Project Management for Power and Pneumatic Tools

Universal Branding

"Now we can control every project in every office with one software solution, tracking, updating and allocating projects in a timely, efficient manner."
- CEO

Main Challenges

Universal Branding used Microsoft Excel to track its projects. However as they expanded, distributing hundreds of products and evaluating dozens of potentially new products, their old system of spreadsheets was insufficient.

  • No central repository for projects
  • Lacked transparency which made it difficult to determine if projects were late or on time
  • Did not have an efficient tracking system for more productive inter-office communications
  • Unable to view resource workloads or resource allocation

With no central repository for storing projects, the team had no transparency regarding project status. Similarly, Universal Branding had no good way to share documents. Communicating via the internet was hampering progress. Another problem arising from this lack of control was resource management. Project managers were unable to forecast resource allocation accurately. The outcome wasn't surprising: some resources were overworked while others might be idle, which hindered productivity. Without a view into the team's resources workload or resource allocation, it was challenging to know who was available when. As they grew, it became increasingly difficult to maintain coordination among the geographically dispersed offices. "People in our various offices weren't on the same page," said Universal Branding's CEO. "Because of our outmoded project tracking system, we didn't know precisely what was going on at any one time. As a result, we couldn't adequately control workflow." Furthermore, when a new project began, there was confusion regarding which department would handle it or who was in charge. "Obviously" said the CEO, "we needed organization."

Why Project Insight

Management evaluated three project management solutions and asked for demonstrations. "We selected Project Insight because the other solutions, quite simply, didn't have the robust features we needed," Universal Branding's CEO explained. "Project Insight's software allowed us to establish a central repository where all project managers could see the status of all projects in real time, which was vital. This transparency would unify communications throughout our offices to ensure maximum productivity and efficiency."

  • Centralized projects and resources in one place for all the distributed offices
  • Provided a central repository for documents that aided transparency and unified communications
  • Facilitated the approval process
  • Allowed for resource balancing with resource allocation views

Project Insight, project and portfolio management software also allowed project managers to better allocate resource workloads to ensure projects were completed on time. The software also automatically generated customizable reports that made planning and forecasting easier. Equally important was the approval process. Project managers in geographically dispersed offices could view new project data simultaneously, which sped up go/no go decisions.

The Results

  • Provides project organization and control for greater productivity
  • Creates a central location where project managers in geographically dispersed offices can view, track and update projects in real time
  • Produces customized reports for better decision making

Universal Branding began using Project Insight's cloud project management software in November 2013. Since then, management has been slowly increasing the software's capabilities. "Now we have complete control over our projects," the CEO said. "We track all projects, update them in real time and manage resource allocation better. We can divide projects among more project managers, which makes us more efficient. And as we get more involved with the software, we're taking advantage of more of its capabilities." Customizable reports provide details on time management, tasks and resource allocation, which have improved the approval process. "And if we have any problems or questions, Project Insight technical representatives are there to help us. This was especially useful in the beginning as we slowly came up to speed. Their customer service is terrific."