Saving Art Systems 114-days and £40,000 per year with forms2 – digital forms and no-code apps case study
If you’re considering the forms2 platform for your mobile forms and business apps, ask yourself a couple of questions.
What could your business achieve if you were handed back 114 days a year?
What could you do with £40,000 extra budget per year?
Well, Steve Hawker at Art Systems managed to free up 114 days a year and rescue upwards of £40,000+ in wasted revenue with forms2.
And how did he do it?
By replacing unreliable paper forms with mobile forms. Armed with a no-code data capture app he built himself, using accurate data from mobile forms and a data capture app with mandatory fields and a barcode scanner he built using the forms2 platform.
That he built. Himself. In days.
Read our testimonial from Art Systems and see how you can create lasting change through digital transformation, and build simpler, smarter workflows with forms2 digital forms and no-code data capture apps.
“We saved around £25,000 a year in terms of administration with mobile forms. We now service twice as many calls as we serviced when we started with you. We couldn’t have entered the data, we couldn’t have lived with the challenges if we hadn’t implemented this automation with forms2.”
Steve Hawker, Wholesale Distributor – Art Systems
In our latest no-code data capture apps and digital forms case study, we spoke with Steve Hawker, Managing Director at ArtSystems, the UK’s leading trade distributor in wide-format and 3D print and imaging, about how they achieved some incredible cost savings across their business, reduced warehouse mis-picks, and eradicated the costs of lost returns through the use of forms2 no-code data capture app builder.
Learn how this organisation saved over £40,000 per year and reduced administrative tasks by up to 80% with digital forms and no-code apps.
Digital Forms Case Study Results Summary
The Challenge
ArtSystems, the UK’s leading trade distributor in wide-format and 3D print and imaging, wanted to move away from their paper-based system which was causing headaches. Managing hundreds of thousands of forms led to transcription errors, missed information, and reporting delays. These issues caused delays in customer notifications and significant financial losses due to warehouse mis-picks and lost returns. They needed accurate, real-time reporting and efficient data management, yesterday!
The Solution
The team at forms2 provided an easy to use no-code data capture app platform, enabling ArtSystems to replace paper forms with digital forms. The new system mandated complete data entry, eliminating transcription errors and missing information that engineers had to fill out. Returns could also be tracked. Steve Hawker, Managing Director, built and customised digital forms tailored to their needs, ensuring real-time data integration in their warehouse and stock and secure cloud storage. The platform’s flexibility integrated with their back-office systems so they could track everything.
The Results
The implementation of forms2 no-code app platform saved ArtSystems £40,000 per year and helped them reduce workload by 114 days a year. The new system eradicated warehouse picking errors, reduced lost returns, and improved customer communication with almost instant reporting. The data entry via digital forms streamlined operations, saving around 7.5 hours a day in admin tasks across the business.
For more information, download the digital forms and no-code apps case study HERE.
Digital Forms Case Study Results Expanded
The Challenge
ArtSystems, the UK’s leading trade distributor in wide-format and 3D print and imaging, were struggling with an inefficient paper-based system. They were getting reporting inefficiencies in the field because of incorrectly filled out paper forms causing headaches in the back office as well as mis-picks in the warehouse. The cost of returned items getting lost by couriers was also leaving them to foot the bill, sometimes in the tens of thousands. Inaccuracies due to paper forms were costing his business time and money.
Steve Hawker, Managing Director at ArtSystems, noted, “We were getting transcription errors and having problems reading the engineers’ handwriting. Important fields were missed, and customers weren’t being kept informed of next actions.”
Using paper forms for data capture and reporting was causing new faults to stack up without the service team being notified, resulting in duplicated work and operational delays.
Warehouse mis-picks and lost returns through couriers added to the loss of money, sometimes costing the company tens of thousands of pounds.
“Most people pick manually in smaller warehouses, and very few people implement warehouse picks properly. On occasion, the warehouse was picking the wrong machine. It looked like it was a very similar product, but there might be a £2,000 – £3,000 difference in cost, and the team was shipping out the wrong item,”
The right information wasn’t being recorded on service callouts, and the need for accurate, real-time reporting and efficient data management was evident to ensure exceptional service and reduce costs.
The Solution
With our platform specialists’ help, ArtSystems implemented the forms2 platform, transitioning from outdated paper forms to streamlined mobile no-code apps and digital forms in two phases.
Phase 1: Initial Setup and Integration
- Implementation of the forms2mobile platform to replace paper forms with digital forms.
- Development of a basic service report that integrates directly with back office systems, allowing for real-time data submission from field teams.
- Introduction of mandatory fields in the mobile forms to ensure complete and accurate data capture.
Steve started building digital forms with a basic service report, where electronic forms integrated seamlessly with their back office systems. This allowed for direct data submissions from field teams, significantly reducing errors associated with manual entries.
Making the change from paper to digital forms has its benefits, but this ensured that all necessary information was accurately and completely captured by engineers.
“We had the form sorted fairly quickly. What we realised then was the potential of it… we recognised the need for the parts form.”
Phase 2: Customisation and Expansion
- Development of additional functionalities, such as a barcode scanning app, to ensure accuracy in warehouse operations.
- Complete customisation of digital forms including a parts form
- Scaling of the mobile app to adapt to new business requirements when needed
Steve made some Further customisations, like a barcode scanning app, which was developed to ensure mispicks didn’t happen! They could scale their no-code app whenever they wanted to, as well!
The results
“We saved around £25,000 a year in terms of administration with mobile forms. We now service twice as many calls as we serviced when we started with you. We couldn’t have entered the data, we couldn’t have lived with the challenges if we hadn’t implemented this automation with forms2.”
The switch to mobile forms allowed for real-time data entry and processing like never before, significantly reducing delays in customer communication and reporting. The data capture apps and mobile forms also greatly improved the service level provided to clients.
“We do around 20 to 30 calls a day. So, if on average it took 15 minutes to write up a report, we’ve saved ourselves around 450 minutes a day.”
The direct cost savings were also incredible, with the company saving approximately £40,000 per year from reduced administrative overheads and eliminated costs associated with lost parts and mis-picks.
“We saved at least one additional member of staff on that data entry, which would be about £25,000 a year in terms of administration. And I would say that we, in terms of lost parts, must have saved ourselves between £10-£15,000 a year,”
The use of no-code apps and digital forms also helped with a massive improvement in customer communication. The automated and instant transmission of data ensured that customers received updates within minutes of a service visit, which was great for enhancing their satisfaction and trust.
“Customer communications improved massively. Within 10 minutes of an engineer leaving site, the customer and the reseller will have had detailed communications to say a job had been completed. Or, if the job had not been completed, the details of what we had done so far would be sent and a message would be automatically sent to say the client would be contacted by the office to schedule another call,”
It’s safe to say that the results of implementing forms2 no-code apps and digital forms at ArtSystems were transformational, We’re happy to say that it helped the company set a new standard for operational efficiency and client service within the industry.
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