How A Window Sign Business Saved $40,000 Using FileMaker
HATS OFF TO COLIBRI SOLUTIONS FOR A GREAT SUCCESS STORY. Not to mention a pretty slick FileMaker Go solution that ended up saving their client $40,000. Here’s the situation:
Our display contractors are quite literally our “feet on the street,” and the poster installation process is labor-intensive. Our contractors must work to exacting standards, removing poster displays when campaigns are over, and coordinating all activities with our venue partners (the storefront management). Before we went mobile, our field personnel dragged around clipboards, paper forms and their digital cameras to document the Windowposter displays and create extensive reports for our clients. That’s a lot of baggage – and a lot of paper.
Plus, our contractors had to transfer their digital photos via FTP and send campaign details by email and fax. This required our home office staff to re-key data and manually pair up photos with disparate data coming in from the field. It became pretty clear that we had to bring our operations into the 21st century.
Fast-forward to life with our custom mobile solution, which we’ve dubbed PMD Mobile. With the help of Colibri Solutions, an independent developer, we built it using the FileMaker Platform, which combines database software on the desktop with a mobile app for the iPod touch and iPhone…
As a result, we generate reports in about 80% less time, and the chance of error (from double data entry) has been virtually eliminated. In a matter of minutes, we can create 200-page PDF reports that integrate 500 photos, venue lists, statistics and location maps in a single, easily digestible document. Reports are automatically uploaded to the web, where clients can review them on demand. A bonus: we can generate reports more frequently, keeping our clients totally up to date on the status of their campaigns. PMD Mobile has revolutionized our business.
How cool is that? Check out the rest at the link.
