Vertical Systems Keys In On Wireless Workflow Arena

What services company wouldn't benefit from deploying a wireless workflow solution to its mobile workforce?

That's just what Vertical Systems, a solution provider based in Minneapolis, was proposing. So Rain Bird, an equipment manufacturer serving irrigation companies, listened up.

Little did Vertical Systems know it was about to make a splash with Rain Bird in the agricultural market.

The story began to unfold in 1998, when David Crary spread the word that he needed some help from the high-tech community. His business, St. Paul, Minn.-based LMS Irrigation, wasn't doing as well as it could.

"My phone wasn't ringing all that much, and my service guys were clocking only four hours of work for an eight-hour day," said Crary. "On top of that, I had no way to schedule and track jobs. I went to a beauty-shop supply store and bought a paper schedule with times and dates. That's how I was scheduling service calls."

Meanwhile, the clothes dryer in Crary's house broke down, so he called the nearest Sears and Roebuck store in search of a repairman.

But what looked like a string of bad luck turned out to be a fortuitous turn of events.

"Sears dispatched someone to my house, and it hit me at the perfect time," said Crary. "This is what my business needed,a system like Sears was using, a wireless workflow [and dispatch system."

Crary started looking for an application developer that could build the type of workflow solution he was looking for,one that would streamline his business without thinning his wallet.

Crary's search ended when he found Vertical Systems, a turnkey application developer and integrator based in Minneapolis.

Founded in 1982, Vertical Systems started building its core business around wireless workflow solutions in 1990, said Ron Dropik, president and founder of the company.

The integrator, which generates up to $10 million in sales each year, designs software solutions for any services company aiming to improve its workflow processes but has enjoyed particular success in the utility space, said Dropik. Other customers include Maytag, Best Buy and Union Pacific Railroad.

In the spring of 1999, LMS Irrigation deployed Vertical Systems' solution,a simple one consisting of a database application on a Pentium-based PC and about 20 Palm handhelds for the irrigation firm's mobile workers.

Thanks to the paperless business system, LMS Irrigation has reduced time spent on the phone with customers by 75 percent, Crary said. Through the database, he can schedule service calls based on workers' locations and maintain account histories. The handhelds allow Crary to keep in touch with field workers throughout the day.

The uptick in LMS Irrigation's business has been equally dramatic.

Overall revenue increased 145 percent since 1998, and revenue per service employee per hour rose 192 percent, to $68.39 in 2001 from $23.39 three years ago, according to Crary.

"In 1998 I had less than 1,000 customers," he said. "Last year I had 2,300, and with the same number of employees. This is a simple, straightforward solution that's worked extremely well in bringing technology to a nontechnological field."

In the meantime, Crary and Dropik approached Rain Bird, an irrigation equipment maker with 30,000 customers worldwide, to see if the company would be interested in staking a claim to the solution in the irrigation market.

Executives at Rain Bird liked the workflow application and took it under their wing, signing a contract to market and sell the system under a private label, as Rain Bird Pro Business Management Software.

Last year, Vertical Systems spun off HindSite Software, which is aimed at marketing the integrator's workflow solution to other industries. Today, Crary heads up that operation and remains president of LMS Irrigation.

"We're actively recruiting other businesses," Dropik said. "We're very flexible and open to working with partners."