Founded in 2014 in Christchurch, Kitset Assembly has revolutionised the way people think about flatpack products. While originating in furniture assembly, Kitset Assembly has since expanded, providing services for kitchen installations. Operating out of five countries, the demand for their assembly service has never been greater.

Kitset Assembly sought a comprehensive solution to streamline their operations and improve communication among their franchises, technicians, and clients. This case study highlights the successful implementation of a robust software solution that addresses Kitset Assembly’s key requirements, including scheduling, invoices, quotes, messaging, client management, and product information.

Before the implementation of the solution, Kitset Assembly faced several challenges.

Inefficient Job Management: The lack of a centralized system made it difficult for franchises and technicians to manage and coordinate jobs effectively, resulting in scheduling conflicts and delays.

Communication Bottlenecks: Franchises struggled to communicate efficiently with their team members, leading to miscommunication and delays in addressing customer queries and concerns.

To address Kitset Assembly’s challenges, we designed and developed a comprehensive software solution that focused on two key areas: job management and communication.

“From day one, Putti provided guidance, vision and planning through their extensive experience.”

Aaron McCurdy, Global Technology Leader at Kitset Assembly Services

We created an intuitive scheduling system that empowered staff at all levels to view, edit, organize, and create new jobs effortlessly. This system provided a centralized platform where franchises and technicians could access and manage their assigned tasks. Key features of the scheduling system included:

Real-time visibility: Franchises and technicians could view the current status of jobs, enabling them to plan and allocate resources effectively.

Seamless job creation: Franchises could easily create new jobs, assign technicians, and set deadlines, ensuring a streamlined workflow.

Edit and update functionality: Staff could make necessary changes to job details, such as rescheduling or reassigning tasks, allowing for improved adaptability and responsiveness.

To optimize job distribution and maximize efficiency, we developed a sophisticated system that allocated jobs among franchises and contractors based on various factors, including franchise location, job value, and technician availability. The key components of this system were:

Location-Based Allocation: The system took into account the value of each job when distributing tasks. This ensured that franchises and contractors received assignments appropriate to their capacity and expertise, promoting effective resource utilization.

Technician Availability: The system incorporated real-time data on technician availability, allowing for intelligent job allocation. By assigning tasks to technicians with suitable availability, the system optimized scheduling and reduced delays.

Algorithmic Optimization: We implemented an algorithmic approach to job distribution, considering multiple factors simultaneously to achieve the best possible assignment decisions. This algorithm was continuously refined based on data analysis and feedback to enhance its accuracy and effectiveness over time.

The sophisticated job distribution system significantly improved operational efficiency by ensuring that jobs were allocated strategically, optimizing resource utilization, minimizing travel costs, and reducing job assignment conflicts.

Understanding the importance of customer satisfaction and feedback, Kitset Assembly aimed to implement an extensive reporting system within the solution, focusing on capturing customer feedback and measuring Net Promoter Score (NPS). This feature enabled Kitset Assembly to gain valuable insights into their customers’ experiences and measure their loyalty and advocacy.

The solution provided various channels for collecting customer feedback, such as email and SMS. Franchises and technicians could easily request feedback from customers and gather valuable insights about their experience.

By implementing extensive reports on customer feedback with NPS score measurement, Kitset Assembly gained a deep understanding of their customers’ sentiments, enabling them to make data-driven decisions and continuously improve their services. The insights derived from these reports helped them identify opportunities for enhancing customer satisfaction, address any potential issues promptly, and foster long-term customer loyalty and advocacy.

To streamline the financial management process, we integrated the solution with Xero, a popular accounting software. This integration facilitated seamless synchronization of key financial data, including invoices, purchase orders, and payments, between the solution and Xero. The following functionalities were implemented:

Invoices: Franchises could generate and send professional invoices directly from the solution. These invoices were automatically synced with Xero, ensuring accurate and up-to-date financial records.

Payments: Franchises and clients could make payments within the solution, and the payment information was automatically recorded in Xero. This integration simplified the reconciliation process and provided a comprehensive view of the financial transactions.

By integrating Xero for accounting purposes, Kitset Assembly achieved enhanced financial accuracy, streamlined bookkeeping, and improved overall financial management efficiency.

Recognizing the need to provide a seamless and branded experience for their partner customers, we developed a white label online booking portal within the solution. This portal allowed Kitset Assembly’s partners to offer their own customers the convenience of booking assembly services directly through a customized and branded interface.

Custom Branding: The portal was designed to reflect the branding elements and visual identity of Kitset Assembly’s partners. Custom logos, color schemes, and other branding elements were incorporated to ensure a cohesive and consistent user experience aligned with the partner’s brand image.

Service Selection and Customization: Partner customers could select from a range of assembly services offered by Kitset Assembly. The portal allowed customization options based on their purchased products and the specific needs of the customer, such as selecting assembly preferences, adding additional instructions, or specifying delivery details.

Real-Time Availability: The portal integrated with the scheduling system, providing partner customers with real-time availability of assembly technicians. This ensured accurate scheduling and prevented double-bookings, enhancing the overall customer experience.

Confirmation and Communication: Upon successful booking, partner customers received instant confirmation of their assembly service request. The portal also facilitated communication between the partner customers and Kitset Assembly’s franchises or technicians, allowing for updates, queries, and any necessary clarifications.

To ensure accurate and standardized data collection during job execution, we integrated a feature within the solution that automatically adds specific forms to relevant job types for completion by technicians. Customizable form templates were created to capture job-specific information such as equipment details, measurements, customer signatures, safety checks, and quality assurance parameters. Based on the assigned job type, the solution dynamically assigns the appropriate form template to technicians, who can easily access and complete the forms using mobile devices.

The forms include required fields and validation rules to ensure data integrity, and once completed, they seamlessly integrate with the job management system, associating the captured data with the respective job record. This streamlined process eliminates the need for paper-based forms, reduces administrative overhead, and provides standardized and accurate data for analysis, reporting, and compliance purposes.

We implemented a comprehensive messaging system that facilitated communication among all levels of users within the Kitset Assembly network. The messaging system included the following features:

Internal communication: Franchises and technicians could communicate seamlessly within their respective teams, fostering collaboration and sharing of important information.

Client portal integration: Franchises gained the ability to directly contact customers through the client portal, enabling efficient and direct communication for inquiries, updates, and issue resolution.

Notification alerts: The system sent real-time notifications to ensure that messages were promptly delivered and attended to, minimizing response times.

The implementation of the solution yielded several benefits for Kitset Assembly

Enhanced Operational Efficiency: The intuitive scheduling system enabled franchises and technicians to manage their jobs more effectively, resulting in optimized resource allocation and reduced scheduling conflicts. This led to improved overall operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Streamlined Communication: The messaging system provided a seamless communication channel for internal team members and direct interaction with clients. This eliminated communication bottlenecks, reduced response times, and facilitated quick issue resolution, resulting in improved customer experience.

Improved Collaboration: The centralized solution encouraged collaboration and knowledge sharing among franchises and technicians, fostering a sense of unity and enabling efficient problem-solving.

Scalability and Adaptability: The implemented solution was designed to accommodate Kitset Assembly’s growing network of franchises and technicians, ensuring scalability and adaptability as the company expanded its operations across countries.

By developing a comprehensive software solution that focused on efficient job management and streamlined communication, Kitset Assembly successfully overcame their operational challenges. The intuitive scheduling system and messaging platform provided the necessary tools for franchises and technicians to manage tasks effectively and communicate seamlessly. As a result, Kitset Assembly experienced improved operational efficiency, enhanced collaboration, and increased customer satisfaction, positioning them for continued growth and success in their industry.