FRAMEMAX
FrameMax looks to NoteVault’s voice-based mobile reporting system to resolve complex reporting and document storage problems.
FrameMax is a recognized expert in the fi eld of light gauge steel frame construction, whose patented technology and computer-driven manufacturing system offers a cost effective alternative to conventional construction methods. FrameMax’s proven record of on-time or even early project completion allows the San Diego based contractor to provide clients with labor cost savings of up to twenty percent when compared to traditional on-site framing methods.
Challenge: FrameMax routinely undertakes large, complex projects requiring precise scheduling and accurate documentation to control costs and help achieve on time completion. Timely posting and dissemination of information is needed to defend against potential liability resulting from unforeseen events such as job site accidents or injuries. Complete, accurate, and easily accessible records can also help resolve disputes arising from oral communications among the parties, including alleged incidents which may or may not have actually occurred.
Further compounding FrameMax’s situation, projects are often located far from their corporate offi ces, making it diffi cult to keep senior management, fi eld staff, and home offi ce administrative personnel, collectively up to date on a job’s progress. A well documented fl ow, or “paper trail”, of complete and accurate information among all parties is essential, but unfortunately can be time-consuming, cumbersome, and all too easily neglected.
Solution: To address their communication and documentation issues, FrameMax began using NoteVault’s voice-based mobile information reporting and document management system on a regular basis. NoteVault allowed FrameMax’s superintendents and other on-site personnel to quickly and easily fi le reports from the fi eld by simply speed-dialing the job’s pre-assigned number on their mobile phone and dictating a voice message, which within a matter of minutes is transcribed by NoteVault, posted to the job fi le, and available to all FrameMax’s authorized NoteVault account users by logging in from any PC.
NoteVault also helped FrameMax coordinate communications between the fi eld and the home offi ce. Through NoteVault, senior management, job site fi eld personnel, and the offi ce administrative staff, were able to easily and effectively communicate with each other, even from distant locations or if otherwise unable to make immediate contact. According to Thad Maynard, FrameMax’s Business Development Manager, “Senior Management, job site personnel and home offi ce administrative staff can now all be on the same page and see both a project’s current status and forecasts from field personnel by referring to NoteVault’s postings.”
NoteVault also proved to be an invaluable tool for documenting unforeseen on-site incidents as they occurred. All job notes, pictures and other data posted to a project fi le can be easily accessed and retrieved through a web browser on any PC. “If asked about an incident two days, two weeks or two months or more down the road, we now have an accurate and readily accessible record of the event” says Maynard. “The ability to call in and immediately record an incident through NoteVault is priceless”.
Results: FrameMax now considers NoteVault to be an essential tool which allows superintendents and fi eld personnel to quickly and accurately provide relevant job information, such as the number panels or joists set, square feet of walls erected, weather conditions, unforeseen job interruptions, and other events directly affecting the project. NoteVault further provides FrameMax with a means to accurately determine actual job labor costs through the monitoring and tracking of assigned duties.
FrameMax now considers NoteVault to be a valuable contractor’s tool. “NoteVault’s ability to receive, transcribe, document and store communications directly from the fi eld, have made it an integral part of FrameMax’s Project Management program. The benefi ts we derive from NoteVault more than pay for the services we receive” concludes Maynard.
Business Lesson Learned
- NoteVault provides a simple, quick and accurate means of documenting a job’s progress from groundbreaking through completion
- NoteVault provides a secure, effi cient and economical means of submitting, documenting, managing and storing vital project information
- NoteVault is a valuable contractor’s tool which provides faster, easier and better job documentation than traditional methods of reporting
Quotable: “NoteVault’s ability to receive, document and store communications directly from the fi eld have made it an integral part of FrameMax’s Project Management program. The benefi ts we derive from NoteVault more than pay for the services we receive.” - Thad Maynard, Business Development Manager, FrameMax, Inc.
