Staff communication & productivity App differentiates New Plumbing Solutions

The Challenge

Jarryd Brigham, Director of New Plumbing Solutions, was clear about his business from the outset: “We are more than ‘tradies’. We are professionals with a vision to deliver exceptional service to our customers in everything we do”.

And he was determined to stand out in the highly competitive plumbing industry: “Not many plumbers use technology to add value to client delivery. I like IT, I get it and what it can do for us,” he says.

Brigham developed NPS’ processes with great attention to detail. Every field employee had a contract folder in their vehicle telling them exactly what had to happen on each job.

“We needed to convert from paper to digital. There was a disconnect between the office and the field that we had to overcome. To save the team phoning in with questions, we wanted them to have all the current, accurate information at their fingertips,” Jarryd says.

The Solution

CompNow introduced NPS to the Zutak toolset and mobile content delivery platform. “We worked closely with CompNow and they proved to me its advantages for SMBs: Zutak is well designed and easy to navigate; with no coding skills or software development experience required; and it’s completely affordable,” Jarryd says.

With CompNow’s training program Jarryd was able to run with Zutak and design NPS’ core in-house App, including its user interface and user experience. Jarryd was also able to integrate AroFlo, their job management software, directly into the NPS App, giving his team centralised access to all of their job management, scheduling, asset management and inventory management systems.

Zutak provides NPS with full branding control over all elements of the NPS App’s user interface and content. New and old content can easily uploaded and updated in the NPS App from any web browser in real time via the Zutak web admin portal.

Available to all staff via company iPads and iPhones, the NPS App incorporates the latest plumbing regulations, standards, guidelines, safety information and emergency procedures. It houses the contract specific information for each client, and details such as clothing stipulations and customer sensitivities. Administrative elements include staff qualifications, contacts, toolbox minutes and staff leave requests.

Zutak has security and flexibility built in. Its push notification capability sends high alert messages (Total Fire Ban days and severe weather warnings) to all users. Notifications can also be sent to sub groups or an individual. The App has sign in authentication to restrict content to specific users. In another innovative use of Zutak, NPS discreetly pushes the App on to all company managed mobile devices. NPS App is not available on the App store, rather it is internally distributed via the AirWatch mobile device management tool.

The Benefits

The Zutak enabled NPS App has delivered centralised, paperless, fully customisable operations to NPS. This comprehensive tool has created a communication flow that has “been great for productivity as it’s helped reduce calls and brought the office and field closer,” Jarryd says.

The App has “gone a long way in supporting how well we are regarded in the marketplace. One of our key clients rates us as its No. 1 contractor based on job management KPIs. Because we get the right people in the right place at the right time, we can get the job right as per our contract. Our call backs are extremely low. And we’ve never lost a customer, we’ve never re-tendered and not won it back. That’s a good sign,” he says.

Compared to building a custom App with a developer, using Zutak is affordable for SMB budgets. NPS has access to its groundbreaking, bespoke App for an affordable per month cost.

“We have the mindset that IT can drive our business. Our underlying culture and processes were set in the right direction. And so we can be confident that our investments in technology will really work for us and our customers,” Jarryd says.