From a hybrid software stack to one connected platform.

A hybrid stack that couldn't keep up.

Dusty Fabrications is a metal design and fabrication business specialising in small-to-medium commercial and residential structural steel, custom gates, commercial fit-outs, custom fire pits and stainless pipe and ducting works. Based in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Dusty employs five staff and several sub-contractors and typically has approximately 24 jobs on the go at any one time.

Like many trade businesses, Dusty was using a combination of different software solutions to manage their admin tasks. As they don't have any staff permanently in an office, the hybrid of field service management software that includes quoting, scheduling, purchasing and invoicing had become convoluted. It was time to look for an all-in-one software package that automated and simplified their business management processes.

One platform, configured properly, training included.

When Dusty approached TradiePad for help, the team assessed their business requirements and recommended Ascora — field service management software purpose-built for tradies. Ascora is one of the easiest and fastest systems for everything from scheduling to enquiries, invoicing, and payments. In addition to scheduling, Dusty needed properly configured price lists that could be cross-referenced with Excel spreadsheets for quoting purposes.

As a new company experiencing rapid growth, Dusty recognised that to achieve sustained business growth meant having access to up-to-date, accurate data instead of relying on guesswork. "We knew we needed to get our heads around this in order to sustain the rapid business growth that we have experienced in the last three years," Jeff says. "We knew that moving to Ascora would be a huge stepping stone for us."

"One of the things we realised is that we don't want to have some massive company that just kills us in stress, lets our customers down, and is not run efficiently and effectively. We have developed financial goals and we can achieve them by gaining efficiencies, without bringing on more people. A ten percent efficiency gain across the board improves our bottom line by hundreds of thousands a year — by being ten percent more efficient with Ascora is a major gain for us."

Working less. Making more.

Almost since the beginning of Ascora's implementation, Dusty's staff noticed a significant shift in how the business was operating. Although it's still new and there are areas to be worked on, Dusty has experienced a much more streamlined way of working and the ability to look at the financial health and status of each job.

"We learned that you can't get staff to see the jobs unless you schedule them, so it's forced us to schedule things — and we've seen a huge benefit. Ascora's helped us realise the bottleneck we've got from getting our drawings done and all that to having the workflow for our boys. We've been struggling with that for quite some time and Ascora now makes you see it; it's there in front of you."

"Right now, we have probably seen a 50% increase in our quoting efficiencies because of having the price lists and kits configured in Ascora. Another huge benefit is our ability to understand exactly where we are with job-specific profit margins on an almost instantaneous basis. We're very pleased — it's been money well spent."