admin – IRIS Intelligent Reporting Software

Would you dive without the right equipment, in the coatings industry quality control reporting is essential so stay ahead of your competitors and use IRIS Intelligent Reporting System.

admin — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 13:19:26 +0000

Would you dive without the right equipment, in the coatings industry quality control reporting is essential so stay ahead of your competitors and use IRIS Intelligent Reporting System.

Maintain Quality with the Easy-To-Use Professional Painting Inspection Report

Consistent, Compliant Quality on All Devices

Success in the protective coatings industry is becoming more reliant on the ability to maintain quality of painting inspection reports. Clients expect this essential paperwork to be delivered to the same standards of quality, consistency, and compliance every time.

Coating contractors and inspectors are under increasing pressure to meet these expectations – and it’s hard, time-consuming work.

If only you could compose a painting inspection report that ensured quality was maintained. Wouldn’t it be even better if each report were delivered in the exact same format, too, so that the reader knows exactly what to expect – and that the report conformed to international standards?

It’s probably too much to ask for a system that would do all this for you, and save you time, reduce your costs, and that is easy to use.

Say hello to IRIS. The digital painting inspection report technology used by contractors and inspectors to transform their reporting.

Industry-leading technology with the power to transform your business

Contractors and inspectors spend a large portion of their time compiling reports. This time could be spent on doing what they do best – their ‘real’ work. Instead of this, they are expected to transform their notes and photos into reports to share internally or to send to clients. Compiling, collating, and formatting these reports can take hours – and the results are often not as professional as they should be.

IRIS allows all the reporting work to be completed at the touch of a button or click of a mouse. It’s safe and secure, fast, and efficient. You can use the system on-site, adding notes and photos that are then auto-formatted into a report template, even if you are offline. As soon as you have internet access, the report can be uploaded and sent to a client.

Saving your reputation by including regulatory changes

Staying updated with changing regulations can be difficult. If you accidently fail to consider new regulations within an inspection report, not only could it invalidate part of the report, or the entire report, it is damaging to your reputation. It also costs time and money to correct.

IRIS helps you mitigate this risk by including regulatory changes as they occur. That’s a huge weight off your shoulders.

What can you do on IRIS?

Unlike some other similar systems, IRIS is compatible with android and iOS – so users can access it from all smartphones and tablets, as well as laptops and desktops. Using your mobile device, you can:

Add general site notes
Add photos directly while on-site
Review the report in PDF and send it to contacts
Sign off on the report

Your desktop account links to your mobile device, allowing you to send daily reports from either. If the report needs input from multiple users, these can be set up with the system recognizing unique logins and recording usernames and signatures. This also enables fast and efficient report building when data is added over time, with that data recorded automatically by date.

From the desktop, you can:

Create and send non-conformance reports
Create and send technical queries
Create and send Hand Arm Vibration (HAVS) Reports
Create and send a Completion Certificate
Manage Equipment (such as dry film thickness gauge, ambient conditions gauge, adhesion testing, and porosity testing equipment)

Easy compliance

IRIS enables easy compliance, too. It’s simple to add your:

Surface preparation data including testing, selecting ISO, SSPC, and ASTM standards
Paint application session, recording paint manufacturer and product, ambient conditions, batch numbers, application type etc.
Dry film thickness and visual assessment data in accordance with standards
Adhesion and porosity testing data in accordance with standards

Easy to Use

You don’t need to be a technical genius to use IRIS. It’s plug-and-play, point-and-click functionality makes this digital reporting tool a breeze.

As it has been developed to use on all smartphones, tablets, and computers, you have no need to learn a set of new tech skills. Its user-friendly functionality means that you could be up and running within minutes.

You build a professional painting inspection report at the workface. No need to spend several hours back at the office compiling reports, downloading and uploading photos, adding notes and data from a handwritten notebook into a Word document or Excel spreadsheet.

To learn more about the benefits of IRIS as your digital reporting tool, contact us today.

5 Benefits of Real-Time Collaboration Tools for Coating Contractors and Inspectors

admin — Thu, 04 May 2023 13:51:20 +0000

5 Ways Paperless Reporting Reduces Costs in the Protective Coatings Industry

For the Price of a Coffee and Cake Per Week, Can You Afford Not To?

Paperless reporting improves time management, helps you collaborate with colleagues and clients more effectively, and improves efficiency and security (among several reasons to go paperless).

In this article, we explore another of the benefits of paper reporting in the protective coatings industry – the money that you could save. We also show you how to calculate how much money you could be saving by using the paperless reporting capabilities of IRIS.

1. Save on stationery costs

How much does your stationery cost, and how much could paperless reporting save you? Of course, all operations are different, but according to Pitney Bowes, a small business of between one and four people spends around £870 on stationery each year. Larger businesses benefit from the advantages of scale, but still spend as much as £300 per employee.

How much does stationery cost you? Review your stationery spending on last year’s accounts, and divide the cost by the number of employees. For a more accurate answer, divide the total cost by the number of employees who use stationery.

Many companies that do this calculation are surprised by just how high their stationery costs per employee are. But the costs do not stop here.

2. Save on storage space

Your paper files must be kept safely, in filing cabinets. As your business grows, your need for filing space grows with it. You move from one to two to many filing cabinets. Let’s not concern ourselves with the cost to purchase filing cabinets, but examine the cost of keeping them in your office:

First, measure the floor area on which a cabinet in your office stands
Now, ask a member of staff to open a drawer and access a file
Note the space they use as they stand and move to find the file
Now add this floor area to the floor area of the cabinet itself
Finally, multiply this by the number of cabinets in your office

This gives you the total floor area that your cabinets are ‘using’.

The final calculation is to multiply the floor space by your office rental costs (per square foot).

How does this measure up?

According to Digiscribe, the average four-drawer filing cabinet requires 17 square feet of space. Let’s say that your office rental costs are £25 per square foot. Each cabinet is costing you £425 per year – just to store files. Four filing cabinets at this rate will cost you £1,700 per year.

3. Save on postage

If you are still sending your paint inspection reports by snail mail, this is another cost that you could avoid. The actual cost will depend upon the size of your reports, of course. But let’s consider a company that sends three reports each week, with each report costing £3.00 to send. That’s a total of £468 per year.

With IRIS technology, there is no need to send paper reports. Your reports can be digitally signed off from the app.

4. Save on printer ink and maintenance

If you are printing off reams of paper to send to clients or file in your expensive filing cabinets, you’re also using printer ink. How much you use depends upon your printer, its age and efficiency, and whether you are printing in colour.

Printer ink is not reducing in price. If your printer breaks down, there will be maintenance costs. When was the last time you considered just how much your printer and the ink you feed it is costing you?

5. Save on file retrieval time

Even with the best filing system in the world, files get mislaid and lost. Research from the Office of National Statistics shows that each employee spends two whole days each year looking for paperwork. Let’s say that you are paying your office employee £15 per hour. That’s around £240 per employee every year, that you are spending for files to be located.

How much could paperless reporting save you each year?

The numbers we’ve shown above are, of course, only for illustration. Your actual costs are unique to you. By calculating them, you will learn just how much your current paper-based reporting is costing you.

How much is it? £1,000 per year per employee? £2,000? More?

For the price of a coffee and cake each week, you could eliminate most of these costs and deliver professional paperless reporting internally and externally that saves time and money, and ensures compliance.

For a no-obligation demonstration of the paperless reporting capability of IRIS, contact us today.

Protective Coating Professionals – Why go paperless?

admin — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 14:34:36 +0000

Protective Coating Professionals – Why go paperless?

It’s Time to Benefit from the Digital Revolution

In a digital world, it’s odd that we are asked the same question so often: Why go paperless?

Let’s look at the potential benefits of joining the digital revolution and adding IRIS (Intelligent Reporting Inspection Software) to your toolbox.

The real cost of paperwork

Your office and operation rely on its paperwork, but you probably don’t spend much time thinking about how much that paperwork is costing you.

According to calculations made by the Office of National Statistics, the cost of paperwork in the construction industry is a staggering £1,500 per year for every employee in a business. How so? Here is a summary of the research behind this number:

Workers spend an average of 91 hours on paperwork
Each worker spends an average of 38 hours each year filling out paperwork – a whole week of lost productivity
The average worker spends two whole days each year looking for paperwork

Paper reports take time to compile and complete. Often, these are printed and sent to clients, with copies filed in space-consuming cabinets. The files may become misfiled, mislaid, or lost over time.

5 benefits of digital document software for protective coating professionals

It’s not unusual for protective coating specialists to carry a case full of notebooks, pens, and all the paraphernalia associated with managing their day and their reports on paper. They take copious notes and several photos, which will need to be compiled into a report later.

Using IRIS, you’ll experience many benefits, including the following:

1. Greater efficiency

From working more effectively on-site, including the five benefits of real-time collaboration tools for coating contractors and inspectors (clear communication; instant feedback; up-to-date information; shared knowledge; and time saved), to more efficient office processes, going paperless is a win/win for businesses.

On-site practices become more standardised, and files are easily found and shared in the office.

2. Improved security

The IRIS system allows you to set levels of access and control, meaning your files are stored more securely. With the option to backup all your files in the cloud, you’ll never lose another file again.

3. More effective time management

It’s not only fast and safe retrieval of files that saves time. Operatives in the field store their notes and images directly to the system. There is now no need to spend hours compiling a report from scribbled notes and spending painstaking time attaching images. The report is produced for you and can be sent back to the office or to clients with a few clicks on your mobile device.

4. Consistent and professional reports

With templated reports, the content you send to clients is consistent and professional. It’s going to be easier to read and digest information, and the quality of presentation (as well as the speed of getting your report sent) will enhance your professional reputation.

5. Improving your bottom line

With more professional, consistent, and efficient paperwork, the average paperwork cost of £1,500 per employee will melt away. Plus, of course, you’ll be doing your bit to help save the planet from environmental destruction.

Why go paperless? You are already part of the digital revolution

Switching from how you do things now to a paperless digital system is a big step. Or is it? You are already part of the digital revolution.

Every day, you use digital technology to make your life easier. You access news on your mobile phone. A coffee machine makes your favourite morning drink. You switch TV channels by remote control. Your important correspondence and financial statements are sent by email. You even do all your banking online.

Your personal life has benefitted tremendously from the digital revolution. It has saved you time and money, and it has helped to make your life easier and more enjoyable. It’s easy to have the same benefits in your professional life as a protective coating professional.

The IRIS system is the ultimate tool in your professional toolbox. It also costs far less than you might expect it to. For less than the price of a coffee and cake each week, you and your business could start to benefit immediately.

To find out more, contact us today.

5 Benefits of Real-Time Collaboration Tools for Coating Contractors and Inspectors

admin — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 12:45:28 +0000

5 Benefits of Real-Time Collaboration Tools for Coating Contractors and Inspectors

Intelligent Reporting Software Is the Future That Has Arrived Today

The apex of work management software for coating contractors and inspectors must surely be real-time collaboration tools. Discussing issues and negotiating solutions when the issue is first discovered, you’re less likely to omit details and more likely to arrive at cost-effective action.

Email is so dated

Email is a great tool, there is no disputing this. But for some work – and we’re sure you’ve noticed this – email is a dated way to communicate. Consider the following scenario…

You’ve been on-site to inspect protective coating that is being applied and taken several pages of notes. These must be amalgamated into a report, and you need to email this to your client. There’s an issue with the type of system being applied, and work will be held up until this is resolved.

You email the client, and they call you to discuss. But before they can agree on your recommended action, they need a report with images attached. You’re not going to be able to do that until you’re back in the office.

This means no decision until tomorrow at the latest – and you’ll need to spend a couple of hours composing a report for them from your notes. Not good for your personal time management and quality of life.

The difference that real-time collaboration tools make

Real-time collaboration tools leapfrog the hurdle of outdated working practices. You can share what you see immediately, add notes, and discuss a solution as if you and your client are standing side by side.

The benefits of real-time collaboration make a real difference to you and your client in the following key areas:

1. Reducing confusion with clear communication

Because you are sharing what you see in real time and can alter descriptions and upload new views immediately, any complexities can be easily ironed out. This enables clear communication and better interaction between you and your client.

2. Feedback is instant

Feedback on the work you are doing is instant. There is no delay while waiting for exchange of emails, and this ensures that the project can stay on track as all relevant information is shared with all interested parties simultaneously.

You don’t need to wait for a response from email. What difference does this really make?

Well, according to a study by McKinsey & Company, we spend an average of 28% of our time at work reading and answering emails. Other research shows that office workers receive an average of 124 emails each day.

In time and amount, we’re overloaded with emails. That means yours is at risk of being lost in the flood of emails into your recipient’s inbox – holding up action even further.

3. Information is always up to date

Have you worked on a document that has been emailed to you, made revisions, and then realised that changes have been made in a subsequent email? Frustrating, isn’t it?

Using real-time collaborative tools removes this problem. The changes you make are shared immediately, and that ensures that information is always up to date, leading to fewer errors and more accurate assessments.

4. Shared knowledge produces better results

When knowledge is shared, the different perspectives and experience of all those involved can enlighten team decision-making. Real-time collaboration reduces knowledge gaps, improves skillsets, and allows seamless information-sharing should someone move on.

5. Save time and improve productivity by communicating in real time

Better visual communication. Fewer meetings. More efficient communication, with no need for long email trails.

The time you can save by working in real time with your team is a major reason to use collaboration tools. The time that is saved translates directly into improving productivity.

What difference could real-time collaboration make to your business?

Sharing more accurate information in real time with your clients, in a way that reduces confusion, allows you to discuss issues immediately and make more informed and more effective decisions.

The associated productivity gains will feed directly to your bottom line.

As your reputation for excellence grows, your client base will follow.

Real-time collaboration has the potential to expand your free time and your business. Aren’t you benefitting from real-time collaboration tools already?

To learn more about the difference that IRIS is already making to the businesses of protective coating contractors and inspectors across the UK, contact us today.

Time Management Secrets of a Successful Protective Coating Specialist

admin — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 14:46:42 +0000

Time Management Secrets of a Successful Protective Coating Specialist

Time waits for no man, least of all protective coating specialists. You’re on-site most of the day, and then you need to compile reports to send to clients before you can finish in the evening. So how is it that some protective coating contractors and inspectors have so much time on their hands, while others always seem to be working?

The answer is digital reporting with IRIS – Intelligent Reporting Inspection Software.

What is digital reporting?

When you are working in the field, you need to take notes and photos to monitor progress of work. The report that you create from these helps you and others to understand the work that has been done or needs to be done.

A digital report structures all your notes and photos into a standardised format, without the need for hours of manual manipulation. You simply point and click, choosing a pre-defined template in which to deliver your report.

How you work now – time-consuming paperwork

The usual way of working on-site is to take notes and photos, and then compile a report later.

Producing the report usually involves typing up your notes in longer format and adding your images once you have downloaded them.

Your notes are written on a pad. How many times have you had to decipher your own handwriting? Or, worse, found that the ink has run in the rain, or been spattered with paint while on-site?

If your handwriting isn’t the best in the world, especially when working fast, you may need to work harder than a Bletchley Park decoder to decipher the important details.

Then there’s another common problem: while you’re typing away, if you forget to press the Save button you’ll need to start again.

It’s not unusual for reports to take a couple of hours to compose.

IRIS – digital efficiency

Coating contractors and inspectors who work the IRIS way work a little differently.

As you undertake your daily duties, instead of taking manual notes that must be written up later, you enter these direct into IRIS. The same with your photos – point, click, direct.

All you need to do when you have finished for the day is to select the template you wish to use, click ‘Load’ and then click ‘Send’. Your job is done.

Better still, if you are connected to the internet, you could also send details to the client at any time during their inspection to benefit from real-time reporting and collaboration.

IRIS – an invaluable time management tool

Though it is not its primary function, as a time management tool IRIS is invaluable for protective coating specialists.

IRIS helps you to complete all your paperwork effectively and efficiently. Reports take seconds to produce, meaning you get to spend more time doing the things you want to do – as well as having more time to complete more work.

Additionally, by using IRIS your reports are produced consistently and professionally – and that is going to impress clients and ensure your standards never slip.

In the digital age, IRIS is the solution that gives contractors and inspectors the most valuable gift of all: time. That’s something you can’t put a price on – though it is less than the cost of a coffee and cake a week.

IRIS – your secret to effective time management in protective coating projects

IRIS has been developed specifically for protective coating contractors and inspectors. Reports created within IRIS conform to all current standards, and changes in these standards are maintained within the system.

IRIS is the tool that could revolutionise your business and your time. To learn more about the many benefits of IRIS, www.iris-reporting.com

IRIS Coatings Quality Control Software

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 09:21:11 +0000