Turning a custom app into an affordable reality

The Shed Shop deliver custom garden sheds all over the North Island, and came to us looking for advice on finding suitable software to digitise their paper-based processes. Management working from different locations and an expanding business had highlighted risks and inefficiencies in their paper-based system - it was time to step up to something more.

The Problem

While there were off-the-shelf cloud-based ordering systems available that could do the job for The Shed Shop, these systems really offered too much functionality - and a hefty monthly fee, while only needing to use a small portion of the product. There were also limits in our ability to refine the features to exactly what was needed for shed customisation, manufacture and delivery. It became obvious that a custom solution was going to meet The Shed Shop’s needs - and ongoing budget - best. 

What they needed

Using Microsoft’s Power Platform we built a custom solution for their staff to manage all order information and tracking, called Shed HQ.

 Before we implemented the ShedHQ solution, The Shed Shop managed their enquiries and order book manually through paper files and spreadsheets. Order and enquiry forms were filled out by hand, scanned and saved to DropBox, while hard copies were stored at their Tauranga facility. The business owner, James Hawkes, didn’t live in Tauranga, so there was a lot of communication expended just keeping information up to date.

Some considerations:

• Although they had effective processes, as the business grew, the risk (and impact) of paperwork not being updated correctly grew too; they were reliant on staff being diligent in keeping manual files up to date.

• As each shed is different, there can be a lot of communication back and forwards between The Shed Shop and their customers to finalise shed specifications. As specifications could change quite a bit, there was a risk that some chargeable items were being missed off quotes and invoices.

• The Shed Shop deliver sheds all over the North Island and its imperative that deliveries are planned to maximise use of both staff time and delivery vehicles.

• Sheds are manufactured a couple of days before delivery, so production planning is based around delivery schedule. Manually scheduling deliveries involved laying out the paper shed orders, arranging based on location and shed/installation characteristics, and jumping in and out of Google maps to check addresses.

• A lot of their information was Excel spreadsheet based (and still is to an extent) - the launch into a new system needed to be a staggered change rather than a quick all in one replacement.

What we created

We used Microsoft Power Platform to create a company specific app, Shed HQ, which is primarily used to centralise all the ‘paperwork’ that comes with every order - client details, customisations, manufacture schedule, and delivery.

ShedHQ has provided:

• Real-time access to their Order Book from anywhere - no matter where they are, both James and the operations manager are able to view and update shed order data on any device, from the factory floor or out on site.

• Quotes are automatically generated based on the configuration of sheds, reducing the risk of extra features being left off quotes and invoices

• Integration with Xero to create invoices automatically, eliminating the time required to manually invoice.

• A mapped view of the location of shed deliveries - plotting shed orders on a map provides an instant view of where sheds need to be delivered, streamlining the scheduling process, hovering over the mapped pin shows additional details needed to schedule deliveries.

• Detailed statistical reporting on order, production and turnover, at their fingertips.

• History of emails and contact with customers easily accessible within ShedHQ.

• More professional looking correspondence to customers.

• Automated SMS reminders to customers for deliveries.

We are also getting more value out of The Shed Shop’s existing Microsoft 365 subscription -

• Moving off DropBox and onto SharePoint online

• Introducing Microsoft Teams for internal chats and meetings

• Microsoft Planner and To Do for task management

• Visio for Shed drawings

The Shed Shop team are now realising the benefits of how easily the Microsoft products work together.

Where to from here

This is a journey for The Shed Shop. While some of the company’s data is still maintained on Excel spreadsheet, we’ll gradually replace these with new functionality as time goes on. This is ideal for team uptake and buy-in - a step by step approach - build just what they need, get it up and running and add to it over time. This is also an ideal way for businesses to spread development and upgrade costs over time.  

Built low-code using Microsoft’s pre-built components, rather than a bespoke fully coded app, means anyone with Power Platform knowledge could take this project on and add to or alter in time. It’s a great reassurance on how their investment can be future-proofed.

We’re very pleased to have delivered such an effective solution for The Shed Shop. By asking for expert advice, they have maximised the capabilities cloud technology offers them. We’ve built them a custom solution that does just what they need (and only that), yet has the ability to adapt and grow with their business.

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