Andrews Anchors manufactures and services enormous anchors that secure the oil rigs over each well. OSHA requires testing and certification of these anchors every two years, and with tens of thousands of wells in use, Andrews Anchors keeps its crews busy. In a competitive industry, the company differentiates itself among the competition by offering superior and highly responsive service.
One element of that service is new technology that provides customers with online, self-service access to the data they care about. Mindover Software is the business partner behind this technology.
Eliminate Manual Processing
The company has been using Sage 300 for years to effectively manage its accounting and distribution functions. But when it came to tracking its well inspection jobs and the results of those inspections, Andrews Anchors’ operation was decidedly low tech. “I had a paper notebook,” recalls Cathey Reid, vice president of Andrews Anchors. “A notebook where we recorded every job, the results of that job, and whether or not we had invoiced for it. It was a pretty valuable notebook.”
Business boomed, and the notebook grew. Regular well inspections are required by law, so it is imperative for Andrews Anchors to keep secure, reliable records of those inspections and make those records available when needed. Not only was the notebook system inefficient to maintain; Reid says it was too easy to overlook a billing.
“I got so busy I simply couldn’t do it all anymore,” Reid says. “We began looking for ways to streamline, and the area of job management was a prime candidate for streamlining.”
Reid turned to Mindover Software, the company’s Sage 300 business partner, for advice. After analyzing business requirements and workflows, Mindover Software proposed a secure, Web based customer self-service portal, where Andrews Anchors’ customers could log in, request inspections, and review completed inspection results.
Build In Efficiencies
Leveraging the powerful Sage CRM customer relationship management solution that is fully integrated with Sage 300, Mindover Software designed and developed a tailored solution that brings security and efficiency to Andrews Anchors’ job management.
Today, Andrews Anchors’ customers connect to their accounts through the Web site to monitor job status by oil well location and number.
A customer’s online inspection request turns into a work ticket. When printed out the ticket includes all of the details that the crew will need to inspect and service the anchor. “We include a map and driving directions,” Reid says. “There are sometimes hundreds of well sites in a West Texas oil field, and this allows our crew to pinpoint the correct one.”
The crew returns the work ticket annotated with the results of the inspection and that data is fed into Sage CRM to provide a complete history of the service of each well. A graphical dashboard, accessible from the office or job sites, shows all well inspections categorized as: In Progress, Scheduled, or Completed.
“It’s clear, clean, and informative and it allows us to monitor every pending inspection, so we are certain none are overlooked,” says Reid.
Win New Business
Before, Reid was often in the office on weekends updating inspection notes and generating invoices. Even so, invoicing often occurred several days or even weeks after an inspection. When a customer called to see if the inspection had been completed, Reid would have to thumb through the notebook to check. Now, using the online Web portal, customers can print inspection reports that detail recent activity and upcoming inspections from anywhere in the world.
The company’s customers have embraced the system and are giving it high praise. “In fact, our new Web portal was the deciding factor in our win of a very large contract,” says Reid. “The customer chose us over the competition due to our ability to effectively track service records and allow them access to the well reports and history.” Without the technology, Reid says the company would have had to hire additional administrative help to just keep up. “Mindover Software has given us the confidence and the tools to take on more business, knowing we can provide the best service possible for our customers without the need to hire more employees,” explains Reid.
Anchor Your Operations
Sage 300 serves as the backbone of the operation, handling billing, payroll, payables, fixed asset tracking, and financial reporting tasks. “It is the most reliable system I’ve ever worked with,” says Reid. “I cannot recall that we’ve ever had any problems or downtime with Sage 300.”
The integration between Sage 300 and Sage CRM means that customer data residing in the two systems is kept synchronized, eliminating duplicate data entry, and ensuring staff always had access to current information.
“Mindover Software made a point of studying our operations, proposing creative solutions for our biggest challenges, and delivering on those proposals,” concludes Reid. “We’ve never had an unhappy moment. I highly recommend Mindover Software—they are true professionals.”
