Bilberrry

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project manager at Pasco Machine. We’re a metal fabrication shop, and we work with farms and big production companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bilberrry?

We were looking for a team to make a calendar that keeps track of all of our jobs. Our current physical calendar worked for us when we were less busy. Now it has a lot of issues; a job might not get finished on time if a tag falls off.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bilberrry came down from Seattle to Pasco to meet with us and talk about our challenges. Using JavaScript, they created a web-based application so we can access the calendar anywhere. They streamlined our entire calendar process. It keeps track of all our projects. They built features that show us what's past due and who is assigned to different jobs. The calendar also has a filter so we can search for specific things within the app.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one main project manager and one core developer. Additional members of their team worked on the project, but we didn’t interact with them.

How did you come to work with Bilberrry?

I found them through an online search. I typed in what we needed and came up with a list of companies. Bilberrry was the best match for what we wanted to achieve.

How much have you invested with them?

They gave us an estimate of about $80,000 and they stayed in budget.

What is the status of this engagement?

I don’t remember the exact dates. I’d estimate the work took place between February–June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We haven't actually started using the calendar yet. I’m waiting on our managers to give it the green light. After testing it, I know it will help us stay on top of projects as long as our team does what we're supposed to do. The calendar is only effective if the team using it manages it correctly. So if we do that, it'll work great and be a huge benefit for our shop.  

One huge improvement is the feature that shows us who's assigned to what job. With our current calendar, we’re always having to ask each other and trying to remember who was on each job.

How did Bilberrry perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team was super accessible. They were very good about getting back to me the same day if I had any questions or concerns. It was never an issue if I wanted to make changes.  They were awesome about delivering on their timeline. If they were running behind, they always caught up quickly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Bilberrry did a really good job of helping us figure out our actual problem and the best way to solve it. We were so focused on trying to get a new calendar that looked exactly like our existing version. At our first meeting, they said let's figure out the core problem and not just focus on how you want it to look and how it functions right now. They made us see that the more important issue was how the calendar should function in the future for the best outcome. None of the other teams we met with did that. Bilberrry took a different approach and that's what made them stand out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did a great job.

Any advice for potential customers?

Don't be shy in asking questions or requesting changes. We were comfortable criticizing the app, which helped them develop the best possible version. They want to think through every scenario that could happen, so asking questions helps them do that.