What’s the key to working more efficiently? For Mike Walsh, Managing Director of Q Power Electrical & Automation, it’s getting on board with the latest technologies for businesses.

In fact, one of the biggest lessons Mike’s learned throughout his years in business is just how ineffective – and costly – manual processes can be.  It takes a lot more time, for example, to complete tasks like material takeoffs by hand and highlighter than online with digital tools.

By embracing online takeoff software Groundplan, the team at Q Power has cut the time they spend on takeoffs in half and seriously improved the accuracy of their quotes. But for the Brisbane-based business, the benefits of Groundplan extend past simplified takeoffs and estimating.

Here’s how the cloud-based platform charges Q Power’s workflow in more ways than one.

Quick, accurate takeoffs and estimating

“Before Groundplan, estimating was a very manual process for us,” Mike said.

“It involved getting drawings printed, delivered to the office or picked up, manually counting, highlighting, and transferring information manually from drawings to spreadsheets.

“With that process, accuracy was an issue, and that room for human error meant that it wasn’t unusual to make mistakes from time to time.”

With Groundplan, printing plans for material takeoffs are a thing of the past for Q Power. Mike and the team can easily upload plans to the online platform and use digital tools to measure and mark lengths, areas and quantities on screen. Everything from downlights and switches to cable trays and conduits can be accurately measured and counted, with a bill of quantities calculated in seconds.  

This makes all the difference for a small business like Q Power when it comes to quick takeoffs, accurate quoting and cutting costs on wasted materials.

“For certain projects, what would have taken two hours, we’re generally getting the takeoffs done in half that time now,” Mike said.

“Groundplan helps us to more accurately count and measure everything on our drawings, and that really helps us to be accurate in our quotes.”

Transparency over every tender

With Groundplan in place in his business, Mike has complete clarity and control over Q Power’s every tender. That’s the beauty of a cloud-based system; he can keep track of everything with real-time updates and collaborate with his entire team no matter where they all are.

“Groundplan gives our team the flexibility to work from anywhere,” Mike said.

“Being able to work together on drawings and being able to have the collaboration to see where each guy is at with each quote is really useful to me as a business owner.”

Building clear, personalised plans

When it comes to carrying out the work, detailed plans powered by Groundplan have proved immensely useful to Q Power’s field team.

“We use Groundplan to provide our guys with marked-up drawings to assist in what needs to be done and where,” Mike said.

“It’s also a project tool for us, where we can use counting functions and mark-ups to help project teams with the building of the job.”

Groundplan’s many features for comprehensive plan design means that Mike and the Q Power team can be completely transparent with their valued clients as well.

“We use [marked-up drawings] as a set of as-constructed documents just to let the client know what was installed and where,” Mike said.

The benefits of a paperless office

Overall, having a system in place that replaces that need for paper processes has proved the biggest game-changer for Q Power.

“The key for us as a small business is to keep our overheads as low as possible, and utilise as many of the latest technologies that are available on the market to keep us effective and able to scale when we need to,” Mike said.

“With everything being cloud-based at the moment, it really frees up our office and the office space to work more efficiently.

“Groundplan is a game-changer for us.”

If you’re ready to boost your efficiency and embrace technology in your business, you can trial Groundplan takeoff software for free today or chat to our friendly team on +61 7 3062 7737.