Equipment Rental Fleet Maintenance
The Problem:
A major overseas heavy equipment rental company maintained its vehicle fleet usage and maintenance records on a series of Excel spreadsheets. The process of updating them had become cumbersome and required increasingly difficult coordination among the various departments during a busy work day. Information arrived late to headquarters which was located many miles away. Data entry resulted in numerous errors due to the large number of people entering the same information in multiple places.

The Solution:
After a number of hours consulting on their management requirements and information flow processes we designed a new solution that could be implemented in QuickBase to replace the Excel workbooks with a single, integrated workgroup productivity software application with automated reminders and simple data entry. The company also wanted the solution to support administrative people who do not speak English - so we showed the how it could be implemented in languages other than English.


Advertising Sales Support
The Problem:
The advertising sales division of a major global company was looking for a simpler approach to share information internally about the services offered and revenue expectations for their multiple radio and TV station customers. The current information tracking system consisted of a series of spreadsheets that were updated by one admin person who then shared the updated versions with the appropriate managers.

The Solution:
We were able to take their existing spreadsheets and import current data to QuickBase directly from the spreadsheets. After linking the tables in the new application we were able to show them a comprehensive yet easy-to-maintain workgroup productivity software application that would provide far more robust reporting that they were able to obtain and easily share with their existing approach to information tracking.

Hotel Conference Booking and Scheduling
The Problem:
An international company “buys” blocks of hotel rooms for resale to conferences. The company is rapidly growing and is planning to add a large number of staff members in India to manage the company’s booking process for clients. The current booking and reservation tracking system relies on spreadsheets that are centrally updated. In order to expand the company, management must have the ability to see real-time information about the status of bookings and be able to access the information globally.

The Solution:
We spent time with management reviewing their current spreadsheet processes and helped them translate their needs into a design for a new QuickBase workgroup productivity software application that would have simple data entry screens, carefully targeted reporting and global, real-time information retrieval.

Practice Management for a Regional Accounting Firm
The Problem:
A very successful regional accounting firm had a very complex spreadsheet “application” for assigning employees to customer projects and for tracking workgroup progress. They wanted to include the process of qualifying client engagements, maintaining employee lists, tracking hours worked on projects and managing the overall progress of multiple projects. The company was familiar with QuickBase but wanted to have an outside group handle the first stage of application design and development.

The Solution:
We spent time with management to understand their needs and translated their requirements and existing processes into a workgroup productivity software application that they could use to have access to real-time information about the status of projects as well as assigned and unassigned personnel. During the early phase of consulting around requirements we also helped them look down the road at how they might later want to use the same system for tracking new business development – creating a seamless process from lead tracking to project completion and reporting.

Practice Management for an Outplacement Firm
The Problem:
A regional outplacement firm had a cyclical business that relied on outside consultants to provide the majority of consulting services delivered to client companies that wanted the firm to provide outplacement services to terminated employees and eventually a searchable database of resume summaries for recruiters who would access the information through the firm’s website. The firm used spreadsheets to track information about clients and outplacement candidates as well as to track the services that were delivered. Resumes provided by candidates were maintained in a central server without database-style categorization.

The Solution:
We spent time with management reviewing their internal processes and converting their requirements into a central workgroup productivity software application that could be accessed by all of the consultants affiliated with the firm. The system facilitated setup of information about each candidate and designation of which consulting services each would use. The services were assigned to various consultants who would then receive automated notifications of their assignments with a link directly into the database records for them to fill in the results of their work. QuickBase reporting enabled management to track all service delivery and ensure proper coordination. The system also provided a facility for scheduling of office workspace and conference rooms to minimize appointment overlaps.

Private Equity Fund Project Tracking
The Problem:
A private equity fund had made an investment in a company that was remote from the offices of any of the “partners” involved in managing the investment. The investment required that various partners have an active role in various aspects of ongoing operations and coordination was attempted with the use of periodic conference calls. During the calls the partners were assigned projects for follow-up but there was no central solution for project tracking.

The Solution:
We were able to provide the company with a simple workgroup productivity software application that enabled the lead project manager to record assignments during the course of conference calls with the team and use the system’s reporting as the basis for agendas for future calls.

Installer Scheduling for IT Outsourcing Company
The Problem:
A major division of a global IT outsourcing company used a complex series of spreadsheets to determine current availability of installers by date, time and location. The existing system required that project managers log the date, time, location and duration of service calls and match that to availability of permanent employees and contract installers. The system required daily emailing of spreadsheets among various supervisors and compilation of data into a single schedule for action.

The Solution:
Using a relatively complex series of formulas and calculations available in QuickBase we created a single workgroup productivity software application that enabled one-time entry of customer projects and employee availability by supervisors in different locations. The system showed the number of available permanent employees in each region and easily enabled one designated supervisor to oversee transfer of personnel and hiring of part-time contract installers to meet daily shifting demands. The system provided a single site for optimizing installer availability with the goal of reducing wasted man-hours throughout the system.

Workforce Scheduling Optimization for a PR/Marketing Firm
The Problem:
A leading PR/Marketing firm used a complex series of spreadsheets to optimize scheduling of team members to client projects. The system required a six-month forecast that was refined monthly and weekly. The process required managers to schedule meetings with everyone in attendance to ensure that personnel allocations were handled effectively. Managers had no view into the system in real-time as requirements changed. The scheduling caution required by the current system resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in wasted time each year.

The Solution:
We designed a comprehensive workgroup productivity software application for the firm that would enable managers to log into the system to change assignments in real time and view color-coded reports that showed over and under-scheduling of personnel during any month. Managers would be able to make entries without having combined meetings and they anticipated significant manpower scheduling efficiency to result from implementation.

Investment Opportunity Tracking for a Venture/Equity Firm
The Problem:
A growing venture fund had personnel in multiple locations and required a simple workgroup productivity software application that would give managers real time access to comprehensive data on prospective and pending investment opportunities. The firm wanted a single solution that would enable easy tracking of opportunities from the time they are identified through qualification, due diligence, syndication and closing.

The Solution:
We combined CRM and Project Management functionality into a single solution with document management, a discussion forum, issue tracking, client and investment criteria and project stage tracking. The solution positioned the new firm to improve their competitive positioning with respect to prospective investments as well as syndication partners.

Advertising Campaign Management Solution
The Problem:
The advertising group within a major corporation used spreadsheets to handle project management and team assignments for many different types of major marketing campaigns. Senior management wanted to ensure that resources were being allocated in the most efficient possible manner and line managers wanted to have a solution that would enable better team collaboration and timely project execution.

The Solution:
We designed a simple workgroup productivity software application that the marketing teams could use to setup the parameters and templates for project tracking. The system included preset standard lists of project tasks with “standard” task durations. Managers could change the duration of specific tasks which would reset the expected completion dates of future tasks and capture the variation against standard so that management could determine where recurring bottlenecks and delays occurred. The standard reporting capabilities of QuickBase would permit the teams to receive color-coded reports of project status to enable true exception-based management along with reminders of due dates.

Vehicle Maintenance Tracking Solution
The Problem:
A major corporation maintained a fleet of vehicles equipped with numerous sensitive hi-tech monitoring and tracking devices. Unexpected equipment malfunctions required closely-tracked repairs in order to optimize fleet utilization and ensure that service levels were maintained. Current systems depended on spreadsheet entry of details from repair work orders and development of periodic reports so that management could identify recurring systemic problems. The current system did not provide any automated reminders or notifications for people in the chain of repairs and the system required manual creation of project tracking assignments in a separate application for project follow-up.

The Solution:
We designed a simple workgroup productivity software application that combined a number of critical functions into a single integrated solution that enabled timely entry of key data, automated notifications and reminders, specialized standard reporting and easy assignment of personnel for repair follow-up projects.

1031 Real Estate Exchange Software
The Problem:
A firm that specialized in handling 1031 property exchange transactions tracked all of their project information and activities on a combination of contact and calendar management software and spreadsheets as well as saving documents in an unrelated folder on a central server. The company wanted a single, integrated, affordable workgroup productivity software application to manage the entire process.

The Solution:
Combining functionality from CRM and project management systems as well as custom-developed tables for tracking and reporting, we designed a single solution that would afford them the ability to track all transaction-related data as well as to ensure that regulatory compliance requirements were tracked and reported in the system for each transaction.

CRM and Partner Relationship Management Customization
The Problem:
An early-stage product and services company on a limited budget was developing a new customer base that included a wide variety of types of customers – some being direct and others being “partners”. A traditional CRM solution wouldn’t fill the bill, as they wanted to be able to track a variety of categories and relationships, and they wanted to be able to have a single record that could be used for tracking a customer lead from inception all the way through closure and ongoing maintenance of the product/service purchased. The company was running with a lean staff located in various parts of the country. They wanted everyone to be kept apprised of customer status with remote access to the system, and they also wanted to be able to generate mass emails to customers and partners.

The Solution:
We started with an “off-the-shelf” free application from the QuickBase library in order to minimize the client’s total project cost. Based on a series of conversations with the client we developed proposed modifications to incorporate the new categories and to incorporate the complete “lifecycle” tracking of a product/service from initial lead through ongoing maintenance, service and renewal. The system supports a variety of types of “client” and “partner” companies and contacts and will enable complete client “lifecycle” reporting.sd