KAB Solutions is waste and demolition company that services the construction sector. 

They’re using Emvisage workflow automation software to streamline their job tracking, field paperwork and job coordination. 

We completed a deep dive with Kurt Beckett, Director at KAB Solutions, to understand how they use Emvisage to automate and drive their workflow.

How did they start?

KAB had diversified to a range of services including demolition, excavation, rubbish removal trucks, tool hire and labour. A high volume operation, with more than 2,500 jobs a year and growing, director Kurt Beckett and his team were snowed under each day coordinating the work. Using a manual system of spreadsheets, shared calendars and shared drives was holding the business back. It needed a more automated, streamlined way of working. After evaluating many solutions, Kurt chose Emvisage.

Getting the right ‘fit’ with Emvisage

KAB have different field crews running simultaneously each day, across a range of different work types like skip bin trucks for rubbish removal, demolition, tool hire and excavation. Needless to say, there are a lot of moving pieces to coordinate each day, while schedule changes are frequent. The team were struggling to keep up, long hours and high stress levels were the result. 

‘The way that things were entered into the system that I was using. And the guys needing to remember everything to go in -  this tool with this machine, people on site, the order they were going in. It was impossible, it was a full time job to get everything in so at the other end everything came out right for invoicing’

Director Kurt Beckett knew how easy it was for things to be missed or slip through the cracks, costing the company time and money. This along with a need for greater efficiency led to Kurt evaluating a large number of products. ‘I searched around for years to find something that would work. At one stage I nearly gave up. I am so happy now that I didn’t give up. Everything was too open and vague and wasn’t directed at all to my business. They just didn’t grab the information that I needed and the right terminology’. 

With several different work types, each having unique workflow and different data to be captured. It’s understandable why Kurt had a long search across many products, without finding any that would fit the bill. Emvisage’s deep customisation and flexibility is unique, with technology that makes set up fast and feasible. It simply can’t be done with other products, the closest is software custom built from scratch. 

When Kurt first saw Emvisage, he knew it was what they needed – his eternal search was over. With exactly the right ‘fit’ to their business, the results have been game changing,  driving efficiency, accuracy and increasing revenue. As Kurt puts it: 

‘I don’t know how we ran before without Emvisage, it’s been a game changer.’

More efficient job allocation with Emvisage

Like many field service providers, KAB make time commitments to their customers for jobs. These time commitments must be balanced with crew availability, equipment availability while also factoring in the type of truck or bin required for the job. The team at KAB completed job allocation every  afternoon in preparation for the next day. Each day the team also made a series of phone calls to field crews, to get a clear understanding of progress and delays. The live picture was important for KAB, to respond to changes, problems in the field or traffic delays. Together  the job allocation and the job progress calls were taking considerable effort each day. The time needed was just getting bigger and bigger as the business grew. To grow sustainably, KAB needed a more efficient way to work. 

Kurt and his field crews are ’on the go’ almost all the time. Booking jobs on the phone, confirming tip drops, capturing demolition information or running excavator prestarts, it’s why being able to do everything on a mobile phone was so important for KAB. Emvisage worklists are auto filtered to jobs for the day,  a run list field crews can see quickly and clearly on their phones. Mobile friendly reports allow crew leaders to manage the day’s work and respond as it’s unfolding, traffic light reports have replaced the need for phone calls, enabling KAB to make adjustments quickly. ‘That is amazing, the green and red colours for jobs. That changed my life. I glance and know what’s done and not done. A lot of what I do is on the run. I don’t have to click, look through and read. In the past I would have to scroll through it, go through it, check it. In the end I would end up calling the driver. So it’s sped the process up.’

The tailoring of Emvisage to KAB’s workflow has removed the complexity and admin burden from their multi crew, multi work and dynamic work schedule. Job allocation time has been reduced by 69%, while 88% less time is spent on job progress tracking each day.  These two activities alone  have saved Kurt and the team from more than 6 hours of repetitive admin each week. There are less phone calls, no more spreadsheets and a happier team. Kurt describes the impact. 

‘The Job allocation is 100 times better. Now I can come into Emvisage, skim through it for 10 -15 minutes and that is it. It has reduced stress levels and double handling’.

Less errors in the field - more time, more revenue

Prior to Emvisage the system KAB used for capture in the field was prone to human error. It was too easy to miss things, so KAB put in steps in place to check and recheck. This came with an overhead for the business and still items could still slip through the cracks, for KAB missed items meant lost revenue, lost profits. With this in mind, reducing errors was one of the main draw points of Emvisage.  The deep customisation of Emvisage forms ensures KAB field crews capture exactly what is needed for each of their work types. While in-built ‘smarts’  have automated the quality checking for field technicians, reminding them while they are on site to capture evidence, categorise a rubbish type or complete a job.

‘Before my biggest problem was the day sheets not getting filled out correctly. Things were missed or lost and so they didn’t get charged due to human error. Emvisage has almost completely removed the human error. On the first day, Emvisage picked up $600 we would have missed in the past. On the first day.’

The result for KAB has been a double whammy, with 75%  less time spent on quality checking, plus a lift in revenues.  The lift has come from plugging two areas where revenue was ‘leaking’. Firstly, Emvisage makes it’s much harder to miss things in the field, so there are less missed charges.  Secondly, the full history including time stamped photos has meant KAB are getting revenue for jobs that previously were incorrectly disputed and not paid. Before Emvisage it was difficult to prove for example that a bin pick up was not possible because construction materials blocked access. These days it’s no longer a problem for KAB,  one email with the evidence attached dispels any doubt and invoices are promptly paid.. 

KAB’s results - game changing productivity gains

Since partnering with Emvisage, KAB has made some fantastic gains.

88% Reduction in job progress tracking time 

69% Less time on job allocation

75% Time saving on quality checking

Capacity to grow the business

These productivity leaps were due to automation and improved flow of information between operations and field crews. KAB no longer have reservations about how they can handle more growth. Emvisage has simplified the work,  replacing 4 systems into one. Stress levels are down, efficiency is up and Kurt has the confidence to invest in new equipment and grow:

‘I feel now like I have a solid base to build on, to grow more, because of Emvisage.’

Emvisage - game changing workflow automation

If you need to automate your workflow, but it feels impossible or not feasible. It’s worth getting in touch, our technology can be a game changer.

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