Paper orders, and a lot of double handling
Before Factory, the shop ran on paper. Orders were drawn up by hand, and the same job got handled over and over between the office and the workshop.
The office team fielded enquiries, answered the phones, drew up the purchase orders, then walked them out to the workshop by hand. Keeping the dockets moving meant constant trips between the office and the floor, and the days stretched out because of it.
One place for the whole order
With Factory, the work order, invoicing, contacts and customer updates all live in one place, and the pricing is built in. What used to take three separate documents to service a job now takes two.
No more scanning documents by hand for invoicing and filing, and no more walking paper between the office and the workshop.
"Factory allows me to create a work order, generate invoices, schedule deliveries, manage contacts, and notify customers all in one place."
Time back on every order
Servicing a job dropped from three documents to two, and the team is saving roughly two to three minutes on every order they create. Asked if they would go back to the old way, Kristie just shook her head.
"It has saved us a lot of time. We were very happy we could get everything done in one place, with the pricing built in."
Newcastle sheet metal since 1995
Academy Sheetmetal is a steel fabrication and metal laser cutting business in Newcastle, run by Greg and Josh Marks. The shop serves domestic, commercial and construction clients across the Central Coast, Hunter and Sydney.
The work spans sheet metal, roofing, guttering, custom fabrication, water tanks, flashing, fascia and laser cutting, backed by an environmentally minded approach to manufacturing.
Everything in one place, finally
The team had been juggling separate tools for accounting, laser, drawing and messaging, and were on the lookout for an easier way to work. When Factory came along with everything in one place and the pricing built in, the choice was easy.
Too big for spreadsheets, too small for an ERP - the gap Factory is built for.
Day to day
Generate work orders, raise invoices and manage contacts in one place.
Keep the office and workshop in sync when a work order comes in or changes.
Schedule deliveries without a separate spreadsheet.
Notify customers automatically when an order is ready.