A-C Electric Company’s in-house form solution was faced with a few key limitations, notably its dependence on internet connectivity for form completion. This resulted in A-C Electric Company staff having to redo forms whenever an internet connection was lost. Additionally, field personnel were required to complete certain forms on paper, requiring manual phone-in submissions to centralize data.
Leveraging SQL and Data Sources, A-C Electric Company digitized and streamlined their approval workflows, collaboration, and communication. The ability to fill out and complete forms offline empowers field personnel to digitally complete documentation even from remote locations, ensuring real-time access to data and effectively centralizing data management across the entire organization.
Daily Field Report
Various Safety Forms
Job Hazard Analysis (JHAs)
Safety Bulletins
Material and Equipment Requisition Form
Other General Contractor Specific Forms
Founded in 1945, A-C Electric Company is one of the largest electrical contractors in Central California. A-C Electric Company's comprehensive service offerings span from straightforward office additions to complex projects like hospitals, schools, and interstate freeways, as well as automation and systems integration. Their preconstruction team specializes in tailoring solutions for precise electrical and lighting needs, complemented by 24/7 emergency services post-completion.
Before GoFormz, A-C Electric Company was using an in-house form solution. “In construction, there are a lot of different daily and weekly forms that field teams have to fill out and send to a variety of places,” explained Emily Turner, Systems Analyst for A-C Electric Company. “We were using an in-house solution that we developed to solve that problem, but we were running into a lot of issues because it was completely on-premise.” This meant no cloud connectivity, making their documentation entirely reliant on a web app and unsuitable for use on mobile devices. “So we were running into a lot of issues on our remote job sites by not having offline capabilities. It’s important that our teams can complete their work quickly, but that they have access to complete work in remote areas with little to no connectivity,” expressed Turner.
Recognizing a need for optimization, A-C Electric Company began their search for a digital form solution that was cloud-based, provided a mobile experience, and had offline functionality. “Once we found GoFormz, it became very clear this was the solution we needed.”
“Once we found GoFormz, it became very clear this was the solution we needed.”
– Emily Turner, Systems Analyst, A-C Electric Company
The biggest selling point for A-C Electric Company was the ability to integrate their form solution with Data Sources and SQL. “We are a company that values data greatly. We run a lot of internal reports, build a lot of internal tools, and that means we have a very robust SQL data warehouse,” explained Turner. “So GoFormz having the ability to both take data that we already have and put it into a data source to use in our forms, as well as push form data back into our data warehouse, was really key for us.”
This capability has allowed A-C Electric Company to automatically capture and report on employee safety metrics. "This system allows us to streamline various tasks by leveraging data from within our existing data warehouse and into our forms in GoFormz," explained Turner. "We have a form that uses our active jobs list and time reporting data to optimize our Safety Bulletin meetings attendance record." She continued, "We have a data source that pulls in a list from SQL of employees who have time recorded during a given week, which is then used to pre-populate our required-for-attendance sign-in sheet for Safety Meetings." This allows for further transparency and organization.
A-C Electric Company now has an extensive set of digital forms. “We have our basic field forms, like daily project reports or safety forms like JHAs, but we also have other forms like our material and equipment requisition forms, which is how the field and office can requisition material and equipment for jobs,” noted Turner. In addition to their own digital forms, they also upload other general contractor forms into their GoFormz account. “The general contractors that we work for often require specific forms that we have to fill out,” explained Turner. “This was another selling point for us because GoFormz allowed us to use an existing PDF and then layer fields on top of the form.” Prior to GoFormz, the field crew would have to complete these paper forms every day in the field and then manually send them in to be reviewed and approved. Now when a form is completed, it is automatically routed for internal review and uploaded to Procore before it is sent to the general contractor. “Regardless, all of our field forms get saved into Procore document tools, so no matter what we’re able to use the integration to save a copy internally.”
“This was another selling point for us because GoFormz allowed us to use an existing PDF and then layer fields on top of the form.”
– Emily Turner, Systems Analyst, A-C Electric Company
The A-C Electric Company team further streamlines their documentation processes through automation. “I’ve been extremely happy with the ability to have very complex conditional-based formulas in GoFormz,” expressed Turner. "In the construction industry, optimizing field time is crucial as it is our most valuable resource. Saving time for our field workers is paramount, and any efficiency gains help significantly.”
A-C Electric Company employs intricate routing processes, particularly in managing their material equipment and requisition forms. “Our approach involves a single requisition form for various items, including materials, small tools, electrical, and non-electrical equipment. However, the fulfillment process involves three distinct teams,” explained Turner. “We have an order form that branches off into different workflows, guided by conditional logic embedded in the form,” she explained. “After submission, our workflow automates several smart processes, incorporates print and export options, and we've even implemented hidden features to customize the order form for different recipients.”
These automation capabilities can benefit any business looking to optimize operational processes, no matter how simple or complex their workflow. “This system allows us to effortlessly split and route orders to different teams, streamlining data entry and creating a smart, automated system that efficiently directs orders for fulfillment,” noted Turner.
“This system allows us to effortlessly split and route orders to different teams, streamlining data entry and creating a smart, automated system that efficiently directs orders for fulfillment.”
– Emily Turner, Systems Analyst, A-C Electric Company
A-C Electric Company now takes great pride in their approval workflows. “Our approval workflows are robust, offering the capability to reject forms while retaining notes until they are resubmitted,” explained Turner. Through Conditional Logic and automation, Turner explains how these improvements have significantly enhanced their approval workflow processes. “When a foreman is completing their daily project report, a form that requires approval, the project manager in the office will be the one that reviews it,” she continued. “They have the option to add notes and potentially reject the report. The form then returns to the foreman, who can view the notes but cannot alter any of the approver-related information.” This is where the foreman can make any necessary adjustments detailed within the notes and resubmit the form. "Once resubmitted, the project manager can review it again, add any new notes, and, hopefully, approve it.” This iterative process ensures effective collaboration and refinement of project documentation.
Retaining notes throughout the approval process was critical to the A-C Electric Company team. “It was crucial for us to ensure that when a form was rejected, both the rejection notes and the rejected status would stay,” expressed Turner. This is especially vital in the construction industry, where tracking the approval and rejection histories are essential for audits. “In construction, knowing who approved, rejected, or reviewed a form and when it occurred is paramount, especially for documents related to time, such as our daily work reports, which function essentially as time cards,” noted Turner. “For example, if a project manager rejects a form, we don't want that rejection to be cleared when the form is resubmitted. Instead, we want it to persist so that anyone exporting the form is aware of its rejection status,” explained Turner. “To facilitate this, we've made the form's status very visually explicit, indicating whether it's a draft, approved, or rejected, along with details on who rejected or approved it and when.”
The A-C Electric Company team has experienced significant time savings as a result of their digitized documentation and workflows. “The biggest impact GoFormz has had on us is the ability to have offline capabilities,” noted Turner. “With our old system, which wasn’t mobile, we were running into countless issues where a field team would fill out their form and then all of a sudden lose internet connection.” She continued to explain, “By the time their internet connection would come back, the page would refresh, and they’d lose all of their work!” This forced the field team to complete the form again, requiring them to redo all of their work, including reattaching any images captured on-site.
Centralizing data has also saved the A-C Electric Company team significant time. “With our 3rd party and GC forms centralized within GoFormz, no one has to wait for forms to be sent to them, filled out, or transported back to the office,” explained Turner. “Before GoFormz, a foreman would often have to call the office and then the person in the office would fill out the GC form and transcribe whatever is being said to them. That would require double the amount of resources to fill out just one form. So obviously there is major time savings here.”
“The biggest impact GoFormz has had on us is the ability to have offline capabilities.”
– Emily Turner, Systems Analyst, A-C Electric Company
Although A-C Electric Company has the capabilities to handle technology in-house, they have enjoyed their experience with the customer support team. “Working with GoFormz has been very positive from the support side as well,” expressed Turner. “The support chat is by far my favorite support experience I’ve ever had on a platform.” Additionally, the A-C Electric Company team praises the high turnaround times. “The turnaround time for resolving issues has been impressive, and the overall experience of working with our account manager and the entire GoFormz team has been highly positive,” Turner continued, “This is particularly meaningful in the construction industry, where adopting and integrating technology can be challenging.”
A-C Electric Company plans to continue to expand on their internal processes. “When receiving rental equipment on-site, we have to document its condition upon arrival and departure,” noted Turner. This serves as a safeguard in case disputes arise regarding damage or duration of use. The A-C Electric Company team is actively preparing to streamline this process with their collection of Data Sources and automation.
A-C Electric Company is in the testing phase of an advanced material equipment requisition form. “This version features multi-routing functionality, directing information from a single order form to three different teams,” noted Turner. They’re also implementing a material index and a Data Source containing all their materials, which will refresh periodically for accuracy. “This resource, which is complete with estimated pricing, will facilitate order form completion by allowing users to select from existing materials,” Turner continued, “We have it in a table that filters options based on previous selections.” This provides a streamlined and efficient form-filling process.
“It also estimates the order's cost, which will determine its routing based on predefined thresholds for different teams,” Turner explained. This intelligent use of Data Sources is a key aspect of their ongoing efforts to streamline processes and create efficiencies within the workplace.