HANDLE WITH CARE
iTransport4U
A fine piece of art or cherished antique is not something to be mistreated. These rare and valuable items need great care in their handling, especially when being transported over thousands of miles of bumpy roads. Bob Sorrentino knows a thing or two about handling fine art. In his previous career, he worked at a packing and shipping company in the Palm Springs area. He was often approached by numerous area art galleries to see if he could help carefully pack expensive and delicate artworks for transport to their final destinations in other parts of the US. He quickly gained the skills and following of local galleries, eventually forming his own company. iTransport4U is one of the premiere companies for packing, shipping, and installing fine artwork across the contiguous 48 states, with their fleet of state-of-the-art vans and highly skilled technicians.
Sleek Payloads. Clunky Workflows.
As iTransport4U’s reputation began to grow, its business began to scale. However, many of the existing processes that worked fine for a tiny business caused gridlock as the staff and traffic grew. Office staff tracked orders, quotes, insurance, and invoices via email. Delivery techs were driving around with 2-3 inches of paper orders, invoices, and installation notes on clipboards. It was hard to enforce quality control measures, plan van routes, and communicate delivery times, when so much of the data was floating around in disconnected documents.
A Digital Transformation.
Hearing all this, the Angel City Data team quickly sized things up and stepped in to help. First up, was a digital CRM and Work Order System, so the entire team could create, edit, and view all the jobs they had, without scrolling endlessly through emails. ACD built this with FileMaker Pro, which was the ideal platform for iTransport4u’s growth and rapid changes. We later added invoicing, insurance tracking, and other logistical information so that all the details surrounding a job were in one place. This new centerpiece served as the perfect staging area for what came next.
Hit the Road, Jack.
The new system helped the administrative staff be more productive, and the change was immediately noticeable. However, the road warriors in the delivery vans were still relying on clipboards and stacks of paperwork for each of their trips. That’s when the team at ACD crafted a mobile version of the system for tablet use, designed specifically for the road. The technicians now have live access to where they’re going, what they’re picking up or delivering, and can even collect signatures from the recipients when a delivery is complete. The live access also means that the office staff can update the drivers in real time with any new pickups or schedule changes.
The Road Ahead.
iTransport4U continues to grow. They continue to add more vans to their growing fleet as Bob and the team continue in their nationwide expansion. ACD is continually working with them to discuss new innovations and enhancements to their system, like customer web portals, integration with accounting, automation, and other efficiency improvements. This dynamic company has surrounded themselves with world-class tools and has open road ahead of them for even more growth and prosperity.
