A digital transformation project, introducing a single, connected, cloud-based system.

Company Introduction

Drayton Beaumont Services is a leading mechanical and electrical engineering firm based in Stoke-on-Trent. Their services not only include high quality build services, but also additional value add services around design and development. This ensures that their customers get excellent return on investment and are often able to reduce budgets while maintaining outstanding quality.

Drayton Beaumont Services, like many organisations involved in the construction industry, had relied on paper-based solutions for writing purchase orders and were receiving timesheets from contractors in many different ways. This lack of consistency and reliance on paper solutions had meant that there was difficulty in verifying data, delays in placing orders, as well as data entry in multiple systems.

Strategy 365 were engaged to initially create a replacement for the paper-based purchase ordering system, however this has expanded out into almost every aspect of the business.

Solution Components

Solution Size

23 Users

Drayton Beaumont Group

Company Name

Drayton Beaumont Services

Website

www.draytonbeaumontservices.com

Company Size

100+ staff

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Project Summary

The initial phase of the project was to replace existing paper-based purchase orders (written out by contracts managers and sent to the supplier and finance teams manually) with an electronic equivalent. Power Apps were identified as being an ideal solution for this as leveraging the power of the Common Data Service, workflow engine and Power Automate, a large amount of automation and data checks could take place.

In addition to data being captured, checks are put in place to ensure that overspends are not allowed without prior approval, and an approval process for high value purchase orders has been put in place. This can take place in an office, on a construction site, or while travelling by public transport. Once purchase orders have been approved, they are sent out to the supplier by PDF automatically, again reducing the amount of manual intervention.

Once this was implemented, the next key requirement was around automating the process by which sub-contractors and agency staff were paid. While the initial phase of the Power Apps solution was implemented, Drayton Beaumont Services moved to a cloud-based time clocking system for their site workers. A custom integration was built and data from this is recorded into the Common Data Service daily. From this, automated checks around missing time entries, and automated creation of purchase orders for services rendered have been created. By reducing the need for human intervention, Strategy 365 have enabled Drayton Beaumont Services to improve efficiency and reduce errors.

Many other areas of the business have now also been integrated into the platform, including expenses, absence management, health and safety and management of lease equipment.

The key outputs of the systems are a series of Power BI reports that enable Drayton Beaumont Services’ management team to have up to date and responsive reporting tools. These give a detailed break-down of how each project is performing, as well as bringing potential issues to light before they become problematic.

Key Deliverables

  • Model-driven Power Apps solution for office workers
  • Mobile-first access for users on-site and in-transit
  • Integrations to time recording software using plug-ins
  • Key reporting functionality to project stakeholders using Power BI

Benefits

By centralising data into one key system, users have access to a wide range of data in one location. Additionally, by eliminating the need for paper-based solutions, there has been a direct impact on the speed of processes and accuracy of data. By integrating with a cloud-based timesheet solution and automating purchasing from this, errors in data input have been reduced significantly.

As a result of the benefits listed, it is estimated that the company is saving approximately £100,000 per year.

By working with Strategy 365 building a system that is highly automated and tailored to our business needs, we have significantly increased our turnover without the need to bring on additional staff. Data quality issues have dropped by over 90%, process completion time has improved by over 50% and we now have the technology to allow us to achieve our long-term goals far more quickly than expected. Working with Strategy 365 has been an incredibly positive experience; the team are friendly, listen to our needs and have a deep understanding of the Microsoft cloud ecosystem.

Stephen, Managing Director, Drayton Beaumont Services

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