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About Van Wert Glass Co
Location: Operating across Ohio
Employees: 10 employees
3 in-field technicians
2 office staff
4 construction personnel from an affiliated company, Luginbill Construction
1 business owner
Type of Business Served: Mixed residential and commercial clients, with operations currently split 60% residential and 40% commercial.
Van Wert Glass Co provides a wide range of services, including windows, glass shower doors, mirrors, and doors.
The business also collaborates closely with Luginbill Construction, addressing the glass-related needs for new builds and remodels.
Key Results
2-Day to Near-Insant Quoting Process
Thanks to Glazier's automated fields & pre-defined materials
3.5 Hours Saved Per Week
Previously spent searching for misplaced job measurements.
Improved Order Accuracy
Faster and more accurate input of details for purchase orders
Background to Business Operations
Van Wert Glass Co operations relied on manual, paper-based processes combined with disparate digital tools, including Google Calendar and QuickBooks.
Since these softwares are not specifically for glass businesses like Van Wert Glass Co, the company experienced serious issues with lost paperwork and delayed job execution.
A critical challenge for Van Wert Glass Co, who receives around 230 residential inquiries per month, with high variability in project types.
Handling this volume required a new system for quoting, scheduling, and order management—one that their previous setup could not adequately provide.
Key Business Challenges
Assigning Jobs to Technicians
Van Wert Glass Co needed a reliable process to assign daily jobs to technicians. However, the team relied on Google Calendar and Google Sheets, which were accessible only to office staff.
Office staff manually transcribed schedules into handwritten lists with stops and job details for technicians each day.
Technicians often misplaced these handwritten schedules, leading to wasted time searching for missing information and confusion about job details.
On multiple occasions, office staff would have to re-coordinate and re-issue lost paperwork, delaying projects and frustrating clients.
Taking & Storing Site Measurements
The company also needed to collect and store job-specific measurements accurately.
Measurements were written on paper during site visits and manually filed later.
Frequently, these papers were lost, forcing the team to revisit sites to re-measure. This added significant time and effort, delaying project timelines and impacting customer satisfaction.
“We spend more time looking for that lost paper with the measurement on it than we were out there measuring, actually measuring the stuff. It was always, we were looking for the lost paper and the lost measurements”, added Lindi, the officer manager at Van Wert Glass Co.
Quoting New Projects
Quoting processes were another bottleneck.
Before Glazier, office staff would calculate quotes manually using a calculator and then enter the information into QuickBooks.
This approach was time-consuming, requiring up to two days for more complex projects.
According to the average salary ranges for office managers at glass businesses, time-consuming quoting processes like Van Wert's would cost an additional $512 per project.
Inconsistent formatting and occasional errors further complicated the quoting process, reducing efficiency and professionalism.
Making Purchase Orders
Additionally, the company’s purchase order process was disorganized.
Staff inconsistently labeled orders, often omitting critical details such as material specifications.
Suppliers frequently had to call for clarification, delaying deliveries and increasing administrative workload.
Glazier’s Solutions
Here are some of the Glazier features Van Wert Glass Co set up to take on the above challenges.
1. Scheduling
Glazier centralizes scheduling for managers while simtultaneously making indiviudal schedules and job information accessible to each technician.
Impact: Eliminated Van Wert Glass Co's handwritten schedules while also ensuring technicians always have real-time access to job details.
2. Measurements
Digital entry of job measurements get directly linked to project files.
Impact: Ensures no measurements are lost, reducing the need for Van Wert Glass Co to do repeat site visits or paperwork.
3. Quotes
Glazier calculates quotes instantly using predefined material prices and labor rates. Material prices and labor rates are determined by you.
Impact: Enables Van Wert Glass Co's office staff to provide customers with quotes within minutes of a site visit.
4. Purchase Ordes
Purchase Orders become standardized digital forms with mandatory fields for product specifications.
Impact: Reduces clarification calls to suppliers, expediting the ordering process.
Key Outcomes
1. Operational Efficiency
- Saved 3.5 hours per week previously spent searching for lost paperwork.
- Reduced quoting time from two days to less than five minutes for standard projects.
Lindi said, "I mean, it was probably a couple of days, in reality, probably two days to get a quote around. Whereas now, I mean, all I do is just put in the measurements... I can usually quote the customer almost as they're pulling out of the driveway, in all honesty."
2. Enhanced Productivity
With administrative tasks streamlined, staff now have time to focus on other revenue-generating and quality assurance activities.
For instance, Lindi has taken on responsibilities for a new U-Haul rental service, adding a supplementary income stream.
3. Improved Customer Satisfaction
- Faster quote turnaround times have increased customer trust and satisfaction.
- Accurate scheduling and job details have minimized project delays, improving the overall client experience.
4. Team Adaptability and Satisfaction
The transition to Glazier was smoother than expected, with technicians quickly adapting to the app’s features.
The ability to access job details and attach photos to project files has significantly improved their efficiency in the field.
Conclusion
Glazier has revolutionized Van Wert Glass Co's operations, enabling the team to overcome longstanding inefficiencies and achieve new levels of productivity.
By centralizing scheduling, quoting, and order management in a single platform, the business has streamlined its processes and freed up valuable time for strategic growth initiatives.
For companies like Van Wert Glass Co, where precision and timeliness are critical, adopting a comprehensive solution like Glazier can be the key to sustained success in an increasingly competitive market.
Book a call with our team to discover your bottlenecks, and how Glazier can fix them today.