“I know one thing, that I know nothing.” – Socrates.
For many of us, that phrase pretty much explains how we feel about our grasp of modern technology: We know there are systems out there to help us do our jobs better, we just don’t know what they are. For instance, some countertop fabricators have found a great resource in JobTracker to help them address specific organizational and systemic needs in their organizations, but they may not have a clear vision of all the things that JobTracker can do for them on a larger scale.
That was the case for Laura Ackerman of Granite Concepts in Lewiston, ID, who attended the JobTracker Advanced Users Conference in Houston. “If you don’t know all the great things JobTracker can do, then you don’t realize how it can help you,” she explains. “It was good to see the whole picture, even if we aren’t ready to implement everything at this time.”
Goal: Better Templating
In fact, Ackerman’s primary goal for attending the conference was pretty specific – learn how to streamline the template process, specifically reducing the paperwork involved. Through the conference sessions, and from one-on-one assistance from the Moraware team, she increased her awareness of how “going paperless” might be achieved. Even though, it turns out, the timing wasn’t right for implementing those changes, Ackerman got a glimpse of the potential JobTracker has for accommodating Granite Concepts’ future growth.
“I was trying to learn as much as I could about JobTracker,” she says. “For me there was definitely information overload, but I don’t think that means they should change how they did the conference, because I think it forces you to evaluate what you are doing in real life.”
Ackerman was intrigued, in particular, with the variety of companies that attended the event. The size of the organizations ranged from small-ish to very large. (“Practically big box size,” she jokes). The extent to which each company utilizes JobTracker was also very telling for her. “It was nice to see that JobTracker works for everybody.”
Specialized Training
A high point of the conference for Ackerman was the break-out sessions, which paired fabricators with Moraware employees and/or third-party vendors, with the purpose of working on the specific needs of each business. “The one-on-one time to work on individual projects was fabulous,” she says. “I was very impressed that Moraware had their engineers sitting down with real life customers and talking about what impacts their lives. Software engineers don’t necessarily understand real-world applications, but these guys were there asking questions and trying to find out what was important to us, the actual users.”
“I’m relatively new at Granite Concepts,” Ackerman says, “I’ve been here two years. By the time I got to the conference I had learned some things about JobTracker, I had a better idea of how it all works than when I first started in countertops. But I didn’t know the full scope of what JobTracker could do – and I probably still don’t have a comprehensive vision of everything, but I have a better understanding of how it can help us. I know that if, and when, we do want to grow, there are options within Moraware to help us out with that process.”
