HD improves processes saving time and reducing errors while establishing a
long-term vision for continued improvements.
Hunter Davisson had a problem. When a client proposal needed to be
located, it often required checking multiple shared network drives and sometimes
individual PC's. So when one of the sales guys was on vacation, and a
prospect from a prominent company who had received a proposal called to get
updated numbers, the resulting scramble to find the latest version of the
document was all it took for Dave Wright, CIO to say "enough is enough."
Dave investigated quite a few potential solutions, everything from full-blown
document management systems to simple changes to corporate document storage
policy.
Enter Netropole
So, after the decision to leverage Microsoft technology, Dave started looking
in the local community for someone who could help craft a solution. After
spending some time with the Netropole team, Dave felt comfortable that Netropole
would be a good long-term partner, whether an off-the-shelf application like
SharePoint would ultimately be used, or if a custom .Net solution would be best.
After a thorough analysis of his requirements, it was determined that SharePoint
would provide the best bang for his buck.
Project objectives all pointed to gains in efficiency for the organization
The project objectives included:
- Central document repository where all corporate documents
(proposals, price quotes, work-orders, drawings, etc) would reside.
Documents would be easy to find and not require specific knowledge of what
folder they are stored in.
- Automate manual forms - as a leading HVAC design,
manufacture and build shop, HD had numerous forms that needed to be
completed manually for many steps in various processes.
- Improve internal processes to improve efficiency.
After a technician would complete work at a client site, a manually
completed form would need to be routed to 5 or 6 department managers before
that job could be entered into the accounting system. Not only is this
process time consuming, if a question arose about this job prior to the
routing being completed, there was no easy way to track it down.
SharePoint (with InfoPath) to the rescue
The project has successfully met all of the objectives and then some!
All documents are now stored in the Hunter Davisson "Knowledge Base" and
employees no longer need to know exactly where to look thanks to SharePoint's
powerful search capability (think Google). In fact, for standard documents
like a sales quote, the platform will automatically open a Microsoft Word
template that prompts the user to enter specific "meta-data" (could be client
name, sales quote number, etc) that can later be used to search against.
When the document is saved, it automatically gets stored in the correct location
and is indexed for speedy search results.
Microsoft InfoPath was used to create electronic versions of the paper based
forms. In addition to making them electronic versions, we went a step
further and are pulling key client data from HD's accounting system to populate
this information electronically as well. For instance, when an engineer
needed to fill out a form to order a part for a client, they would need to
manually write out the client name and address information. Now, they
simply choose the client data dropdown on the electronic form and choose the
correct client. No more errors due to poor handwriting, and time is saved
with this improved user interface.
The various forms that need multiple managers review can now be "sent"
electronically. Actually they are not sent at all, but simply stored in
the knowledge base. The next manager who needs to review the form receives
a notification that their attention is needed. The system indicates where
the approval process is and/or where it is stuck - no more lost forms!
The next phase of this project will be to fully automate the field engineers.
With a tablet PC or similar device, they too will be able to leverage the
electronic forms and eliminate the need to be on a rooftop trying to complete a
form in the rain.
