Zimmerman Marine Revolutionizes Boat Yard Operations with Inovus Technologies and monday.com
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Key Features
- Comprehensive Boat Yard Management: Zimmerman Marine manages seven boat yards along the East Coast, specializing in boat repair, winterization, and maintenance services.
- Integration with ERP System: The project required integrating monday.com with an older ERP software, PierVantage, which manages customer information, work orders, and invoicing.
- Middleware Solution: Inovus utilized make.com as middleware to connect monday.com with PierVantage, enabling seamless data flow between systems.
A Transformative Journey to Operational Excellence
For nearly 40 years, Zimmerman Marine, a leader in the marine services industry, was a family-owned business. But when Ian Zimmerman took over from his father, he knew he wanted to go in a different direction. Under his leadership, the company became employee-owned and expanded from one boat yard to seven.
While that growth was exciting for everyone involved, they quickly realized that their systems weren’t able to keep up with the increase in staff, logistics, supplies, and more. So the company embarked on a journey to modernize its operations across all seven boat yards along the East Coast.
"We were using a whiteboard with the five days of the week on it, and all of our techs listed, just writing in with dry erase marker one week at a time. We didn’t know when we could take in new work, what projects we were behind on, or if our resources were overbooked or underbooked," said Ian Zimmerman, Yard Manager at Herrington Harbour North, Zimmerman Marine.
The company leadership knew they wanted to keep their traditional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, PierVantage, because of its efficiency with invoicing and resource management. But PierVantage couldn’t do project management or hours tracking, which leadership absolutely needed in order to maintain positive customer relationships and keep a handle on expenses. PierVantage, a web-based program, lacked the API connectivity necessary for modern integrations, which prompted Zimmerman Marine to invest in a custom solution.
To achieve their goals, Zimmerman Marine collaborated with Inovus Technologies, a trusted partner known for its expertise in complex integrations. The project began in the fall of 2022, with the primary objective of providing technicians in the boat yards with real-time access to their workloads via tablets. The solution needed to bridge the gap between PierVantage, the source of truth for customer and work order data, and monday.com, which would handle task assignments and scheduling.
“We chose Inovus Technologies for their flexibility and expertise. Integrating our old ERP system with a modern platform like monday.com was no small feat, but they guided us every step of the way, ensuring the solution met our unique needs,” Ian Zimmerman added.
Key Deliverables
- Real-Time Task Management
- Accurate Time Tracking
- Enhanced Visibility
- Seamless Data Flow
Streamlining Success With No-Code Power
The integration project began with a discovery phase, where Inovus Technologies assessed Zimmerman Marine's existing processes and identified key pain points. The company had been relying on manual processes, such as printing work orders from PierVantage and distributing them to technicians. This method was cumbersome and prone to errors, including lost or damaged paperwork and inaccurate time reporting.
"We were estimating the time it would take to get working on customer boats, but we were really just guessing. So then that time would come, and we wouldn’t actually have technicians ready. Now, with monday.com, I can see all my techs, see what capacity they’re at, how far out they’re booked, and give customers accurate information," Zimmerman explained.
Inovus Technologies proposed a solution that involved developing API endpoints in direct collaboration with PierVantage engineers. The integration was facilitated using make.com, a middleware platform that allowed data to flow seamlessly between PierVantage and monday.com. This approach enabled technicians to access their tasks and update their progress in real-time, directly from the boat yards using tablets.
Making Decision Through Analytics
In addition to streamlining operations, the solution provided Zimmerman Marine with valuable insights through the use of dashboards and reports. Yard managers can now see which technicians were assigned to which tasks, identify bottlenecks, and make informed decisions about resource allocation. The Gantt charts and other visual tools allow for real-time tracking of work progress, ensuring that projects stay on schedule and within budget.
"Before, running a report in PierVantage could take 10 or 15 minutes just to create a report for one boat. Now, in real-time, we can look at every single boat and see if we’re going over budget or need to make a tough phone call to a customer. It’s a huge improvement," Zimmerman shared.
Automation That Transformed The Technician Experience
With the new system in place, technicians no longer have to rely on paper-based work orders. Instead, they can access all necessary information through their tablets, record their hours accurately, and update their progress in real time. This has drastically improved time tracking accuracy while reducing the administrative burden on yard managers, who can now focus on more strategic tasks.
The integration also allows for better handling of complex tasks, such as those requiring multiple technicians or involving yard-wide responsibilities. With monday.com’s flexibility, tasks can be assigned to specific individuals or marked as available for any technician to complete, depending on the nature of the work.
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Implementation
Guidance through six-step process to build their tailored solution.
Analysis & Strategy
Collaborate with stakeholders to assess, identify, and define top priorities and goals, and strategize a framework that promises success.
Discovery & Strategy
Collaborating with MTS to map out a flowchart that included their current processes, identifying inefficiencies and duplicated work. This helped Inovus Technologies define a new business process management model that would eliminate their current manual process.
Building and Testing
Inovus created an automated process improvement framework for end-to-end data collection and calculation. Each aspect of the new process was broken down into the smallest possible component, with Inovus testing each small part then adding them together to make sure they all worked in sequence from start to finish. Each component was demonstrated and tested weekly.
Training
The Inovus team developed in-depth documentation on how to use the new Creatio tools and workflows, training the MTS Tax Specialists to ensure they were proficient in utilizing the tools and workflows that had been built.
Platform
Support from Inovus doesn’t end when a new process is launched. Creatio automatically tracks and checks data submitted, which allows Inovus to quickly address any issues as soon as they occur. Another benefit of Creatio’s low-code workflow management software solution is that bugs are easy to fix as they don’t require users to look through lines of code for an error.
Results
- Working with Inovus improved organization and efficiency in managing complex projects.
- The partnership enhanced client collaboration and satisfaction through shared board views and streamlined feedback processes.
- This project created total centralization of information, documents, and processes in one platform.
With the help of Inovus, KPM was able to use monday.com to improve project organization, efficiency, and client satisfaction.
The Road Ahead
Inovus suggested a phased rollout strategy to slowly introduce the new technology one yard at a time, encouraging early adopters to become champions, providing encouragement to techs who may have been resistant to the change. As a result, Zimmerman Marine is now better equipped to manage its operations, ensuring that technicians can work efficiently and that yard managers have the tools they need to oversee multiple projects simultaneously.
The journey with Inovus Technologies highlights the importance of a tailored approach to integration, one that considers the unique needs and challenges of each client. By combining the power of no-code platforms with expert guidance, Zimmerman Marine has set a new standard for operational excellence in the marine industry.
Take Action
Are you ready to transform your project management processes and achieve unparalleled efficiency and success? Partner with Inovus Technologies and leverage our expertise to streamline your operations, enhance collaboration, and deliver exceptional results. Contact us today to learn how we can support your unique needs and help your business thrive.