about the project

Business requirements

Fire and Acoustic Supplies Ltd (F&AS) is at the forefront of the supply and installation of leading manufacturers’ fire protection and acoustic products. Previous workflow processes were inefficient, cumbersome, and unreliable. chilliapple was briefed to create a mobile app and internal dashboard managing system to improve this process dramatically. Previously, F&AS operatives attended clients’ sites and began by photographing the floorplan drawing, on a digital camera or smartphone. Each installation of a firestop, fire barrier or acoustic barrier is costed according to size. The operative sent measurements for each installation back to the F&AS office, where they were then run through an Excel-based formula to provide the contractor their price for the work. The contractor labelled each installation with a unique code before photographing the finished work.

The photographs were then returned to the office to be uploaded and processed, before they were input into a manually generated report for the client, and an invoice was generated. This process had many potential points of failure, and no standardised system for generating unique codes, tracking earnings and costs, or producing reports.

Our solution

There were many elements of our client’s internal processes that needed digitalizing therefore we proposed a bespoke backend solution that would allow them flexibility and a future-proof system that would not prevent them from adding new features and functionality in an everchanging industry like Fire and Safety. We created a user-friendly Admin section, built in PHP, enabling F&AS management to monitor ongoing jobs, quality of work, costs, and revenue, whilst making client reporting much more straightforward.

The application ensures that data collected is accurate, and consistent, and significantly reduces administrative workload. The app is a hybrid platform supporting both iOS and Android devices. The mobile app overcame the specific challenges faced by F&AS and automated all processes.

The results

F&AS in the past were reliant on spreadsheets for costings and manual reports, which restricted their ability to scale. The app makes it easier for the company to win business and new accounts with increased professionalism and efficiency, not to mention improved security for PDF reports and invoices sitting on an AWS server.

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