Clearview National August 2017 - Issue 189 | Page 58
HERITAGE
Joinerysoft streamlines paperwork
» » SWAMPED WITH PAPERWORK AND
working all hours is a common dilemma for
many joinery manufacturers. Churchview
Joinery decided there had to be a better way
and explain how software has given them more
time to move their business forward.
Based in Wimborne, Dorset, Churchview
Joinery employs 7 people and is run by Phillip
and Karen Kebby. Philip, having been in the
joinery business since he left school, decided
to set up for himself in 1993. Supported by
his wife Karen, who still worked full time,
they developed their business until it was
big enough that it needed her full time.
Everything they manufacture is purpose made,
including windows, doors, furniture and CAD
designed and CNC manufactured staircases.
They are well known for their work in the
Listed Buildings sector and are proud to work
for the National Trust. Karen says, “A s well as
traditional custom made joinery we have over
the years been asked to manufacture some
more unusual items including two coffins for
someone’s faithful hounds - we really don’t
mind what we make. We also take on specialist
jobs, such as curved work which quite often
comes to us from other joinery shops.”
“Customers hear about us by word of
mouth” says Karen, “and being active on social
media really helps to showcase the company.”
When Karen joined, she set up spreadsheets
to calculate their pricing but each job had to
be drawn individually onto a job sheet. As
business continued to do well, that came with
its own challenges.
“We were drowning with the amount of
paperwork in the office. Everything we do is
one off so Philip with his joinery expertise
would need to do most of the quotations. To
keep up with them all we would be working
well into the night and being a married
couple we felt it was taking over our lives”, she
explains.
So, in 2015, Karen set out to look at how
she could make things better. She explains,
“We were getting a bit desperate at this point.
With the advent of modern technology
quotations are needed quickly and efficiently.
Emails need to be answered instantly and
customer service must really shine. You have
got to be able to get the prices out to the
customer, follow them up, get the jobs out on
the shop floor and out the door. It was taking
a lot of the joy out of running the business.”
58 » AUG 2017 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
This is when they contacted Joinerysoft.
Once they’d had a demonstration and seen
Joinerysoft’s Joinery Management Software
(JMS) working, they became a customer the
very next day.
Both Karen and Philip have found the
software easy to learn and Karen has been able
to take over most quoting with Philip just
providing technical joinery advice as needed.
This has meant Philip has seen huge savings
in his time, roughly 3-4 hours a day enabling
him to get on with more customer facing
work.
“All our jobs are processed through JMS
now. With consistent and clear pricing,
customers have been impressed with our
quotes and our quick response helps us to win
work” says Karen.
JMS has made a huge difference to
Churchview Joinery and improved efficiency
in the workshop. The joiners trust the software
and the clear-cutting lists with automatically
drawn diagrams have improved confidence
and helped bring on their youngest joiner. The
JMS generated reports and the ability to email
directly from JMS has led to time savings. With
easy access to jobs in JMS, paperwork has been
reduced and everything is filed electronically.
JMS has helped their business grow and
expand. Karen says, “JMS has definitely
been worth the investment. It has helped
us to control man hours more thoroughly,
examine margins, quickly up date costs,
adjust quotations and generally streamline
the business. We’ve been able to take on an
adjoining unit and recruit a fulltime spray
painter/glazier thus allowing us to offer the
complete package under one roof.”
She confirms, “JMS has allowed our
business to move forward in an ever-changing
environment, with superb back up and
support from Joinerysoft. It’s second to none.”
She adds, “You can’t afford to stand still in
business. Philip and I are so closely intertwined
with our business that we were vulnerable.
Now everything is on JMS, if one of us is off,
everything can keep going.”
www.joinerysoft.com