Show Group Production Services
Hollywood Movie Equipment Rental Co. Uses KiBiz to Reduce Errors and Expand Business
Live touring productions are typical users of the type of equipment and services SGPS provides. Their touring production clients have included: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Carrie Underwood, Disney “Music Block Party 2008”, Brooks and Dunn and many more. Major Hollywood feature film and TV productions, such as: “Mission Impossible 3”, “A I Artificial Intelligence”, “Bruce Almighty”, “Spiderman” are also among those that have relied on the equipment and expertise of SGPS. Special Events such as the screening of the “DaVinci Code” in Los Angeles and the premier party for “Spiderman 2” also turned to SGPS. Industrial Shows are also typical clients of SGPS.
While their clients are mostly from the entertainment industry, Hewlett Packard, Cisco, and Ford are among those who have turned to SGPS for their Industrial Shows.
A company must be efficient, responsive, accurate and most importantly… on time to survive and prosper serving the entertainment industry and special events productions. Time is of critical importance and there is little tolerance for mistakes.
Show Group Production Services
For over thirty years SGPS has been providing rental equipment, primarily overhead rigging and motion control automation systems, to the entertainment industry. They operate two independent offices, one in Los Angeles and the other in Las Vegas.
Business Challenge
Business starts for SGPS when a client calls with a job. Whether it involves items off the shelf or something that will be a custom design, SGPS must first come up with an itemized quote listing all the items that would need to be rented, along with the financial terms of the rental. Usually after some discussion all the details are agreed upon and at that point SGPS has to generate a “pull list” for their warehouse, for that job. The items on the pull list must obviously match the items on the quote, exactly. The problem is that there are so many variables and so many steps along the way where mistakes can be made. SGPS wanted to cut down the percentage of mistakes being made.
It took a lot of time to generate both the quote and then the pull list by hand and there was a lot of room for error in generating these things manually. Because there is no tolerance for error, SGPS had to find a way to seamlessly generate their Pull Lists from the original quotes, which can be complicated. Just one item on the quote, a chain hoist for example, could have thirty-five or more components that go with it; each one must show up on the pull list.
SGPS knew they wanted a system that would be FileMaker-based. They explored several off-the-shelf quoting and inventory control software programs but they were not customizable and to build something from scratch was cost prohibitive.
Solution
After speaking with Allen Imbarrato, President of Ki Systems at length, Michael Krevitt, Partner at SGPS, decided that because of its ability to be customized and that it was based in FileMaker Pro, the KiBiz System had everything he needed. Before a company-wide rollout of the System, Michael worked closely with KiBiz to identify the areas where customization would be needed and implemented those customizations to get the System ready for wider use.
Together Michael and Allen went through each operation in the system and as they worked with it, they understood the customizations that would be needed. Gradually they let it loose on a larger number of employees who used it. Their feedback provided the information needed to continue tweaking and further customize the System. Since, Michael was familiar with FileMaker Pro, he was able to make a lot of these changes himself, which he wasn’t able to do in their previous software. This was another big benefit to them, as it not only saved them money, it made the system more effective.
All SGPS’ equipment, individual items and the systems they are part of, were entered into the KiBiz System with all pertinent data such as cost, physical characteristics like dimensions and weight included. With the data in one place, the KiBiz System easily generates quotes and automates the process of generating pull lists.
“We have lots of people using the system; I needed it to be flexible and comprehensive. There are some key points along the way in our process where I didn’t want employees to have a choice but there are other places where I wanted to force the issue, where they would have to make a choice. At the same time we were trying to eliminate mistakes, we wanted the System to prevent problems before they arose. We were able to accomplish all of that.”
The KiBiz System generates all the paperwork that goes to the warehouse in a standardized format. SGPS warehouse personnel see the exact same information, in exactly the same format on pull lists day in and day out. As a result the warehouse operates more efficiently; items get out more quickly.
Benefits
KiBiz dramatically reduced the time it takes SGPS to generate a quote and the pull list associated with it, which has saved SGPS a great deal of money.
One of the biggest benefits SGPS realizes from using KiBiz has been the improvement in the accuracy of the data. Since they operate in such a time-sensitive and highly competitive entertainment industry environment, it is essential they deliver the right equipment on time to a movie, TV Show, Music Tour, or Corporate event.
Because the System is accurate, SGPS performs with a high degree of reliability for their clients. In their industry a reputation for reliability is a must. Since installing KiBiz, “mistakes have been cut to just about zero” according to Michael. The expense of fixing mistakes and rushing missing items to job sites is gone and with that, SGPS is enjoying higher profit margins.
Management reports that it is especially helpful to have the ability to go into the System and see the quotes that have been generated over the last couple of hours, to review them for issues that might have to do with client relations or a particular piece of equipment going out. Things happen and change and evolve quickly. A quote can change dramatically in an afternoon it is important to SGPS management to keep up with quotes as they are developed.
The search and sort capabilities of FileMaker and the KiBiz System enables SGPS’ management to look at more ‘big picture’ issues, either by client, by specific piece of equipment or specific pieces of equipment during a specific period of time, which helps them in their decision making on broader matters.
The KiBiz System has streamlined the process of generating quotes and pull lists for SGPS in a way that enables them to operate their business more efficiently and enables them to do it without mistakes. As a result SGPS is able to deliver the service their clients demand and they’re
able to do it more profitably.
“Since installing KiBiz, mistakes have been cut to just about zero. The expense of fixing mistakes and rushing missing items to job sites is way down, which helps our profit margins increase.“
Michael Krevitt, Partner at SGPS