of. Offering upgrade options can raise revenue by increasing average dollars per sale.

Automate Repetitive Tasks

Automation helps free up time that can be spent focusing on important matters such as developing new products and services or improving customer service. For instance, the platform could autofill certain information like billing address, shipping address, phone numbers, and email addresses from customer records already on file. Not only does this make it easier for customers to place orders, but it also ensures accuracy—which, in turn, saves businesses valuable time and effort.

4. Use a System That Captures All Customer Data in One Place

Having a system that not only captures customer data but keeps it all in one place can be extremely beneficial. Orders are made and processed quickly and accurately by retaining billing and shipping addresses, and by collecting and analyzing data, you can study customer behavior and predict future trends.

By studying these trends, businesses can identify any changes that may improve the customer experience. Having all the customer data in one place allows for more efficient marketing campaigns. Data duplication can also be eliminated if customer data is kept in one place that is accessible by all departments. Similar to retaining addresses, having one centralized database reduces the possibility of human error and the need for departments to request data from other departments. This also ensures that all departments have the most up-to-date information possible.

5. Review and Update Your Process Regularly

For manufacturing companies that are transitioning to online order forms or want to rethink their current approach, it’s important to review and update processes regularly. A well-maintained process will help your team stay organized and efficient as you transition to or manage online order forms.

One way to do this is by using a digital platform like GoCanvas that provides an intuitive, user-friendly workflow system to capture all customer data in one place. This way, your team can create, store, and share documents quickly and accurately.

By reviewing and updating your process regularly, you can keep your team focused on providing quality customer service. And with a comprehensive workflow system in place, you can rest assured that your online order form is running smoothly and efficiently.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas is the leading mobile forms platform that helps businesses of all sizes simplify their digital transformation. Our platform is designed to help you streamline operations and eliminate tedious paperwork by turning paper forms into easy-to-use mobile apps. With GoCanvas, you can capture data, generate automated reports, and access your data in real time. Schedule time with a product expert today!

About GoCanvas

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

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8 Ways Digitizing Your Manufacturing Equipment Maintenance Checklist With a Template Can Save Time

Posted on June 5, 2023November 20, 2024 by Danny Kanev

8 Ways Digitizing Your Manufacturing Equipment Maintenance Checklist With a Template Can Save Time

Many businesses still rely on paper-based checklists to complete equipment maintenance and other tasks in their facilities. However, this outdated format severely limits efficiency and quality across all tasks. If you want to ensure your teams effectively complete all tasks the right way and on time, there are certain advantages of using a digital manufacturing equipment maintenance checklist to replace your paperwork.

Today, around 89% of companies have prioritized digital transformation to improve the efficiency of operations and reap its other benefits. Converting to digital checklists is a great way to facilitate this transformation.

The following are some of the principal advantages of switching to digital manufacturing equipment maintenance checklists.

1. Keep Maintenance Tasks on Track

One way you can save time on equipment maintenance with digital checklists is by ensuring teams complete all required tasks as needed. You can easily share your checklist with the designated maintenance staff and include all necessary items and details in a centralized, easily modified checklist, which will enable maintenance teams to access these checklists conveniently on mobile devices while in the field and see each task through to its completion. Team members can then make updates to the checklist accordingly and send it back to superiors for confirmation and approval.

Maintenance crews can also benefit from visuals uploaded to a manufacturing equipment maintenance checklist, including diagrams or photographs of inspected equipment and worn or damaged components. These images will go a long way in further increasing the efficiency of maintenance tasks. This can also help eliminate any potential confusion when field workers begin preventative maintenance, repairs, or replacements.

2. Streamline Work for Inspectors and Managers

In addition to helping maintenance staff complete their designated tasks, digital checklists help inspectors and managers with streamlined processes.

Inspectors won’t need to devote as much of their time to administrative tasks. This allows them to collect meaningful data in the field with ease. Using digital forms also improves standardization capabilities, allowing users to easily submit accurate information using a combination of drop-down menus and form fields. All data also appears in comprehensible fonts, eliminating the risk of illegible handwriting causing confusion among teams and staff members.

Managers also benefit from these checklists through the increased ease of scheduling inspections and assigning checklists. Management staff can send reminders to complete inspections as needed and work together with teams using cloud-based solutions.

3. Improve Productivity

If you can more effectively address maintenance issues with comprehensive and accurate digital checklists, you can ultimately minimize potential breakdowns and costly downtime. In turn, this will enable you to significantly boost productivity as you keep your operations up and running more consistently. Maintenance teams will be more proactive in handling maintenance issues as they arise and ensuring all maintenance tasks are completed properly the first time. This, in turn, reduces the risk of delayed or faulty maintenance.

Increased productivity also comes from the elimination of manual tasks through increased automation. Teams and staff won’t need to spend as much of their time completing and submitting paperwork when they can do so instantly using digital forms.

4. Make Internal Audits More Efficient

Another advantage of a digital manufacturing equipment maintenance checklist is the ability to efficiently manage and centralize your internal audits. As you incorporate changes to equipment, facilities, and operations, you can easily make universal updates to your auditing procedure and protocols that will reflect across the entire system. Additionally, you can automate the reporting process and keep teams up to date on a regular basis with every audit.

5. Optimize Management of Spare Parts

You can integrate your digital manufacturing equipment maintenance checklist into an inventory management system that helps you manage spare parts. When you’re able to determine what you have and don’t have, you can ensure you’re fully stocked with the parts you need for each critical piece of equipment. This way, you’ll always have what you require to help prevent equipment breakdowns before you can obtain the necessary parts.

6. Track All Activities

As inspectors, managers, maintenance crews, and others complete various tasks, they can update their statuses and notify the next person down the line. In the process, your business can track all activities from initial inspections and scheduling of maintenance to the completion of each maintenance task. As a result, nobody will be in the dark about which step in the maintenance process requires completion. You’ll ensure that every activity is on track and hold the assignees of each task accountable for completing it properly and in a timely fashion.

7. Save Even More Time With Reusable Templates

Once you’ve streamlined the maintenance process, you can save reusable templates in the most efficient format to make future inspections and repairs easier to complete. As operations go through various changes and updates, you can update corresponding aspects of your templates. In the end, this will save you save more time and optimize recordkeeping.

8. Enable Real-Time Updates to Digital Forms

Using cloud-based software and forms, any changes that people make will automatically update in real time. This helps in keeping all people with access to these forms up to date with the latest information. In fact, you’ll no longer need to have individuals make manual updates to reflect changes across all forms. This maximizes the efficiency and accuracy of information for everyone with access. At the same time, you can keep all forms consistently secure on these digital platforms, preventing unauthorized parties from accessing the forms or making unaccountable changes.

Digitize Manufacturing Equipment Maintenance Checklists With GoCanvas

Digital checklists are essential for maintaining efficient and cost-effective operations for various reasons, including those listed above. Ultimately, the right digital forms will help you save more time and effort. This will enable you to maximize productivity among all teams and operations. The key is to find the ideal tools to help you simplify manufacturing equipment maintenance in your facilities. With the help of GoCanvas digital forms and mobile apps, you can simplify the maintenance process and streamline all activities. Discover how GoCanvas can transform maintenance and other tasks by requesting a demo or free trial today.

About GoCanvas

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

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How to Revise Your Online Order Forms for Custom Components and Assemblies

Posted on May 15, 2023November 20, 2024 by Nikki Kanev

How to Revise Your Online Order Forms for Custom Components and Assemblies

Offering custom components and assemblies to customers can be a great way to drive engagement and sales. Whether you’re in a B2C or B2B industry, customization and configuration are invaluable strategies. At the same time, you might wonder how you can ensure customization capabilities don’t negatively impact the processes and staff you currently have. To prevent potential errors and misunderstandings in order fulfillment, manufacturers should ensure their online order forms use the kind of language and formatting that staff can easily understand, effectively translating customer orders based on each custom option.

One of the best ways to do so is to optimize online order forms with a comprehensive bill of materials.

Optimizing Your Online Order Forms With a Good Bill of Materials

If you want to ensure all orders go through and your engineers and other staff can fulfill your customers’ custom orders, you must have a bill of materials (BOM) that includes all necessary details in a format your staff can understand.

This should include an in-depth list of all components, parts, assemblies, and materials needed to complete the manufacturing process. If you implement a reliable BOM, customers can order custom configurations that your teams can put together without the risk of errors and overwhelming staff.

The key is to know how to approach your BOM for customization and configuration.

The Benefits of an In-Depth BOM

Manufacturers producing custom products will benefit from online order forms that effectively translate customer orders in a way that manufacturers can understand. Whenever customers choose different design elements and put the end product design together, a BOM can convert the information submitted into in-depth instructions on your end.

Some of the specific benefits of BOMs include:

A streamlined manufacturing process. Based on the information that customers provide, you’ll be able to generate an organized BOM that provides detailed production guidelines that are easy to comprehend and follow.
More insight into the final product. Design and production teams will be able to more clearly see how the final product will look based on each step of the production process. This helps ensure your teams align their vision with the customers.
Segmented production. Reliable BOMs only require each team to focus on what they know at each phase of production. This eliminates any need for them to go beyond their level of expertise throughout the production process.

What to Include in a BOM for Customizable Products

Whenever customers place an order through a product configurator or customization software, you should ensure the order is easy to complete based on the customer’s specifications. In online order forms, each part of the customer’s order should have a corresponding name or code that manufacturers can understand. This maximizes efficiency and accuracy as the order travels down the supply chain.

The following are some of the specific elements to include in the online order form fields for bills of materials:

BOM Levels

The first item to consider is the BOM level. This will determine the order of each step of the entire manufacturing process to produce the end product. The level will appear in the form of a number indicating where each component or assembly fits within the process.

Part Names

Every part, assembly, and material used for custom products should have a unique name that your teams can recognize. This will mitigate confusion and ensure team members won’t need additional help identifying the correct part.

Part Numbers

In addition to part names, part numbers that are unique to each component can facilitate identification. As with names, ensure all numbers only apply to the individual part to avoid confusion. If there are different variations of a particular part, these iterations should also have their own original numbers.

Descriptions

To further ensure manufacturing staff knows each part, it’s important to have detailed descriptions of part features and functions. This will make it even easier to identify parts as a supplement to names and numbers.

Phases

Indicate the specific stage that each part falls under during the manufacturing process. For example, some parts might be involved in the design process. Meanwhile, others with official approval will be implemented in production. Additionally, these phases will indicate the overall progress of the entire product, giving employees a better idea of the production timeframe.

Measures

Specify the measurements for each material and component required. This will ensure you purchase a sufficient amount of resources to complete the product. For instance, you might measure liquid materials in drops or ounces, while measuring solid materials in inches or pounds.

Quantities

Based on each product’s specifications, you’ll also need varying quantities of parts. If a product requires multiple parts or manufacture, include this information in another field within the BOM.

Procurement Methods

Once you’ve determined which parts you need to create your end product, you’ll need to determine the method of procuring all necessary resources. As an example, a product may require a combination of materials you can buy off the shelf, plus other materials manufactured to custom specifications.

Additional Notes

Custom products may require more information during the production process. If you need to include this information, a notes section on the form could give ample space for additional details. For example, you might use the notes section to list alternative material specifications or suppliers if manufacturers cannot source or otherwise use the original options.

Create Helpful BOMs and Other Mobile Forms With GoCanvas

Do you want to put together bills of materials using simplified mobile forms? GoCanvas offers a bill of materials app that staff can easily access using their mobile devices. You can easily generate your BOM and save it electronically. This enables efficient production tracking of all components when manufacturing custom products. Using this app, you can track all parts, quantities, sales order entry details, and more to keep your teams consistently on track and on time. For more information about this app as well as other templates for online order forms that your business can use, request a GoCanvas demo today or try our platform for free.

About GoCanvas

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

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How Digital Forms Solve Problems Beyond Predictive Maintenance

Posted on December 22, 2022November 22, 2024 by Danny Kanev

How Digital Forms Solve Problems Beyond Predictive Maintenance

Many businesses spend a lot of money on predictive maintenance to avoid potential issues. However, predictive maintenance alone won’t cover all maintenance requirements. You also need to account for unpredictable maintenance. This could include equipment that experiences unexpected issues along with other potential problems. You must be able to address these before they develop into bigger issues, making it necessary to focus as much on emergency maintenance as you do on predictive maintenance. If you need a way to meet both predictive and emergency maintenance needs, one of the best solutions is to digitize all maintenance forms and route them efficiently.

The Importance of Maintenance Digital Forms

Top players across a wide range of industries have used a variety of digital tools for maintenance, such as templates, mobile apps, and asset management. These tools have helped with a number of tasks, helping to minimize the risk of unplanned outages while dramatically increasing the productivity of maintenance labor. By using the right tools, companies have been able to increase availability and their employees’ efficiency, leading to a 4% to 10% increase in profitability for some businesses, according to a McKinsey report.

Generally, as McKinsey has shown, digitized maintenance solutions and new technology have the ability to reduce costs by as much as 15% to 30%. To get the most from your digitization efforts, it’s important to know how to go about them. One effective approach to take is to digitize your maintenance forms, which can optimize efficiency in several ways.

Optimizing Predictive and Emergency Maintenance with Digital Forms

Wondering what specific benefits digitized forms can have on both predictive and emergency maintenance? The following are some of the key advantages of implementing a digital solution and going paperless.

Save Time on Searching for Forms

Employees may spend a lot of time looking for physical paper forms, which could cost you precious time in the event of an emergency. Using a digital automation system, you would be able to instantly provide field workers with the forms they need to ensure that tasks get done quickly.

The right system will help you navigate all forms and transfer them to field workers and others as needed. This will help prevent the problem from getting even bigger.

Simplify All Maintenance Tasks

Companies can use digital forms to more efficiently plan and assign maintenance tasks, including predictive maintenance, equipment maintenance, and emergency tasks. In addition to primary forms, you can also develop and send inspection checklists to further simplify the process. Field workers can access all necessary forms remotely and see precisely what they need to do. They can then report their progress through the system to help with the tracking of maintenance tasks.

Instant Generation of Work Orders and Inspection Forms

As soon as you need to put them together and send them out, maintenance forms of all types can enter the system and go to designated staff. You don’t need to spend as much time generating and printing these forms, which could be costly in the event of emergency maintenance requirements. You can also include as many details as you need to with more ease than on paper forms.

Flexible Designs for Forms

To make things even easier for maintenance teams and supervisors, you can include plenty of details in varying form designs. For instance, you might want to include images and labels that help visualize a specific problem with equipment. This would clearly indicate which components require repairs or replacements, which would help get the job done right the first time.

You can also include many details in your forms, such as the date and specific time when the issue developed, tag numbers for equipment, the replacement parts the equipment needs, and the specific location of the equipment.

Record and Analyze Data Entry

If you encounter an unpredicted maintenance issue, it’s important to gather as much data about it to anticipate it in the future. Doing so can help reduce the chance of unexpected problems and grow your list of predictive maintenance tasks. This makes it necessary to record and analyze the details of specific tasks before and after completion. Digitized forms would make it easy to accomplish this, with the ability to generate and put together reports, even while your teams are still in the field. Field workers could include various details and transfer them to supervisors, who can then analyze and store them for later use. This would help make more informed decisions in the future.

Maintain Compliance with Digital Platforms

Digital platforms enable companies to create procedure forms and checklists that adhere to specific regulations and laws. This will help improve overall compliance, increase safety among employees, and generally mitigate risks.

Get the Most from Maintenance Operations with Digital Forms

Digitization is important for every industry today. Regardless of the type of business you run, you likely need to perform various maintenance tasks, making it crucial to digitize these processes. If you want to be on top of both predictive and emergency maintenance, one of the best solutions to implement is digitized forms. With a paperless ecosystem behind your maintenance operations, you’ll be able to save more money, proactively handle maintenance tasks, and increase overall efficiency.

While there are many digitization solutions out there, you need to find the right one for your business. You should look for a tool that offers plenty of features while offering the potential for high ROI.

Improve Your Companies Maintenance Management with GoCanvas

One of the most effective solutions available for businesses across all industries is GoCanvas. Using GoCanvas, you can save more time and money through digital forms. You’ll be able to use this platform to eliminate all paperwork and optimize data collection. You can also use it for much more than maintenance tasks as you make the transition to a paperless environment. GoCanvas can help generate forms, collect data, and facilitate analytics to continually optimize maintenance and much more. For more information about GoCanvas and how this tool can assist with maintenance optimization, connect to an expert and request a demo today. You’ll see what makes our solution among the most reliable for resolving all maintenance issues.

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

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Analytics and Data Collection | Forms | Maintenance Management

Enabling Successful Digital Transformations in the Energy Sector

Posted on December 6, 2022November 22, 2024 by Danny Kanev

Enabling Successful Digital Transformations in the Energy Sector

Whether it is the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, or the United Nations, organizations all agree that mitigating the impact of climate change requires digitalization in the energy sector. Yet, research continues to report digital transformation efforts in business models are failing at a rate of 68% to 73%. Respondents cited failure in leadership and employee resistance as their primary challenges, impacting their return on investment (ROI) for renewable energy.

Removing Inertia from the Energy Sector

The primary obstacle to successful digitization is the extraordinary inertia that plagues the energy sector. Energy companies have unique constraints that feed into the culture of inertia, such as:

Risk. Investing in new energy sources or processes comes with risk. Miscalculations can be expensive, so many companies hesitate before moving into unchartered territories.
Physics. Energy management companies typically avoid violating the law of physics, because the process is always costly and rarely successful. They’ve grown to accept constraint.
Engineer driven approaches. Engineers are great at incorporating automation and data by finding the best solution within a set of parameters of machine learning. Unfortunately, many are focused on the perfect solution, which may not fit with business objectives.
Long tenures. Company executives often come from the ranks of the energy industry. They understand the physical constraints, the high risks, and the engineers’ thought processes. They are comfortable with how the sector operates.

These four characteristics create a culture that carefully weighs financial risks, loves Gantt charts, and favors a slow and meticulous implementation of sustainability.

Digital Transformation in the Energy Sector

Digital transformations require technology, but they shouldn’t be the focus. Whether artificial intelligence or data collection, the objective should focus on business outcomes. With a clear business objective, the project value can be assessed.

Take, for example, an energy company that has a documented process for transformer maintenance. The process involves a series of paper-based checklists detailing what actions should be taken on a daily, monthly, bi-annual and annual basis.

With GoCanvas, the process can be digitized to reduce downtime and optimize labor costs, improve efficiencies, and save money. All checklists would be converted to online forms that could be accessed from a smartphone or a desktop. Because the digital form would include what maintenance was performed when the field crew would know exactly what tools or service items to bring with them.

Each form or checklist would include:

Transformer number
Transformer location
Date of last service
Type of service

The transformer location could include a link to Google maps to help crews plan their day. When the crew finishes servicing a transformer, they complete the checklist, indicating the transformer number, location, and the date and type of service. They save the checklist and upload it for access by other programs or people.

Measuring Predictive Maintenance Outcomes for Your New Business Model

Digitizing the process eliminates the labor required to copy and distribute checklists, freeing administrative staff to perform more valuable tasks. Maintenance crews have access to their work order list and individual checklists no matter where the transformer is located. With access to Google maps and new technologies from within the form, maintenance personnel can map out their work schedule. Less travel time is needed because the crew can set their route to avoid retracing steps.

Digitalization allows employees to complete the form while traveling to the next location, meaning less time doing paperwork and more time servicing transformers. If signoffs are required, the checklist can be forwarded for e-signing. When finished, the forms are uploaded for integration into back-office systems. No one needs to return to an office to file paperwork. Selecting a self-enclosed workflow such as transformer maintenance keeps the project small. Outcomes are measured by the number of transformers serviced in a day, month, or week. The time spent copying and distributing hard copies can be quantified, and the cost of copy supplies can be estimated. With outcomes clearly defined, it’s much easier to see the ROI in a digitized solution. With GoCanvas, such projects can be designed, tested, and delivered in minutes.

Building Success by Implementing Digital Forms in the Energy Sector

No matter how small the digital project may be, its success should serve as a stepping stone to the next. As more people experience the positive outcomes of implementing digital forms, the number of projects will increase within the energy market.

With a growing number of successful digital projects, energy companies can disrupt their inertia and start to build a strong foundation for digital transformation. According to McKinsey, energy companies with digital success improved production and yield from 2% to 10% and reduced costs by 10% to 30%. Incremental improvement that scale could be what ensures a company’s survival.

Optimizing the Energy Sector with Digital Solutions

As the energy sector moves toward a more sustainable future, it must embrace digital transformation as part of the process. Integrating digital tools with data and other systems will help the energy sector and gas industry. They’ll improve operating efficiency, energy efficiency workforce effectiveness, energy production, worker safety, service delivery, and scale of transformation in end-to-end procurement and supply chain. For example, creating a decentralized energy framework means developing efficiencies by placing delivery mechanisms closer to the energy source.

However, capturing the data from remote locations needs digital forms so real-time, big data-driven decisions can be made. See how GoCanvas helped a petroleum transport company realize data collection efficiencies across the enterprise.

Transforming the Energy Sector with Digital Technologies

GoCanvas products were designed to help energy providers realize an immediate ROI through the implementation of digital forms and associated workflows. Suddenly the labor-intensive and time-consuming tasks can be handled smoothly. The collected data can be used by other programs to generate valuable insights.

Using GoCanvas enables the energy sector to demonstrate digital successes that can fuel a digital transformation. Whether it is oil, gas, wind, or solar, GoCanvas’s solution provides customizable templates that can collect data from distributed locations. Real-time data can be integrated to deliver insights through data analytics.

The process is simple.

Build the form.
Collect the data.
Share the data.

No programming skills are required. Contact GoCanvas to request a demo to see how to move your digital transformation forward.

About GoCanvas

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

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GoCanvas and Procore: Make Your Tech Work for you

Posted on December 2, 2022November 22, 2024 by Danny Kanev

GoCanvas and Procore: Make Your Tech Work for you

Analytics and Data Collection | Forms | Integrations

Joining Forces To Harness the Power of Data Collection

GoCanvas and Procore have partnered to enable users to get the most from their solutions. Using a combination of GoCanvas and Procore, construction companies can harness the power of comprehensive data collection to keep the office and jobsite connected, all on one platform.

Streamline Your Digital Transformation in Construction

GoCanvas and Procore makes it easy to take full advantage of your data. Optimize data collection and integration with a variety of features and capabilities, including:

More than 30,000 customizable form templates
Mitigation of risks using maintenance, safety, and OSHA forms
Enabling users to search and select reference data with ease
A custom analytics dashboard that allows for combined data viewing
Real-time workflow and approval kickoff
Dispatching to the field with pre-populated data
Sharing form submission data to Procore along with other platforms
Incorporate barcode scanning into any form

By combining GoCanvas and Procore, users can mitigate risk, empower field service staff, reduce cost, and increase visibility.

Solving Pain Points with GoCanvas Data Integration

Procore offers plenty of capabilities that make it easy to manage your construction business. However, data integration through GoCanvas can solve certain pain points that might otherwise hold you back.

Some of these solutions include:

Automatic bi-directional data flow that optimizes both Procore and GoCanvas
Custom analytics dashboard with combined data from both GoCanvas and Procore
Transformation of operations through mobile data capture with flexible form functionality
Intelligent workflows that connect teams

As a result, construction firms can benefit from:

Increased accountability and oversight for improved risk mitigation
Simplification of tasks to help increase overall efficiency while reducing costs
Optimization of service operations and increased technician efficiency

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas is a leading provider of digital forms and solutions that make communication seamless, both in the office and in the field. This digital transformation tool empowers organizations to gather accurate data from the field, even offline, in real-time. In addition, they strive to provide solutions that improve customer efficiency, reduce risks, and make informed decisions. Over 5,000 companies in construction, field services, manufacturing, utilities, and fleet management are building their business using GoCanvas, using their curated and customizable forms.

About Procore

Procore is a mobile project management software that gives both office and field teams the tools they need to connect.

With the help of Procore, companies can effectively manage project budgets with consistently dependable data from the field. This digital transformation tool uses a single platform to assign, log, and address any issues they identify. In addition, Procore makes it easy to streamline billing, collect bids, and distribute information using a central solution.

GoCanvas hopes to enable Procore users to get the most from this solution with enhanced data collection and connectivity.

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