We understand change can be difficult to adjust to. Investing in calibration management software can be a big step for businesses of all sizes. It’s a substantial change to day-to-day management, but the benefits can be massive.
There may be signs that something needs to change in your business. Have a look at these 10 signs you should invest in calibration management software.
1. Still using Excel and Paper Job Sheets
While these used to be considered a best practice for management, things have moved on significantly. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, integration between digital business systems and automation was being used by businesses to improve operational efficiency, enhance customer service and drive growth in productivity.
Spreadsheets can be useful for storing information or creating visual representations of data. However, when you have a growing customer base, expanded service offerings, and a growing team then it will get confusing and prone to mistakes.
Adapting your processes to a paperless approach will not only result in more accurate work and fewer mistakes, but it’ll also save your business money in the long run. Having the information from all separate spreadsheets combined into one, easy-to-use, system means the information will be at your fingertips whenever you need it.
2. Clients are Demanding More Reports
We’ve been transitioning into an experienced-based economy for some time now and competition is fiercer than ever. To meet your clients’ needs you need more proof. Traditionally this would be achieved by manually collating data from multiple spreadsheets into the required format. This process is often overly onerous on your admin team and has the potential to contain mistakes.
With calibration management software these pains become a thing of the past. Custom reports can be developed which are created at the click of a button or automatically delivered via email on completion of a task.
By using a web-based client portal your customers can login to view asset details, access reports, check job progress, or find certificates at any time convenient to them and without requiring time from your admin team.
3. Clients Want to Go Paperless
There are many benefits to going paperless and this is fast becoming a must-have for many companies.
- Using too much paper is bad for the environment, so going paperless is a big tick for corporate social responsibility (CSR) for both you and your customers.
- Having a paperless solution will save time by removing the requirement to look for lost paperwork or certificates. It also means any output can be delivered more quickly to your customers.
- Reduce your expenditure on printing, paper, and postage. Depending on the size of your organization this could be a significant saving and a big boost to your bottom line. And this is separate to the cost benefits for increases in productivity.
Post COVID-19, the increasing acceptance of technology and the benefits it brings. There is now almost an expectation that any transaction will involve a digital interaction of some sort. Show your customers you are riding the crest of this wave of innovation.
4. There is a Messy Paper Trail
Having to rely on the manual transfer of paperwork is time-consuming and prone to error.
Engineers can be working away but clients still want their certificates or reports, and this cannot be completed until the paperwork is back in the office.
Often manually produced paperwork contains mistakes or is illegible. The admin team finds this after the engineer has left for the day, or already on route to another job. This leads to a delay in being able to fully complete a job. Delays often compound, leaving you running behind schedule and your customers unhappy.
5. Struggle to Match Invoices to Jobs
Using multiple different systems or processes, with no inter-connectivity makes it difficult to reconcile work completed and parts used against invoices sent.
There is a better way – using a calibration management system will introduce structure and validation, resulting in thorough and consistent records.
6. Regularly Losing Job Sheets or Paperwork
Everyone loses things sometimes but this can become a major problem when important documents go missing. Depending on the lost document this could mean another visit to the site, or services delivered and parts used not being charged for. These kinds of mistakes hit you directly on your bottom line.
A calibration management system will make it easier for your engineers. Their scheduled work will be clear, accurate, and accessible from anywhere. Work carried out will be recorded digitally and almost immediately available to the admin team and your customers. Even better there will be no more excuses like “the dog ate my job sheet”!
7. Client Records are Incomplete
As your customer base grows it can be difficult to keep track of crucial details. Service schedules and prices will differ between customers, as will access restrictions and other details.
A calibration management system will record all pertinent data about your customers, their sites, and assets.
- Your administration team will be prompted where a scheduled visit is due.
- Your engineers will know what is required in advance of a job including test equipment requirements and access restrictions.
- Data only needs to be updated once and is reflected everywhere.
8. You Don’t Know How Much Resource is Used
Not all customers are equal, some will require far more of your resource than others for the same services. When using manual processes it becomes very difficult and onerous to accurately track how much time is used for each job. Often this means you’re reliant on a gut feeling, or out-of-date analysis, to determine how profitable each customer is.
A calibration management system can automatically allocate engineer time to on-site jobs and workshop repairs, with the added ability to record how their other time each day is spent. This allows for productivity reports for engineers and profitability reports for customers, sites, and jobs.
9. Wasting Hours on Job Admin
Drowning in paperwork? Regularly spending up to a whole day typing up certificates after larger jobs? Is work being missed, or worse still, completed but not charged correctly?
Having all your data stored in one centralised system means you spend less time task switching, less time waiting looking for paperwork, less time preparing reports. Even better a calibration management system can integrate with your Accounting and CRM packages to automate actions. Further reducing manual administration and human error.
Stop wasting time on admin and focus on the real work!
10. You Want to Grow Your Business
Growing your business also means growing your management. There will be more customers, more sites, more assets, more engineers. As things pick up any inefficiencies with your current processes, that on their own don’t currently take too long, will be amplified exponentially as you continue to grow.
Once you reach a certain size, not having a calibration management system will pose a significant barrier to further growth. You need to set up a better solution with strong business processes to help streamline your operation. This will be much easier to achieve before you’ve grown to the point that you can’t wait any longer, and it’ll make the growth easier to achieve.
Want to Know More?
For a more in-depth analysis see our whitepaper: Why Automate & Integrate Calibration Management: an Executive Overview to Boost Productivity and Service Levels.
Alternatively, contact us and we’ll be happy to help.