Background
Harding Fire Protection Systems has been one of the top companies in Ontario for fire inspection, testing and maintenance services since 1990.
The Challenge
Harding has been using a FileMaker system for several years, but it was lacking many necessary functions, was not intuitive to use and lacked aesthetic appeal. Even more importantly, it suffered from many bugs which made using the system a challenge.
Harding approached RadEffect looking for someone to help them with their system’s problems.
The Solution
We first analyzed the existing system in order to decide whether it was worth keeping it as a platform for future enhancements, or whether a complete rewrite would make better sense. In evaluating these options, we looked at the system from both technical and functional perspectives. The technical perspective has to do with code quality, which is a measurable, quantifiable aspect of the system. The functional perspective addresses the degree to which the system supports Harding’s business work flows.
Our conclusion was that the current system was not worth saving as we felt the code quality was too inferior. Therefore it would be best in威而鋼
itially to support it just enough to “keep the lights on” until we could create a new system.
We then worked with Harding to define the full scope of the system and their priorities for the first phase.
The new system is fully modular, with as much reusable code and other elements as possible to enable fast, cheap expansions in the future, and to simplify maintenance. Maintenance is often overlooked when designing a system, but those costs add up over time and with proper design can be minimized.
The system’s look and feel is consistent throughout, making it very intuitive to use.
It also has a mobile component, the monthly inspection app, which runs on iPads and syncs both ways with the back office system. This allowed Harding to dispense with the stacks of forms which technicians had to carry around, and sped up the creation of client reports (detailed reports sent to clients at the end of every inspection).
The back office system, complemented by the inspection app and time-tracking and service sheet apps, provides Harding with a complete set of computerized tools for running its business more efficiently. In addition, real-time metrics reporting now gives Harding the ability to see exactly where the business stands at any moment.
