The transformation of a traditional enterprise into an e-business

Background

Bridgewater Autobody, Inc. (BAB) is a leader in the collision repair industry. Founded in 1969, BAB has been setting the standard for customer service and quality workmanship for more than 30 years. BAB relied on business processes that were both paper- and people-intensive. The owners recognized that in order to continue to expand beyond their four locations, they would need an integrated, enterprise-wide solution with efficient processes built in. Bridgewater Autobody was ready to become an e-business and asked Verascend to lead that transformation.

Objectives

Our goal was to develop a new time management system for the auto body technicians. This system would require less time to punch onto and off of repair jobs, and would also greatly reduce the number of time clock corrections required of administrative personnel, thus simplifying the payroll process. Additionally, Verascend proposed developing a reporting system to provide all of the necessary information about repairs and their associated labor, parts, and materials cost.

Solution

We worked closely with BAB to understand their business processes and exactly where efficiencies could be realized. Verascend designed and built a time management system that not only reduced the amount of time it takes to punch onto and off of repair jobs, but also provides technicians with pertinent information about time spent on tasks and accrued paid time. The system is a browser-based touch screen application that uses XML data objects in the client's browser to reduce network traffic and provide a fast response time.

We also built administrative and reporting components that allow management to monitor repair jobs and associated gross profits, which are also browser-based. Both systems run on the BAB intranet.

Verascend’s solution produced a 100% return on investment in only 17 weeks.

Before the system was installed, it took 30 seconds to make a single punch on the time clock to sign onto and off of particular jobs. Each technician made about 20 punches per day. Verascend’s custom solution reduced the punch time to 3 seconds, resulting in 9 additional minutes of productivity per day per technician. Across the organization, this resulted in six hours of increased productivity per day, and 30 hours of increased productivity per week.