The use of technology in the manufacturing process has played a critical role in Leedo's success. The ability to track the status of a project from the point of order entry through manufacturing, assembly, and distribution is inherent to the industry. "Five years ago, we realized that the same need exists from an installation standpoint. We recognized that the information deficit between field conditions and manufacturing was causing serious delays in job completions. It became a corporate priority to improve communication between installation services and project administration," reports Darryl Preen, Chief Information Officer of Leedo Cabinetry. "The tablet we chose had to bring together the ease of use of our paper system and the intersection of the design systems with the order and manufacturing systems we use. We had many paper hand offs and data translations; building a platform that allows us to capture the data and distribute it throughout our business has had a measurable impact on our efficiency."
Leedo initially began beta testing of the tablets in March of this year. By July, the tablets were rolled out to the company's network of field managers for use around the country. David Burke, Leedo's Vice President of Installation Services, says the use of the tablets is a significant step in focusing the field managers on core responsibilities. "Before implementing this program, it was a three step process to turn the field managers' notes from the job site into actionable items. These steps reduced the amount of time any given field manager could devote to installer management and intense project inspections. Considering Leedo is on track to install 50,000 units, or nearly 600,000 cabinets this year alone, technology like this is critical in allowing us to focus on customer needs, rather than administrative requirements. Now that the data is instantly uploaded to our servers, we can monitor the install status of any given job on any given day and effectively engage all Leedo departments in getting units to a completed state; which is ultimately why we are all in this business. "
Leedo has invested heavily in IT infrastructure, employing a full-time staff of IT software developers and administrators to run its network and operating systems. Programmers worked in the field with Leedo's installation services department to understand the physical environment and various data collection points and how they affected unit completions and replacement orders. The resulting software program runs on electronic tablets, which field managers use to input measurements, replacement orders and unit status updates that are uploaded to the company server. To date, this has decreased the time it takes installation to receive unit measurements, status updates and replacements from days to hours and allowed field managers to better divide their time between job sites.
Leedo Cabinetry was founded in 1971 to supply the booming apartment construction market. Today, Leedo remains committed to serving builders around the nation, producing and installing over 500,000 cabinets and 100 miles of countertops annually for multifamily developers, large scale single-family home builders, and military housing developments. With corporate headquarters in Houston, Texas, Leedo manufacturers and ships across the country from its traditional cabinet and countertop facilities in East Bernard, Texas, and its frameless cabinet facility in El Campo, Texas.
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