-We started in 1990 working with Excel spreadsheets, but by 1996 I was asking if there was a better way," explained David Taranto, director of Broadbent Compressor Services (BCS), which services more than 5,000 air compressors for around 3,000 customers throughout Melbourne.
A friend suggested Taranto try FileMaker Pro and he used it to eliminate some of the duplication in BCS. However, customer information was still kept in several places and staff often hand-wrote customer, job, technical and billing information. The system had a high level of duplication and was prone to human error. Taranto suspected he wasn't making the most of his software.
-With our in-house system, we only had that a customer owned a compressor, which wasn't really true," Taranto said. -For a company like Bridgestone, they might own dozens of compressors located at different stores. We had to create a separate customer for each Bridgestone store, which was complicated and meant it took a while to find the store required."
Taranto originally invested in FileMaker Pro to solve these sorts of problems. -I perceived a very strong database program which I was going to learn how to use, but I never did," he explained. Rather than invest several months gaining database skills, he decided it would be simpler and more cost effective to hire someone.
Phoning FileMaker Pro, Taranto was referred to several companies. He settled on The MAKsim, a database development company based in Melbourne, and hired Mary Rowe to improve BCS's information management system.
-She sat down and heard what we had, threw in her two bobs' worth and made suggestions as to how we could improve our system to get what we want," Taranto said. -We now only have to take the information the once. We now also keep the information about the compressors at our end, so when the customer calls up and says our compressor needs servicing, we can ask whether it's the blue one or the red one. That way the customer doesn't need to know all the details about the compressors. After all, that's our job."
-She cut out a hell of a lot of duplication," said Taranto. -I was surprised how easy it was, and how she got around problems." The system is now set up so a customer owns a compressor and the compressor owns the address. This means that Bridgestone, for example, now has one entry as a customer, which makes billing easier.
Taranto, a business graduate, believes many businesses could benefit from improving their information management systems. -The only thing holding them back is the cost. Small businesses may not benefit but medium businesses, a million dollars plus, could definitely benefit from file changes," he said. Taranto estimates the cost of upgrading was between AU$6,000 and AU$8,000, which was recouped in a matter of months. More important for Taranto was the improved professional appearance of the business.
-A lot of businesses are run by tradesmen, and they don't recognise the benefits," Taranto said. -Also, it's hard to separate the good people from the shysters, you need a bit of computer nous. If those people are my clients I have no problem in recommending it, but it's important to get people who know what they are doing."
Taranto ensured he employed a reputable company by asking for references from the software developer.
