The cleaning industry’s technology needs don’t end with autoscrubbers or even computers. Just as vital is the software that building service contractors use to run their businesses.

Two of the most popular software trends are to automate bid processing and time keeping. Both areas can bring major headaches to a business and can be the ones to financially break a company’s back. By using software, BSCs can put the business tasks in the hands of the computer. This will give them more time to clean — the job they are in the market to do, says Scott Smith, president, Rimrock Technologies, Billings, Mont.

Start your bidding
Rimrock Technologies offers software to help BSCs organize a number of their operations, including inventory, schedules and safety. But Rimrock’s most popular software is Bidpro bidding software because Smith says, most people don’t know how to properly bid an account.

“If [BSCs] can’t get the right profitability out of an account, they’re really shooting themselves in the foot,” adds Tina Serio, manager of information and sales technologies, Spartan Chemical Co., Inc., Maumee, Ohio.

Instead of using software, many contractors come up with an average cost based only on the building’s square footage. There are too many variables, however, for this to work, such as chemical prices or minimum wage changes, says Serio. Other BSCs go to seminars to educate themselves on how to effectively bid, but the time and money could be spent on using the software with similar results.

To use the software, BSCs need to know basic computer skills, and they need to spend the time getting to know the software, as well.
“You have to put time in to get the value out of it,” says Smith.

To use software like Spartan’s CompuClean, users need to know not only a building’s square footage, but also what type of spaces they are such as offices or hallways. Users also need to calculate what cleaning methods they will be using such as dry or wet mopping and enter that data into the program as well. It takes more time than simply calling up an account and asking for square footage, says Serio, but by going through this legwork, BSCs will fully understand a building. Many customers view this attention to detail as a value-added service and will be thankful for the extra effort.

Timecard troubles
Unfortunately for many building service contractors, keeping track of employees can be a lot like babysitting. Some employees try to take advantage of the payroll system to get paid for more hours than they actually work.

To keep track of the hours an employee works, BSCs can either use time cards or the honor system, but both methods have their problems. With time cards, workers can convince fellow employees to punch in for them when they are late or even skipping the whole day.

Services like American EPAY and Express Time can help BSCs eliminate the “buddy punch.” American EPAY requires employees to punch in and out using fingerprints. All hours are recorded and then sent electronically to the head office.

“If you kill the fraud, you automatically almost double your profitability,” says Ben Aissa, founder of American EPAY, Chicago.

Employees can then be paid via a debit card provided by American EPAY. Many manual accounting steps can be reduced.

Similar to time card troubles, the honor system also has its share of costly fraud. David Lee , president of Servicemaster Cleaning Alternatives, Petal, Miss., used the honor system to record employee hours before he developed his Express Time software.

“The honor system is a horrible thing,” he says. “It doesn’t work.”

It became such a problem that he almost left the industry all together. But instead of quitting, he developed Express Time to combat the problem and saw a 10-percent savings in labor costs.

Express Time is now its own company in Petal. With Express Time, workers are given a schedule and they have to fill these times. Workers punch in via a telephone system and are given personal pin numbers to avoid fraud. If workers fail to clock in when they are supposed to, the program notifies the supervisor. A supervisor will also be paged when the worker eventually shows up and if the employee leaves early.

Much like the bidding software, having a computer handle time keeping can free up managers to do the work they were hired to do.

“When you have control of employees, it allows the supervisor to go out and manage the building,” says Lee. “He doesn’t have to waste time looking for employees.”




POSTED ON: 11/1/2003