Primtek

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am one of the managing partners and one of the owners of TFG Group. We are a service and sales provider for restaurant equipment. The areas we cover are located in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Primtek?

We needed to get a customized software to fit with some of the manufacturers that we represent. In today’s world, there is a lot of electronic information that we have to send back and forth. We looked at several companies who could only alter software. We decided that it would be best to have someone create our software from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

This system is a service and parts tracking system. All of our service calls go into the system where they’re dispatched and assigned to a technician. The technician then goes to take it out in the field. We also bill in real time. Before the truck leaves the parking lot, we already have invoice for the customer. The system also manages our inventory, our payables and all of our receivables.

One of the companies that we represent requires that we provide a lot of data to them. For example, if we are taking a part off of a machine and that particular machine has multiples of those parts, we have to list which zone that missed part came from. We have to do that for every part that we remove for them. That information has to be presented electronically to that manufacturer. That is why this project was so complex. There’s plenty of service dispatching software out there, but not a lot of them tie in accounting as well as inventory management. This system allows us to electronically send anything that we need to send at a moment’s notice to different manufacturers.

What is the team dynamic?

We’ve had the same developer on our project since the day we started working with Primtek. There is also another person, Garret, who we interact with frequently since day one.

How did you come to work with Primtek?

We found Primtek through word of mouth. It was such a long time ago that I can’t remember who gave us their contact information.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $300,000 and $350,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began on June 2013 and it is still an ongoing project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From a productivity standpoint, we have improved. The way we used to do things required everything to be done on a handwritten ticket. That information was then transcribed into a software system. That resulted in a lag as it would take nearly two days just getting the information processed and getting it out to the customer. The new system now speeds up the billing process as once the truck has completed the work, the billing office can review it.

We have been able to reallocate some of our employees into different areas because we can now do more with fewer people. For example, we used to have four billing clerks and now we only have two. Two of the clerks now focus on marketing. Also, the technicians like the fact that it’s all real-time data. Looking for a part has become as simple as clicking a button to see who has the part. They have access to see where the part is located as well. The technicians also have the complete service history of every machine that we’ve worked on.

How did Primtek perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed extremely well. We have an internal process that if something were to go wrong, one of our upper management employees will send an e-mail to the programmer and to our other liaison at the company. The issue is usually resolved within a couple of minutes and they’re able to fix the issue and get us back up and running. We meet with them bi-weekly to go over things that we want to develop or modify. We have never had issues with responsiveness from Primtek.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Primtek has been wonderful when it comes to meeting the goals of our company. This is the third software package that I’ve been with. The cost effectiveness of this particular software has been phenomenal. Compared to our previous experience that we’ve had, Primtek is great at responsiveness. They respond to all of our needs and getting them back up and running if there is a problem. We run 7 days a week, 24 hours a day and that’s a big tall task to ask a company and Primtek delivers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Vice President of Technology of a company that provides labor in the energy services industry. Our company provides labor to oil and gas companies and I deal with information technology and infrastructure of the company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Primtek?

When we first started working with Primtek we were moving applications from a Windows based environment to a web environment. We also needed a mobile platform, inter-company internet, and an employee management tool.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The software allows us to track all of our employee information, including their schedules, their training and more. The employee management tool basically captures everything that is relevant to an employee at our company.

Primtek used a SQL server, Visual Studio, and C# to develop our employee management tool. In the past, they also used Visual Basic .NET.

What is the team dynamic?

We’ve interacted with two developers during our time with Primtek. Most of the time I only interact with one developer.

How did you come to work with Primtek?

I found out about Primtek through Scott [CEO], who attended the same elementary school and college as me.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $500,000 with Primtek.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our latest project with Primtek started in late 2013, but we have been working with the company since 2011.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since the implementation of the tool, we have moved away from Excel files. Previously, we used Excel to track employee information. Now, we have a hosted solution that is available to access 24/7.

The solution has become a vital part of our business. It’s allowed us to reduce the number of individuals and time spend on certain work. Thanks to Primtek, we have greatly increased our productivity and we’ve created data availability to all of our employees.

How did Primtek perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m in contact with Primtek on a daily basis. Sometimes it feels like we have another employee in our office that is readily available at all times. We’ve had a good working relationship with the company.

What did you find most impressive about them?

At the end of the day, they deliver a good product. If you give Primtek the right spec and the right tools, they’re going to end up meeting your goals. We have not run across any problem that we can’t solve.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have delivered and communicated effectively. There’s nothing they can really do to make our product better. From our standpoint, they are doing a great job.