James Frew
“Although the product’s great, it’s actually the people at Simpro that sold us on the software in the first case”
Gordon Mack, Head of Operations
Headquarters
Stevenston, UK
Industry
Plumbing, Electrical and Renewables
Employees
400+
Website
The Quest For Streamlined Operations Leads To Simpro
Running a successful modern trade business demands a lot of things from an owner or operator. It demands patience and strategic thought, but most importantly, it demands that special attention be paid to the infrastructure that ties it all together.
Digital trade business operations can be complex, but Gordon Mack, Head of Operations, and the team at James Frew have turned complexity into streamlined clarity with Simpro. One of the largest privately-owned building services companies in Scotland, James Frew provides integrated property solutions for both the private and public sectors. That’s a broad operational scope, and only software built for complex trade operations would be up to the task of helping the business run better, which is why they chose Simpro. As Gordon says, “Simpro has enabled us to streamline operational effectiveness,” but that’s a broad success metric that warrants further investigation.
Gordon was initially drawn to Simpro’s software by the implementation and customer service teams, “Although the product’s great, it’s actually the people at Simpro that sold us on the software in the first case,” he confirms. With access to a global network of trainers and support staff, James Frew had the assistance they needed to jump right into Simpro’s software tools and start making immediate changes to their operations.
A Growing Workforce, Operating Faster Than Ever
What sets Simpro apart as job management software is its ability to seamlessly integrate with existing processes and workflows while also creating complete visibility of the company's entire operation and customers' journeys. Gordon and the team took full advantage of these strengths when they started using the system, and it has impacted the business positively ever since.
The challenges the team faced when starting with Simpro were largely what you’d expect from a successful trade business: siloed data, no scalability, patchy reporting, and a lack of connectivity between the field and the office.
After picking their battle, James Frew opted to make their initial push into cutting-edge software with a focus on increasing field efficiency without increasing office staffing. Long story short, it was a huge success for the business, with Gordon sharing that “we’ve increased the number of people in the field by 20%”, all without adding any extra administrative staff.
This is possible because of Simpro’s ability to streamline office communication, which increases the effectiveness and speed of work completed by field staff. Getting work done faster and pushing information back to the office quickly and easily has had a big impact on the business, and that’s just the first step of what James Frew has achieved in the world of trade business connectivity.
Futureproofed With Simpro’s Integration Capabilities
Simpro’s software helped facilitate the next stage of the plan for James Frew, and the team saw the software's modern API partnership capabilities as a prime candidate for improving the business’s infrastructure. With Simpro delivering a single source of truth and eliminating the business’s disconnected, siloed data driven approach, it became easy to fit additional software tools around a central operations management platform.
Gordon found this to be one of the deciding factors in why they opted for the software, elaborating that “You’re able to find your own solutions and ask these software providers to work with the API.” Simpro’s API connection also quickly became a measure of quality for Gordon when examining other software products. He says, “If you want me to buy your software, it needs to work with Simpro.”
The willingness to embrace assistive software solutions through Simpro’s API has paid off, with James Frew winning a 10-year contract because of Simpro’s ability to integrate completely with the contract vendor’s existing software systems. It was a huge victory for the business, and Gordon openly admits that “had we been with our existing provider prior to Simpro, we would not have won that work.”
Backed By Superb Supplier Connectivity
James Frew’s infrastructure improvements also extend beyond field efficiency and API connectivity. Gordon and the team are leveraging Simpro’s supplier connection capabilities to improve their operations even further.
Live pricing from City Plumbing has massively increased the turnaround time of purchase orders for the business, with Gordon sharing that Simpro’s purchase order system now means “we’re taking a four or five-minute process down to a one-minute process.”
A 500% increase in purchase order efficiency is nothing short of incredible, and it’s all backed up by a robust set of inventory management tools developed by Simpro Partner, Simplementary, that let the team at James Frew track every detail surrounding stock levels and locations.
Plus, Gordon loves how the supplier integration facilitated through Simplementary and City Plumbing fits so naturally into Simpro’s software, saying, “Inside Simpro, it’s that seamless that you would think the button that says ‘order now’ with City was actually a Simpro function.”
As for how supplier integration has helped the business, Gordon readily shares that the 350 hours of work handling purchase orders every month has been reduced to just 70. That’s a flat 80% decrease and yet another signifier of how much impact a software system like Simpro can have. On the ground, the team feels this increase in efficiency in tangible ways throughout the average workday. For example, Simpro’s Data Feed has completely eliminated manual input in processing order receipts and invoices, considerably increasing the capacity of the finance team. It’s small efficiencies like the Data Feed that keep James Frew investing in Simpro’s software, and the team loves how each new feature they implement has an immediate impact.
Where To Next For The James Frew Team
When the present looks so bright, it can be hard even to consider what the future might hold for James Frew. But the team still have many plans for Simpro.
The team is focused on investing more in Simpro’s Data Feed, and Gordon is excited to see what future updates to the functionality will do to “make it even cleverer.” They’re also actively adding to the infrastructure they’ve built so far, and Gordon happily states that he expects even more seamless feature and functionality integrations in the next six to twelve months.
These kinds of goals are possible because Gordon and the team at James Frew have a digital system that they can rely on. Their ongoing relationship with Simpro’s software is destined for success, and each will play its part in that success. Simpro’s software will continue to grow and support Gordon and the team in their future endeavors. Meanwhile, James Frew will continue to showcase how an efficiency-driven trade business can master its operations with a software partnership built on trust and transparency.
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