This past week we took a tour of new customers to introduce the Idencia system and discuss ways we can help them with their precast productivity. We always ask about the things that aggravate them most in managing their operations so that we can continue to improve upon Idencia in ways that solve real operating problems. Their answers were remarkably consistent and all indicated that their frustrations are growing as they get busier. Here are the top four.
1. Inventory management
Frustration 1(a): Quarterly (or monthly) inventory counts consume a lot of time that doesn't contribute to selling more product. The most commonly asked question was: "Is there a way I can track my products during production and then import the information to my accounting software?" (The answer is yes.) Frustration 1(b): We often spend too much time locating a custom product in the yard after it has cured. (They love our inventory tracking feature.)
2. Shipping issues
This doesn't happen that often but when it does, it's painful. Frustration 2(a): The product is shipped to the wrong place (or the correct place at the wrong time) because it was not identified correctly when loaded on the truck. Frustration 2(b): The product is delivered but the customer loses track of where it is in the laydown yard and asks for another delivery. Frustration 2(c): Customer complains that it was delivered damaged when you know damn well it was in perfect condition. (The GPS feature and picture function solve these.)
3. Product status verification
Customer calls asking for product status. Office has to call the plant or yard and ask for an update, then call the customer back. This is one of those pebble-in-the-shoe frustrations. You want to attend to the customer but it gets harder to do the busier you get. (Our customers love the product status feature.)
4. Quality control record-keeping
The QC documentation requirements for precast concrete are very time- and paper-intensive. Most complain that several hours per week are required just for this process. We had one customer say: "I find myself spending too much time on documentation and not enough on actual quality control." (We originally designed Idencia to be a paperless QC system.)
We've researched and written about what DOTs want from their customers to be more productive. In the same way, we'd like to learn more from our market. How can we help you be more productive?
About Idencia
Our purpose at Idencia is to offer infrastructure asset tracking solutions that improve productivity throughout the infrastructure value chain.. to create lean infrastructure. Our subscription offering applies RFID tracking to infrastructure products from the time of manufacture through end-of-life. As a cloud-hosted product tracking system that is seamless between manufacturers, contractors and asset managers, Idencia adds information value to all, eliminates redundancy and saves time. If you would like to learn how Idencia can help your company, we invite you to download a copy of our Idencia Primer ebook.
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