Tri-State Fire Sprinklers: Streamlining Operations and Driving Growth

The Company and the Challenge

Tri-State Fire Sprinklers, founded by Meir Fried in 2009, is a New York-based company that specializes in installing, testing, and maintaining fire sprinklers. Over the years, the company has grown steadily, boasting a workforce of over 120 employees and serving over 1,500 properties every month.

In spite of their impressive growth, Tri-State Fire Sprinklers, also known as Tri-State, faced significant challenges when it came to ordering materials and managing invoices. The company had to place a large number of orders for steel pipes, fittings, and as many as 25,000 sprinkler heads annually. The method of placing these orders was primarily via phone calls which was inefficient, leading to missed or misunderstood orders, and wrong or delayed material delivery. Furthermore, when invoices arrived, they had no efficient way to verify the costs or cross-check them against ordered materials.

These issues were amplified when Tri-State’s CEO started seeing the cost of these inefficiencies and reduced productivity impact the business. This is when he began to seek a solution.

Finding a Solution with StructShare

As part of their journey to solve their material ordering and invoice management problems, Tri-State Fire Sprinklers discovered StructShare, a platform designed to streamline construction material procurement. 

StructShare was a perfect fit because it resolved their two main issues - ordering and invoicing. Orders were previously scattered across emails, text messages, WhatsApp, phone calls, and written lists. Even worse, orders would be written down wrong or processed incorrectly, leading to the incorrect material arriving at the warehouse or directly on a job site.  

Employees were in a constant state of wondering where an order was or if the material would arrive on time as there was no central, accurate hub of order and invoice information available. When it came time to invoice, there was central source of information for the correct pricing, leading to hours and hours of manual review each and every month.

Now, with StructShare, the ordering process is centralized and more organized. The company's ability to follow up on orders and ensure correct delivery has improved significantly. 

On the invoicing side, StructShare provided an efficient way to review each invoice. This saves Tri-State hundreds of hours each year and helped increase profits by as much as 18%, as the Tri-State team no longer has to manually review and estimate costs. 

Implementation and Impact

Tri-State rolled out StructShare slowly. Initially, they began by inputting all order requests received via email into StructShare. As they became more comfortable with the software, they expanded its use to supervisors and field workers.

The implementation was well-received by the staff. Over time, it became clear that orders could only be placed via StructShare. This process resulted in boosted efficiency and significantly improved order accuracy. Tri-States estimates they have reduced double orders by 15% and missing or delayed orders by 35%.

The impact of implementing StructShare was immediate and profound. Tri-State could keep better track of their ordering, receive precise estimates for their materials, and most importantly, they were able to keep up with the growing demand for their services. 

Furthermore, using StructShare eliminated miscommunications and errors caused by varied spellings or naming conventions for items.

“StructShare solves so many of our issues…it just streamlines the ordering process in a way we didn’t think possible.” - Tuli Fried, Purchaser

Looking Ahead

The adoption of StructShare at Tri-State is an inspiring narrative that perfectly illustrates how embracing digital transformation can drastically streamline operations, increase efficiency, and contribute to an organization's overall growth. This case demonstrates the company's foresight in addressing pressing issues such as inefficiencies in ordering and invoicing systems that posed risks to both their operational workflow and financial performance.

Tri-State’s leap into StructShare was driven by a genuine need for change not just to adapt, but to thrive in a competitive industry. It was a commitment to improve, backed by the knowledge that the software was continuously evolving and improving. This openness to change and belief in the product allowed Tri-State to dive headfirst into an unknown digital space, displaying a rare agility often not seen in such sectors.

StructShare's impact on Tri-State extends beyond just financial savings and increased efficiency. The software brought peace of mind and insight to the team. With a centralized, uniform system, tracking orders became seamless, and coordination between placing, receiving, and invoicing was more manageable. The platform also facilitated improved communication with vendors and within the team, reducing misunderstandings and maintaining consistency.

The evolution of Tri-State serves as a testament to the transformative power of digital tools like StructShare. It highlights that willingness to change, coupled with the right digital solution, can pave the way for operational efficiency, improved financial performance, and overall business growth. Their story inspires us to embrace change, seek solutions, and remember that sometimes, taking a leap of faith in technology can lead to substantial benefits.

Would you recommend StructShare to someone? 

“I absolutely would recommend StructShare. It’s been an invaluable asset, enabling us to grow and keep up with the demands of the industry.” Tuli Fried