The post Foster Coldstores: Case Study appeared first on Okappy.
]]>Coldstores Limited is the market leading British manufacturer of cold rooms and has been operating out of its factory in King’s Lynn, Norfolk since 1968! They also operate internationally installing cold rooms across Europe and further afield. They supply refrigeration equipment to a variety of markets including restaurants, hotels, sporting venues, government run facilities and more.
We spoke to Adam Daniels, Installation Manager at Foster Coldstores to find out how they’re using Okappy.
Basically, we needed something that was going to streamline and tidy up our way of working. When we do installations, we have installation reports which involve getting photographs of bits of paper and signed sheets. But it wasn’t electronic, and it wasn’t how it should be. The approach to our systems needed to be made more professional. We went to a couple of different companies and chose Okappy as the best option that suited our business.
The way we could essentially design our own forms in our own formats. A few of the others didn’t really give us that option. As well as that it was also due to pricing and how it worked within our business, and the subcontractors that we use. Everybody has a mobile phone or smartphone these days. So the app works an absolute treat with how we operate the business and work with our subcontractors.
We have our admin staff logged on and all are able to connect to our subcontractors on the system. The subcontractors don’t have the same level of access that we have in the office to view the forms – they just have the ability to fill it in and send it back. We see that number of people using Okappy growing as we add more forms. It’s getting positive feedback from the installation teams and everybody that’s using it within the office.
It’s basically tidied up how we work. There’s real-time information in terms of when installations are complete. Previously, we would have a paper form that was signed and filled in, and then it would be issued back to the office either by scanning it in through a printer or photographing it in. Obviously, not everybody’s handwriting is legible, especially over a photo. Basically, what Okappy has done is given us a clearer picture of the installations.
When we run an audit, have a customer come to us for any service problem or any Installation Information, the actual form that we have is a lot more professional. We feel confident they’re not going to look at it and go, “What’s this? This doesn’t make any sense to me, this could have been done by anybody!” It’s really tidied up what we do, basically.
To estimate, it would be difficult, but what it has done is definitely save time where the finances are concerned. It’s saved time for various departments.
For example, the finance department now uses the Okappy system as reference for completed jobs. Before, they would phone a supervisor to find out when a job was finished and what the status of the job is, and from there work out the percentage of completion for invoicing and for paying off invoices to the subcontractors. But the information on Okappy reduces these types of phone calls and reduces errors in the process. The time saved from not having to phone people up is massive.
It’s also saved the office time. Especially due to keeping a real-time log of installations – how they’re progressing and when they’re likely to finish. And it’s now become a lot more streamlined for the guys on site due to using the app, and not having to return to the office as much.
We love the networked element of Okappy Portal+. It means that the system doesn’t just work in-house, but also externally along the whole chain of work. This is especially useful in streamlining the way in which we work with our many subcontractors. It’s not only streamlined the operations, but it’s also improved our professional relationship with them.
The job is generated in the office, the individual installation is generated in the office, it goes into a file and then we have basically a labour book. The job is obviously given an allocated installation date. Once that job is allocated to a labour slot, the individual or team doing the installing is then issued the Okappy link to the job. It’s initially done via our admin team in the installations department, they generate it. In the near future, this process will be a lot more automated.
Going digital has meant that we’ve had a lot less contact with customers. Whereas before, you would always run through the installation completion file or commissioning sheet with the customer. As it is now, all this can be done away from site. It can then be digitally issued to the installation team on site. We have less face-to-face interactions which has improved the safety of our workforce.
We have a better file management and better information within the actual individual job files. Basically, it’s just tidied up everything we have.
The only thing that we have found super useful is the radar. It’s really, really good because if you have a phone call from a customer, you can get them some real-time information as to where the individual service engineer, technician or installation team is.
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]]>The post How to Successfully Manage Your Workforce Over The Festive Season appeared first on Okappy.
]]>The festive season is fast approaching, and this year will be a Christmas like no other. Businesses are not only navigating the Covid-19 restrictions, but also figuring out how to best manage the workforce effectively over the holiday.
The season of goodwill and joy can also bring with it a minefield of challenges for managers and directors; from struggling to service demanding clients, to meeting tight deadlines and keeping staff morale high. With the chance for people in the UK to meet with families for the first time in months across a 5 day window, staff holidays and annual leave could present tensions.
Here are our tips for successfully managing your workforce over the festive season:
With more people taking time off, you may need to outsource some of your work to subcontractors. And working with people that you can rely on is crucial. The key here is making the most of your network of trusted stakeholders to hire the right subcontractors. Chances are you have worked with them before, or otherwise you could ask industry contacts for their recommendations.
With Okappy Portal+ you can allocate work to subcontractors at no extra effort or cost. Simply invite them as a connection to the system and send them a job! They can then update the progress of your job as they go; ensuring you are kept in the loop and reducing some of the stress involved in working with someone new.
According to a survey by Accountemps, over a third (35%) of workers reported feeling more stressed during the holiday season. The biggest sources of stress include balancing work duties with holiday events (32%), taking time off and coming back to a heavy workload (23%), and having fewer coworkers to take on some of the duties (18%). Throw Covid-19 in the mix and we could be in for a rough ride.
As managers and department directors, it’s your responsibility to look after your workforce in the best way you can. Celebrate the end of a tough year by giving back and offering people some sort of christmas perk. You could run a competition or a virtual secret santa. A little can go a long way in making people feel valued.
If 2020 hasn’t already highlighted your need for a simple digital workforce management system, then it soon will. Okappy Portal+ will save you time, money and stress. It’s easy-to-use, so you can get up and running in record time. And any short amount of time spent implementing the new system will soon pay back in the amount of time saved in the long run!
“It’s saved me as an individual, around 20-30 hours a week, which is over half my working week! Overall for the company, it’s a lot more than that.” – Kale Grieves, director at Liquid and Gas Ltd
“We have all our clients set-up on the system with all of their contacts. Using Okappy Portal+ means less copying and pasting from one system to another. It’s perfect for us! For anyone that is considering trying out the system, all I have to say is to 100% do it! It saves you so much time!” – Brook Clements, Director at Clemlec Ltd
Give us a call on +44 (0) 207 099 56 98, check out our free trial or request a demo to see Okappy Portal+ in action!
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]]>The post How to Make The Most of Okappy’s Market Network appeared first on Okappy.
]]>You may have a workforce management software that works well within your organisation, but communication difficulties still arise when it comes to a company’s customers and subcontractors. Sound familiar? A Market Network approach to workforce management could be just the solution you’re looking for.
A Market Network is a software-as-a-service tool which allows businesses to create a profile, connect with customers and subcontractors and manage their workflow; not just within their organisation but as they interact with other companies.
Businesses using Market Networks for job management can receive jobs from customers on an online platform as well as add jobs for their employees and subcontractors. Accessible by computer and handheld devices, any jobs put through these systems can be viewed and updated in real time, meaning no duplication of information or having to chase up workers for reports.
Users can also communicate with each other using the integrated instant-messaging system. Connecting in this way helps to ensure that messages are easily retrievable and not lost between emails, texts and forgotten phone calls.
It’s as easy as one, two, three… All you need to do is invite your connections to Okappy. Once they’ve accepted the invite you’ll be able to send and receive jobs to and from your wider network. Everything is streamlined onto one single digital workforce management system – meaning no more duplication, a lot less errors and a lot more time freed up as a result!
“We have all our clients set-up on the system with all of their contacts. Using the Okappy network means less copying and pasting from one system to another. It’s perfect for us! For anyone that is considering trying out the system all I have to say is to 100% do it! It saves you so much time!”
“We’ve got a couple of subcontractors that do work for us, and they’ve also got Okappy. I invited them onto it and told them that this was the way. There’s going to be twelve of them altogether, by the time we are done. These are subcontractors that we’ll be working with quite regularly. The networked element to Okappy helps to streamline what we all do along the chain of work. It basically means we don’t have to duplicate job information between different systems!”
“We have all our main subcontractors on our system that we assign jobs to. At the moment, we haven’t got all the bigger companies involved just yet, because we don’t use them often. Moving forward, if we did start getting a lot of abseiling work, for example, I’d encourage them to start using Okappy as it cuts out the duplication of information between systems.”
“We use Okappy to manage our contractors and subcontractors. This means you can use one system for everyone you deal with along the chain of work, without having to duplicate any of the job information. I’m looking forward to using it more in this way as we expand our network. The difference has been revolutionary. We were definitely apprehensive to approach digitising our systems, but once we started seeing the impact it had, there was no turning back. We’d like to transition to a 100% paperless business in the near future.”
“We’re seeing a lot more collaboration in the industry with the use of multiple subcontractors for any one job. Okappy have a networked approach to job management meaning there is less duplication of information between the companies involved in the work. Using a networked system is great as you can add jobs and send them to your subcontractors and view the latest status of the job as it’s updated.
If you’re a company that values customer satisfaction like we do, then Okappy is great. They really understand that too. You can even invite your customers onto the system and let them add and view their jobs themselves. Okappy are happy to offer demonstrations and training to companies who want to understand the latest way of working, and there’s no pressure to commit to anything straight away. They also offer a lot of help and support in different formats including video tutorials on their YouTube channel, forums and support articles. So you can give yourself a crash course in your own time and in a way that you’re most comfortable with.”
“The impact has been that it saves a considerable amount of time both for us and the clients we work with. Okappy cut out the email train, and has reduced the ‘back-and-forth’ that came with it. We’ve also been relieved of the stress of someone having to sift through them to find certain details and then assign the job. As a company, we communicate with a lot of contacts on a daily basis. We have a big network of people reporting onto Okappy each day including our engineers, contractors, subcontractors and customers. Having a simple platform to put all the information for defect management in one place has made the job much smoother. It just comes through the app and it’s done!”
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]]>The post 5 Ways Housing Associations Can Improve The Way They Work appeared first on Okappy.
]]>Job management for housing associations frequently involves communicating between a number of different stakeholders, such as the management committee, housing officers, finance departments, maintenance officers and various subcontractors. The hierarchical and complex organisational structures often cause delays, as information has to move through a number of different departments.
A survey by Unite the Union found that 62% of the 320 housing association employees said they had experienced work-related stress in the past year, while nearly half felt their workplace was not good for their mental health.
Siobhan Endean, national officer at Unite, said that the findings were “profoundly disturbing” and it was clear that workplace stress was at “epidemic levels” in the housing association workforce. The report also found that 40% of respondents said they did not work for a well-managed organisation, while 42% said they did not feel valued at work.
It’s time things changed. In a world that’s increasingly digital, where remote working is now a normal part of everyday life, housing associations and councils need to act now to address their inefficient working practices , or risk falling out of step with the modern world of work.
So, what steps can you take to improve?
A transparent company culture can impact an entire industry and increase productivity amongst the workforce. According to the Bonusly’s 2019 Engagement and Modern Workplace Report, highly Engaged employees are 2.5x more likely to report working for a transparent organisation than Actively Disengaged employees.
The first steps to transparency are building strong foundations of trust. This means ensuring that your workforce has the right communications and collaboration tools. Outdated communication tools can be a major barrier to transparency. Especially if you’re working across different departments and with a remote workforce, like housing associations often do. Make sure you have an easy and efficient way for the workforce to connect with one another and to share crucial information.
Other things you can do:
When it comes to solving complicated challenges, you never know whether someone else might have a simple solution unless you share. Recognising the successes of the organisation, its departments, and its individuals with everyone can be a major boost to workforce morale.
Another step you can take is making the mental shift from asking “is it absolutely necessary to share this?” to “is it absolutely necessary to conceal this?” It’s as simple as that.
Strong relationships are the foundation of every healthy organisation. They not only improve people’s wellbeing, but also drive workforce engagement, but it doesn’t happen automatically. Cultivating these strong relationships can be especially challenging when there are a number of different departments in the mix, all with varying vested interests.
Building strong relationships in the workforce takes time, effort, and sometimes, dedicated team-building activities which can be done remotely. Research suggests companies should be creating spaces that encourage, and even generate “collisions.” Zoom pub quiz anyone?
Everyone hates being micromanaged. Not only is it ineffective, but it does very little to inspire trust between the various stakeholders. If you hired someone to work for you as an employee or contractor, you should trust them to manage their responsibilities effectively and get the job done!
You can put workforce autonomy into action by allowing people to exercise choice, let go of the 9-5 mentality and create decision-making opportunities. Shift the culture from being held accountable to embracing accountability as people take on and own their initiatives.
The housing association sector is heavily reliant on a network of subcontractors, whether that be for maintenance or whole estate management. Making sure the ties you have with these external parties are as strong as they can be is paramount to the successful running of a housing association. This means making sure communication with these stakeholders is as seamless and easy as possible. We’ll touch on this more in the next step…
We’ve mentioned the importance of ensuring your company has the right communications and collaboration tools. But we bet you don’t know just how life-changing this can be when housing associations get this technology right.
Okappy is a communications and collaborations tool with a difference. It operates as a Market Network, which means that you’re not stuck with having to duplicate the information into another system when you work with external stakeholders.
You can invite contractors, customers and sub-contractors as connections, so you can seamlessly send and receive jobs in real time. This means less information gets lost, less time is spent following up on the status of a job and an overall improved work-life balance for all.
“I now work so many less hours a week. I can actually go on holiday and enjoy myself. I don’t have to be constantly on the phone every minute. It’s made my life so much easier. I don’t know what we’d do without it. Using Okappy is a no brainer!” – Kale Grieves, director at Liquid and Gas Ltd
Even a truly amazing housing association will always be a work in progress, evolving in tandem with your organisation, it’s people and all the stakeholders involved. Our tip? Start with improving your relationships through the use of a digital communications and collaborations tool. It contributes to so many of the factors we discussed above, and is an initiative that’ll make everyone feel good.
To see how easy it can be to implement, check out our free trial or request a demo to see Okappy in action!
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]]>The post Why You Can No Longer Ignore Market Networks In Facilities Management appeared first on Okappy.
]]>2020 has been a tipping point for industries worldwide. As the country went into national lockdown in March, the UK government called for everyone to work from home where they could. Then, as restrictions eased in July, people were encouraged to return to work to kick start the economy by commuting back into city centres. But, with a second wave on the horizon, the government is once again calling people to work from home.
It’s plain to see that without a robust system in place to help you adapt to these shifts, company structures could be at risk of falling apart completely. We take a look at just how far the industry has come and what opportunities lie ahead when it comes to improving the way that we work.
Traditionally job management in the Facilities sector involved lots of paperwork and phone calls. Paper is usually cheap and easy to distribute, but the costs for printers, ink, servicing and storage can add up. There’s also the time spent looking for lost job sheets and chasing clients and engineers for lost information – costing companies valuable time.
Richard Harris, CEO of Okappy argues: “Traditional job management systems are costly for users; the systems are often very time consuming which means disputes can take a long time to resolve; information provided by paper job sheets can be unintelligible and out of step with modern internet society.”
Queue the paperless workplace. Digital systems have been around for a while now. In an increasingly digitised world, there is no need to continue managing jobs with these old and inefficient paper-based processes. When it comes to software, there’s a plethora of options out there – all with varying features on the market that can help companies manage the workforce.
The problem of duplication still proves problematic when it comes to dealing with subcontractors, as each company will have a different software. Clients have a growing expectation that the services will be delivered not only digitally but in real-time; putting more pressure on companies to further streamline their processes. So, how can we further streamline to make sure the FM industry is in the very best position to adapt and work efficiently in the months to come?
While many workforce management softwares work well within a company, communication difficulties still remain when it comes to a company’s customers and subcontractors. Applying a Market Network model to this problem is one very viable solution.
A Market Network is a software-as-a-service tool which allows businesses to create a profile, connect with customers and subcontractors and manage their workflow; not just within their organisation but as they interact with other companies.
Businesses using Market Networks for job management can receive jobs from customers on an online platform as well as add jobs for their employees and subcontractors. Accessible by computer and handheld devices, any jobs put through these systems can be viewed and updated in real time, meaning no duplication of information or having to chase up workers for reports.
Users can also communicate with each other using the integrated instant-messaging system. Connecting in this way helps to ensure that messages are easily retrievable and not lost between emails, texts and forgotten phone calls.
Lockdown has given people time to consider the things they miss by working virtually, especially a lack of ad hoc conversations. The physical office provides a sense of belonging and identity for many people. Although remote working is key to being able to adapt to future challenges, it should not be at the expense of employee well being. However, using a more streamlined system like a market network allows for people to stay connected in a more reliable way, whilst also promoting flexibility and a healthier work-life balance.
Kale Grieve, director at Liquid and Gas Ltd, now use Okappy’s market network and told us how it has also improved his well being.
“Prior to using Okappy’s market network, there was no way I could take time off for a holiday.” He went to say, “When I was off, the whole company was off. When I did take some time off, my phone wouldn’t stop asking for information regarding work and jobs – it was just non stop. But now I can leave that to others, as all the information is on the Okappy system.”
As our world and the workforce continue to rapidly evolve to uncertainties presented by Covid-19, it’s clear that we all need to be using efficient workforce management systems if we’re going to keep up – whether working remotely, in the office or a combination of both. Market Networks prove to provide a viable solution to keep employees, customers, contractors and subcontractors connected, whilst streamlining communications and freeing up valuable time.
Ready to make your life easier with Okappy? Check out our free trial or request a demo to see Okappy in action!
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The post Why You Can No Longer Ignore Market Networks In Facilities Management appeared first on Okappy.
]]>The post Why SAAS Companies Are Emerging as Leaders of New Professional Networks appeared first on Okappy.
]]>Featured in Drain Trader Magazine, issue 262. February 2020
What does a “professional network” look like for you? For many, LinkedIn may come to mind.
LinkedIn was the first of it’s kind to market with it’s model of the professional network effect. Now in its 16th year, LinkedIn has been around longer than Facebook and has outlived its social media peers – Friendster and MySpace. We take a look at it’s successes, it’s shortcomings and what will take its place in the new world of work.
Before LinkedIn, there were CVs, career fairs, networking events and professional organisations. Many of which were cumbersome, elitist or exclusionary. LinkedIn offered up a platform for anyone to make a professional profile and connect with business contacts, recruiters, hiring managers, potential employers and employees.
LinkedIn has maintained an enduring network effect due to a steady stream of students and recent graduates entering the workforce each year. In the past it was normal for individuals to have a job for life, but the last few decades have seen job-hopping and career changes as trends on the rise, therefore increasing the levels of engagement on LinkedIn’s professional network.
The platform’s business model allowed for it to be highly monetizable beyond traditional advertisements, with it’s option to charge job seekers and businesses for a premium subscription to unlock more insights and capabilities.
Creative expression, online influence and extreme optionality manifesting as remote work, calendar flexibility and the freelance economy are redefining the world of work as we know it. Anyone with a Wifi connection, some spare time and a splash of creativity can build just about any type of tech-enabled business. The gig economy is exposing a need for better finance and productivity tools for self-employed workers and companies using subcontractors.
The way individuals present themselves on LinkedIn centres around a digital CV that showcases a snapshot of their professional credentials. However, this format fails to reflect other insights on an individual’s true potential for a job role.
For example perseverance, collaboration skills, “side-hustles” and professional skills developed during spare time. Although LinkedIn has the ability to link to Dribble, Github, Substack, Behance and others, it’s initial CV format is lagging behind the information gained from emerging new platforms where you can share skills and have a thriving community critique your work.
SaaS tools that invest in community are delivering a more enticing and valuable experience for their users. These professional networks have an emphasis on shared interests, peer education and collaboration. Let’s look at some examples:
Dev.to for developers
Girlboss for female business owners
Figma Community for designers
Okappy for field service work
These SaaS tools are able to deliver daily useful information to their users, paving the way as the leaders of new professional networks. Not only do most of these platforms have public facing profiles, but they also have the ability for users to share work in the form of open-source designs, templates and projects. Okappy does this too with it’s editable job-sheet templates and ability to send and receive digital job-sheets with videos and photographs of the work completed.
When the users of these platforms build up their portfolio or profile, grow their following or network and contribute to the community via a forum or community chat, they build a personal track record that opens the doors for new opportunities. Many SaaS companies have seen this trend coming from a distance and have been adapting to towards it. The future of work is one of productivity, collaboration and creativity; where the platforms of everyday work execution are transforming into the new professional networks for industries.
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Okappy is a B2B network that rethinks how companies manage their day-to-day work. While many job management softwares work well within a company, Okappy’s B2B platform aims to share the benefits of improved communication with a company’s customers and subcontractors. Through its Market Network model, Okappy is kickstarting a more fundamental transformation of the way job management is delivered.
Okappy already has thousands of users on its system who are seeing the benefits through reduced paperwork and better management of their jobs. To learn more about how your company can embrace a new type of professional network, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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]]>The post Interview With Kale Grieve: Managing The Workforce appeared first on Okappy.
]]>Liquid and Gas Ltd is a residential maintenance company who cover domestic issues for real estate, including painting, decorating, plumbing, heating, electrical work, gas leak inspection, electrical tests, damp and mould issues, and joinery. For anything that goes wrong inside the property, Liquid and Gas Ltd are the people who go out and tend to the problems. They also do commercial gas related work. We spoke to Kale Grieve, director at Liquid and Gas Ltd, to find out how he’s managing his workforce at the moment.
“At the moment we have about 10 employees and 4-5 subcontractors.”
“Orton at the moment. Then I’ve got offices in Skelmersdale as well.”
“Less than 12 months ago.”
“I was looking for a dispatch software, as we were getting bigger and bigger. I was managing everything myself, which involved getting the work and distributing it to the guys. We were growing and growing, and managing the workload in the way that I was just wasn’t sustainable. I needed a software which could efficiently do it for me, instead of me trying to remember every single job that we had!”
“Do you know what? It was just me which was very very draining! We were using email to send a job through. Sending guys to the job was the easy part, but actually recording what was happening on site was the part that was a challenge. It involved being able to relay that information back to real estate or to a customer. A lot of it was done through memory, or calling the engineers to confirm details. We didn’t have a proper papertrail! But now, we have a digital paper trail with the Okappy app.”
“It’s black and white for us. We wouldn’t be able to function without it now because, obviously, since then we’ve expanded. My business can run without me. Prior to that, there was just no possible way for that to happen – I had to be there. I couldn’t take time off for a holiday. When I was off, the whole company was off. When I did take some time off, my phone wouldn’t stop asking for information regarding work and jobs – it was just non stop. But now I can leave that to others, as all the information is on the Okappy system.”
“Yes, we’ve now got twice as many staff since we started. We’re constantly expanding! The business growth is something that Okappy has aided, but it’s not solely down to Okappy. Okappy has helped us to expand more smoothly due to having a more streamlined process.”
“It’s saved me as an individual, around 20-30 hours a week, which is over half my working week! Overall for the company, it’s a lot more than that.
Before we had Okappy, sometimes all I would do is work and sleep. Now, I have the time to go out on site a lot more – it frees me up a lot more. When I finish work, I finish work. As opposed to “finishing work” and going home to continue working all night. It’s massive for us. Absolutely massive.”
“I’ve never advertised. I have companies call me up about my website and stuff like that, but we don’t need it. We grow through getting positive ratings on feedback from tenants. Now we’ve got Okappy, we’re a lot better with time keeping. We have better access to the details on the site to call them up and let them know if we are going to be delayed. Obviously, the improved reliability has resulted in helping us grow. And I’d certainly say it’s helped us get more contracts and work better within our current contracts.”
“I know my guys like the address capabilities – the way that we can just click on the address and then we’re on our way. And the ability to just click on the phone number and text or call them to say, “Listen, we’re on our way back.” That’s massive for us.
For me, it’s more the ability to have a meeting where I can just switch back and go, “Okay, you went to 13 Tylney Street last week. I’ll get that from the archive and check the work order and job sheets,” which I can then send off to my tenants, customers or the landlord to show them the real state of their property. The landlord may not have seen their property for years, but I can show them the images of what’s going on inside by sending a job sheet with attachments from the job!
I love the job sheet side of it, whereas the guys who are out and about like the instant access to contact details on the map view where you can just click on a button and it directs you which way to go.”
“Well, we’ve got a lot less work just because tenants have prioritized more of their own health than whether the tap’s dripping or that light switch doesn’t work and stuff like that. Obviously, a lot of our guys are furloughed and we’ve been using more subcontractors. We’ve been affected massively from it – it’s just been me and a skeleton crew really. We currently have only one person in the office.”
“Just harder to get money in really! Okappy has 100% helped with the cash flow side of things. Without job sheets, it would be a hard task for me – a lot of invoices would get left unpaid. But with Okappy, we can easily remind them with the job sheet to send the payments through. Without Okappy, we’d probably have less invoices being paid to help us get through this period.”
“We can actually – right now – log every single job on the database. At the click of a button, we can send guys to certain jobs. They can find the job information easily and add important details to the job sheet. I used to spend 30-40 hours a week calling guys to try and get information. But now, it’s all there for me on the app!
I now work so many less hours a week. I can actually go on holiday and enjoy myself. I don’t have to be constantly on the phone every minute. It’s made my life so much easier. I don’t know what we’d do without it. Using Okappy is a no brainer!”
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]]>The post Neet Maintenance’s new way of managing work appeared first on Okappy.
]]>Featured in Drain Trader Magazine, issue 265. May 2020
Neet Maintenance is a company offering a wide range of trades for building projects, including plastering, tiling, carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, landscaping and brickwork. They work with companies like Abby Homes, Linden Homes, and Persimmons, primarily working on new build projects prior to people moving in.
As the company was expanding, they needed to find a better way to manage their workforce and decided to implement Okappy in January 2020. We spoke to Wendy, the Customer Care Administrator for Neet Maintenance, to find out how it’s working for them.
I joined the company at the beginning of January 2020 and the company was operating on a completely paper-based system. They were expanding so we needed to find a system that was compatible with the office and all the guys out in the field. The Office Manager had looked at one or two digital management systems, but they seemed quite complicated.
We do all the new builds and do all the snagging after customers have moved in. It depends on a day-to-day basis how many jobs they give us. We needed a system that could help us handle a sudden influx of jobs. We found Okappy through Google and the system was a lot easier to use. After the free trial, we decided we just needed to implement it!
There are 3 of us in the office, the MD who is out and about all the time, and then we have approximately 30 operatives on site. We mainly use Okappy to manage the maintenance guys who I deal with. We’re taking on even more people in the next few weeks, which will also impact how many people we have on the system.
Due to the amount of extra staff we were taking on, the paper was becoming too hard to handle! We were sending job information back and forth via photos on Whatsapp. Then when they were finishing, they were doing the same back. With regards to the actual worksheets themselves, we were having to chase the guys to get them to bring them back into the office. We don’t have to do any of that now, because they just upload everything to the system straight away!
It’s got to be a good 2 or 3 hours a day overall. We’re just starting to use it on the invoice side as well, and foresee it saving us a lot more time in the future once we’re more used to it. We’re also saving money on printing and paper costs!
Definitely, unless something drastically changes, we won’t be using anything other than Okappy. We’re very happy with the system, as it’s so user friendly. I don’t consider myself to be someone who’s very good with computers, but if I can use it – it’s got to be good!
We cover Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, and are going down to Essex and Hertfordshire. As we’re increasing the workload, the area is increasing! I can see the area we cover growing now we have a more efficient system too.
Just the fact that I can zap all the job information to our workforce straight away! It goes onto their app, and once they’ve completed it, I get everything back again, which enables us to send the photographs and the worksheets back to our clients within 24 hour. Before using Okappy, it could take up to 3 or 4 weeks to send all the information back, depending on when the guys could get back into the office!
Just go for it! It’s like anything – it’s trial and error, but because it’s so user friendly, it doesn’t take you long to get the hang of it. It makes your life easy, especially when you’ve got a mobile workforce, because the ease of getting the information back and forth is really quick!
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]]>The post 5 Ways to Minimise Costs in the Drainage Industry appeared first on Okappy.
]]>Featured in Drain Trader Magazine, issue 260. December 2019
One of the most common reasons for business failures is cash flow problems. Cash flow problems are most often caused by a failure to control costs.
There are many factors that affect controlling costs in business. For example, quiet patches, unnecessary expenditures, poor waste management and cost inefficiencies. Sometimes identifying these inefficiencies can be obvious. But this is not always the case, and it will often need a more thorough investigation.
When making cost minimising decisions it’s important to:
Here are 5 key areas drainage companies need to address when minimising costs:
It’s common for companies to be reluctant to change their suppliers because they’ve built up a sense of obligation and loyalty. Long-lasting relationships are worth protecting, but it may be an unnecessary expense for your business.
Re-evaluate your suppliers and assess whether you could be getting better value for your money elsewhere.
If you communicate to them your intentions to cut costs, they may offer you a better deal to keep your custom. If not, research alternatives without burning any bridges.
This includes also the external companies you outsource workers from. Are they reputable? Are they all properly certified? If not, they could be losing you valuable clients.
The drainage industry is affected by external factors such as location, weather conditions and holidays. Keeping track of the number and type of service requests will enable you to make forecasts as you approach different times of the year.
Cold weather and demand on facilities can cause pipes to burst and periods of heavy rain can cause basement flooding. Keeping track of the busy periods can allow you to plan in advance. Likewise for quieter seasons; you can scale back your costs where possible.
Make it part of your business strategy to create a cost cutting plan. Every month audit your expenses and assess what has been a worthwhile spend or not.
Many things impact upon costings including fluctuations in supply and demand, the state of the economy and new technologies. Implementing a consistent review of financials will allow month-over-month comparisons, and year-over-year comparisons. You’ll be able to spot seasonal trends, predict future profits or losses over various timeframes, and set new goals.
You will then be in a better position to plan for big expenses in advance and balance out risks. Put in place cost reviews into your business strategy and you will be well on your way to managing and minimising your expenditure.
Maintaining good communication amongst company employees and external stakeholders may not sound like an obvious way to help minimise costs, but according to a Gallup survey, businesses in the top quartile of employee engagement averaged 12% higher profitably.
Good communication in companies contributes towards a high job satisfaction. Maintaining good communication and a culture of transparency will help build trust and confidence in the company. When employees feel listened to, they feel valued and more inclined to perform their tasks well.
When there are workers performing various jobs at multiple locations at any one time it can be difficult to keep track of what is going on. Network technologies like Okappy’s workforce management software improve communication for companies on-the-go. Their location-tracking, real-time messaging and job-adding features ensure that the job gets done as cost-effectively as possible.
Are you utilising time-saving and money-saving softwares to manage jobs? With so many digital systems available, there is no need to be using paper job sheets and invoices.
Manual inventory counts and reporting are not only inefficient, but they also increase the risk of human error. A single error can have a large impact on a companies’ profitability. Traditional management systems take up lots of time and information often getting lost in the process.
Workforce management software like Okappy enables companies to log everything on a database. Instead of hunting for hours in various places for one job sheet, the data for past, present and future jobs is available to access at any point.
Investing in online bookkeeping and accounting software like Xero will allow you to analyse expenditure in no time at all. This will help you identify areas where you need to make cuts to allow your business to be more profitable.
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]]>Featured in Drain Trader Magazine, issue 258. October 2019
Nowadays, digital platforms form the operational foundations for most businesses, but many Drainage companies can admit that the uptake to the digital world has been slow. As a result, broken communication with both employees, customers and subcontractors is holding the industry back and proving a big problem for the smooth-running of day-to-day jobs.
We spoke to three companies to hear what they had to say about their experiences of implementing a digital workforce management platform called Okappy.
“Many companies are apprehensive about using a new system, but once you make the jump you don’t look back. Okappy is a lot easier than you might think. All our engineers picked it up quickly and easily. It also made their lives easier. You can send the job sheet off and the customer gets the report within seconds of doing so. It’s very simple and quite self explanatory.” – Rick Peacock, Director of Basement Pumps.
“We’re seeing a lot more collaboration in the industry with the use of multiple subcontractors for any one job. Okappy have a networked approach to job management meaning there is less duplication of information between the companies involved in the work. Using a networked system is great as you can add jobs and send them to your subcontractors and view the latest status of the job as it’s updated,” says Rick.
“If you’re a company that values customer satisfaction like we do, then Okappy is great. You can even invite your customers onto the system and let them add and view their jobs themselves. Okappy are happy to offer demonstrations and training to companies who want to understand the latest way of working, and there’s no pressure to commit to anything straight away. They also offer a lot of help and support in different formats, including video tutorials on their YouTube channel, forums and support articles. So you can give yourself a crash course in your own time and in a way that you’re most comfortable with!”
“Invoices now go out within minutes, whereas in the past it could take weeks in some cases. Okappy is quick, it’s painless and you can see what everyone is doing. Before, I had to ring people to find out every little detail, but now it’s instant – I’ve got the job sheet the minute the job is finished. I used to struggle to get everything done, but now it’s so easy and I’m out the door when I should be.” – Jane, Office Manager at DMS Ashbourne.
“The system has paid for itself and provided us with more capacity to grow as a business. The quality of what’s going out has improved massively. Customers can see things more clearly and in better detail, especially with the feature of sending photos. Our clients are happier than ever and we’ve received no bad feedback from it – nothing!” – Kelvin Hoad, Director of DMS Ashbourne.
“Onboarding to Okappy’s digital workforce management has probably saved us about 4 or 5 hours a day! In terms of costs we’ve saved, we’re talking thousands and thousands of pounds just through saving the engineers the journey back to the office. I have so much more time now which I am able to focus on growing the business in other ways.” – Mark Robson, director of Maclin Pumps Ltd.
“I wasn’t very technical or good on computers. The thought of transitioning the company operations to a digital system was daunting at first, but once you saw how simple Okappy was I found it quite easy. It actually gave me some more confidence working with computers. It was quite a simple change over – a lot simpler than expected! I think most people are switching over to digital management systems. However, a lot of them are overcomplicated and daunting to look at, while Okappy was simple and made the transition easier,” says Mark.
“Now I don’t see how the company would function without the Okappy workforce management system. I don’t know how any other maintenance firms will stay alive without a digital management system these days! ”
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Systems like Okappy are enabling businesses to maintain quality, improve intercompany relationships and build upon their network. They are empowering whole industries to move forward in the evolving world of work; transforming the way people do jobs for the better.
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