Service · Process Automation
Process automation that pays off.
We find the processes that cost your company time and money and automate them where it makes economic sense. Here is what that looks like in practice, using an example.
Case study
Wendlinger Haustechnik GmbH
A plumbing and heating company in Lower Austria: installation, service and repairs. A healthy business with a full order book and a process that has not grown along with it.
- employees
- 26
- employees
- technicians
- 14
- technicians
- jobs per year
- 3,800
- jobs per year
- annual revenue
- €3.4m
- annual revenue
The company is fictional and the figures are illustrative. The approach is exactly how we run automation projects.
The result up front
- instead of 17 from job to invoice
- 1 day
- instead of 17 from job to invoice
- office work saved per year
- 820 h
- office work saved per year
- additionally billed per year
- + €32,800
- additionally billed per year
- until the investment has paid for itself
- 7 months
- until the investment has paid for itself
The path to the result
Eight steps, from the first conversation to measured success.
Step 01 / 08 · First conversation
A call, no solution yet.
The managing director gets in touch with a sentence we hear often. The office cannot keep up, and invoices go out too late. There is no solution in mind yet, just an uneasy feeling. Exactly right for a first conversation.
What we do
- First conversation on site or by video call
- Targeted questions about processes and bottlenecks
- An honest assessment of whether a closer analysis is worth it
From practice
We do not sell technology in the first conversation. We find out whether there is an economic lever, and say so openly if there is not.
Call notes
First call · 45 min
“The office works through job sheets until late, and invoices still go out too late. At the end of the month, less is left than the work we did.”
Our notes
- Paper job sheets, handed in once a week
- Two office staff, regular overtime
- Industry software in place, with an API
- Hypothesis: materials are not fully billed
Next step: one day of process discovery on site
Step 02 / 08 · Process discovery
Spend a day on site instead of guessing in a meeting room.
We accompany a technician on their jobs and spend a morning sitting next to the office staff. We record every step: who does what, with which tool, how long it takes and where information gets lost. On top of that, we review a sample of 200 job sheets.
What we do
- Process discovery on site, with the people who live the process every day
- Documentation of the current process across all roles and systems
- Analysis of real documents instead of estimates
From practice
The documented process and the lived process are almost never the same. The expensive problems are in the lived one.
-
1
Office
Customer calls, job is noted down
Phone Notepad -
2
Office
Create the job in the industry software
Industry software Media break -
3
Office
Schedule and brief the technician
Excel Phone -
4
Technician
Fill in the job sheet by hand
Paper Materials get forgotten -
5
Technician
Collect sheets, hand them in weekly
Paper Avg. 6 days idle -
6
Office
Type up the job sheet, chase questions
Industry software Phone Media break -
7
Office
Create, print and post the invoice
Industry software Post -
8
Accounting
Monthly export to the tax advisor
CSV file Media break
8 steps · 5 problem spots · avg. 17 days to invoice
Step 03 / 08 · Analysis
Translate the problem into euros.
Observations become numbers. Every job generates around 30 minutes of admin. On average, 17 days pass between the job and the invoice. 9 percent of job sheets are missing materials or working time that never get billed. Across 3,800 jobs, that is around €39,000 in revenue lost unnoticed every year.
What we do
- Time spent and error rate valued in euros
- Prioritisation by economic leverage
- A clear recommendation of what to tackle first, and what not to
From practice
The biggest lever is often not the time saved, but the revenue that has been lost unnoticed so far.
- Writing the job sheet (technician)
- 10 min
- Typing it up (office)
- 8 min
- Chasing questions (office)
- 4 min
- Creating the invoice (office)
- 4 min
- Scheduling (office)
- 4 min
- Total
- 30 min
- from job to invoice
- 17 days
- from job to invoice
- of job sheets incomplete
- 9 %
- of job sheets incomplete
- not billed per year
- ≈ €39,000
- not billed per year
Basis: on-site observation, sample of 200 job sheets, 3,800 jobs per year.
Step 04 / 08 · Concept
The new process, before a single line of code.
Together with the office and two technicians, we design the new process. The technician records the job right at the customer’s, materials come from the item master, the customer signs on the phone. The system drafts the invoice, the office checks and approves it. We deliberately leave scheduling as it is. It works, and a small first step goes live faster.
What we do
- Target process, developed together with everyone involved
- Definition of scope and expected benefit
- Business case as the basis for the decision
From practice
We automate the process, not the chaos. The concept often removes steps that do not need automating at all.
Before
8 steps · 5 problem spots
- 1 Note down the call
- 2 Create the job
- 3 Schedule the technician
- 4 Job sheet by hand
- 5 Hand in sheets weekly
- 6 Type up and chase
- 7 Print and post the invoice
- 8 Export to accounting
After
5 steps · 0 media breaks
-
1
Create and schedule the job
unchanged
-
2
Record the job in the app, customer signs
new
-
3
Invoice draft is created
automatic
-
4
Office checks, approves, sends by email
one click
-
5
Handover to accounting
automatic
Step 05 / 08 · Technology & integrations
Connect existing systems instead of replacing them.
The industry software stays, because the office knows it and it has an API. We add a web app for the technicians and an integration layer that keeps jobs and invoices in sync between the systems. Every decision is recorded along with its reasoning.
What we do
- Technology choices based on your goals, not on trends
- Review and integration of existing interfaces
- Architecture and hosting in the EU
From practice
Introducing new software is expensive and risky. Connecting existing systems cleanly is often the bigger lever, at a fraction of the cost.
Technician app
Web app on the company phones, works offline
encrypted, syncs when online
Integration layer
Sync, audit log, error alerts
-
Industry software
Jobs, customers, items
REST API
-
Invoice delivery
PDF by email to customers
Email
-
Accounting
Handover to the tax advisor
Daily export
Decisions and reasoning
- Web app, not an app store app
- Runs on the existing phones, updates reach everyone instantly.
- Works offline
- Boiler rooms in basements often have no reception.
- Materials by barcode
- Items and prices come straight from the item master.
- Approval by the office
- The invoice is created automatically, control stays with a person.
Step 06 / 08 · Implementation
In short stages, with real data.
We build in three stages of two weeks each. After every stage, management sees working software, not slides. Testing uses real jobs from the industry software, so there are no surprises waiting on launch day.
What we do
- Senior-level development of the app and integrations
- Automated tests and error alerts
- Regular demos of the current state
From practice
An automation is only as good as its behaviour when something goes wrong. Every transfer is logged, every error reaches us immediately.
Three stages of two weeks each
-
Weeks 1–2
Integration with the industry software, syncing jobs, customers and items
-
Weeks 3–4
Technician app: job, working time, materials, signature
-
Weeks 5–6
Invoice draft, approval, tests with real jobs
Step 07 / 08 · Rollout
Bring the team along, then retire the paper.
Two technicians test the app for two weeks on real jobs. Their feedback is built in right away. Then comes a short training for everyone and two weeks of parallel operation, during which we are available every day. From week five, there is no paper job sheet any more.
What we do
- Pilot with selected employees
- Training and support during parallel operation
- Handover with documentation and a fixed point of contact
From practice
The best solution fails if the team does not use it. That is why the people who work with it every day help shape it.
-
Weeks 1–2
Pilot
Two technicians use the app on real jobs.
-
Week 3
Adjustments & training
Pilot feedback implemented, 90 minutes of training for everyone.
-
Weeks 3–4
Parallel operation
App and paper side by side, with daily support from us.
-
From week 5
Paper retired
Every job runs through the app.
Adopted from the pilot
- Larger buttons for working with gloves
- Photo of the rating plate and meter reading
- Recently used materials as quick picks
Step 08 / 08 · Measurement & result
What it achieved, in numbers.
Six months after the rollout, we measure the same figures as in the analysis. The invoice now goes out the day after the job, and materials are fully billed. The office has time for quotes again. Because the baseline was known, the benefit can be proven rather than felt.
What we do
- Measurement against the baseline from the analysis
- Operation, maintenance and further development
- A proposal for the next lever, such as scheduling
From practice
Because we measured beforehand, we can prove afterwards what the solution is worth.
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Job to invoice | 17 days | 1 day |
| Admin per job | 30 min | 11 min |
| Office effort per year | 1,010 h | 190 h |
| Incomplete job reports | 9 % | 1.5 % |
Economics per year
- Office work saved (820 h × €38)
- + €31,200
- Additionally billed services
- + €32,800
- Operation, maintenance, hosting
- − €4,200
- Result per year
- + €59,800
- One-off investment
- €36,000
- Payback
- about 7 months
- In addition, around €61,000 less capital tied up in services not yet billed.
- Not included: 380 hours per year that technicians spend with customers again.
Transferable
Not just for trades.
The pattern is almost always the same. Information is carried by hand from one place to the next, and time and money get lost along the way. Typical starting points:
-
Order intake
Orders from emails and PDFs land in your ERP automatically.
-
Incoming invoices
Documents are recognised, checked, assigned and submitted for approval.
-
Quotes
Quotes are built from templates and price lists in minutes instead of hours.
-
Data sync
Shop, ERP, CRM and accounting stay in sync without double entry.
-
Reporting
Reports that someone compiles by hand every week are ready automatically.
-
Customer communication
Appointment confirmations and reminders go out on their own.
Is your process a good candidate?
If you nod at two or more of these, a conversation is worth it.
- It happens daily or weekly, always following similar rules.
- Data is transferred by hand from one system to the next.
- Errors cost money or your customers’ trust.
- The know-how sits in individual heads and is missing during holidays or sick leave.