Nevada Illumination Current Order Processing

 

The following explanation and combined map reinforce how paper-dependent the current workflow is: phone slips function as the initial work request and dispatch mechanism, the board is effectively the scheduling system, and the handwritten work order becomes the field record used to create the final QuickBooks invoice.

Nevada Illumination — Current Service Call Process

 

CLIENT REQUEST
Phone Call or Email
↓
SERVICE REQUEST RECEIVED BY OFFICE
Manager/office receives request and reviews scope
↓
CREATE PAPER PHONE CALL SLIP
Record:

  • Customer/property
  • Location
  • Requested work/problem
  • Known fixture/equipment information
  • Parts/materials believed to be needed
  • Special instructions/access information

↓
PRINT EMAIL — IF APPLICABLE
Original customer email is printed and attached to the Phone Call Slip to provide additional details
↓
MANAGER REVIEWS / CONFIRMS WORK
Determine that request is ready to be scheduled
↓
MANUAL SCHEDULING & TECHNICIAN ASSIGNMENT
Manager:

  • Reviews outstanding paper slips
  • Determines technician assignment
  • Determines which jobs should be performed that day
  • Establishes sequence/route for each technician

↓
CREATE TECHNICIAN’S DAILY ROUTE
Phone Call Slips are scanned/organized in route order and placed on the technician’s board
↓
TECHNICIAN REVIEWS DAILY JOBS
Technician reviews slips and attached information
↓
PARTS / MATERIAL PREPARATION
Technician determines what additional parts, lamps, fixtures, tools and equipment may be required and loads truck
↓
TECHNICIAN TRAVELS TO JOB
↓
SERVICE WORK PERFORMED
Technician diagnoses issue and completes requested work
↓
PAPER WORK ORDER COMPLETED
Technician manually records:

  • Labor/time
  • Technicians involved
  • Work performed
  • Parts/materials used
  • Equipment used
  • Location of work
  • Additional findings/comments

↓
WORK ORDER RETURNED TO OFFICE
↓
MANAGER REVIEWS COMPLETED WORK ORDER
Manager interprets field information and determines final billable amounts
↓
MANUAL ADJUSTMENTS
Manager adds/corrects:

  • Actual labor hours
  • Additional labor
  • Materials/parts
  • Equipment
  • Travel or other applicable charges
  • Disposal or other fees

↓
QUICKBOOKS INVOICE CREATED
↓
INVOICE SENT TO CUSTOMER

Service Call Process at a Glance

Customer → Office → Paper Slip → Manager → Schedule/Route → Technician → Paper Work Order → Manager → QuickBooks → Invoice

There are therefore two separate manual handoffs surrounding the field operation:

Before field work: customer request → paper → manager → technician

After field work: technician → paper → manager → QuickBooks

Nevada Illumination — Current Estimate Process

 

The estimate process starts differently but eventually enters essentially the same paper dispatch and field-completion workflow.

CUSTOMER / PROSPECT REQUESTS ESTIMATE
Phone Call or Email
↓
MANAGER REVIEWS REQUEST
Determine scope, requirements and information needed to prepare estimate
↓
ESTIMATE CREATED IN QUICKBOOKS
Manager manually creates customer/project estimate
↓
ESTIMATE SENT TO CUSTOMER
↓
ESTIMATE APPROVED?

NO → Estimate remains open / follow-up as necessary

YES ↓

QUICKBOOKS ESTIMATE MARKED/RECORDED AS ACCEPTED
↓
JOB MOVES INTO PAPER WORKFLOW
Manager creates/prepares the necessary Phone Call Slip/job documentation
↓
CUSTOMER EMAIL / SUPPORTING INFORMATION PRINTED & ATTACHED
When applicable
↓
MANAGER SCHEDULES JOB
Determine:

  • Technician
  • Date
  • Route/order
  • Expected materials/equipment requirements

↓
JOB ADDED TO TECHNICIAN’S BOARD / DAILY ROUTE
↓
TECHNICIAN REVIEWS JOB
↓
TECHNICIAN IDENTIFIES & LOADS PARTS / EQUIPMENT
↓
TECHNICIAN TRAVELS TO CUSTOMER LOCATION
↓
ESTIMATED WORK PERFORMED
↓
PAPER WORK ORDER COMPLETED IN FIELD
Actual work, hours, materials, equipment and changes are documented
↓
COMPLETED WORK ORDER RETURNED TO MANAGER
↓
MANAGER COMPARES ACTUAL WORK TO ESTIMATE
↓
MANAGER MAKES NECESSARY ADJUSTMENTS
Actual:

  • Labor hours
  • Materials
  • Equipment
  • Additional work
  • Other billable charges

↓
ACCEPTED QUICKBOOKS ESTIMATE CONVERTED TO INVOICE
↓
FINAL INVOICE REVIEWED
↓
INVOICE SENT TO CUSTOMER

Estimate Process at a Glance

Customer → Manager → QuickBooks Estimate → Customer Approval → Paper Job → Schedule/Route → Technician → Paper Work Order → Manager Review/Adjustments → QuickBooks Invoice

Combined Current-State Process

 

The two processes can also be illustrated together:

What This Map Reveals

 

This is important for evaluating Service Vision or any software because Nevada Illumination does have a functioning workflow—it is simply being managed through people, paper and QuickBooks rather than through a connected field-service system. The objective shouldn’t be to completely reinvent the operation.

The principal manual control points are:

  1. Request capture — calls/emails are manually converted into Phone Call Slips.
  2. Information duplication — email information may be printed and attached rather than remaining digitally connected to the job.
  3. Dispatch — the manager manually decides technician, day and sequence.
  4. Route communication — paper slips/scans and the physical board communicate the day’s workload.
  5. Parts preparation — technicians interpret the paperwork and determine what they need.
  6. Field documentation — actual work is recorded on handwritten work orders.
  7. Return-to-office handoff — completed paperwork must physically return to management.
  8. Job reconciliation — the manager reviews and interprets field information.
  9. Billing adjustments — actual hours, parts and equipment are manually entered/reconciled.
  10. QuickBooks completion — the manager creates the invoice or converts the accepted estimate into an invoice.

The manager is the central information hub in both workflows. Nearly every job passes through her multiple times. That is probably the most important observation when evaluating our replacement system: the goal should be to remove repetitive administrative handling without forcing technicians to become estimators, schedulers, or billing specialists.

OUR GOAL

 

For Nevada Illumination’s order processing, we would define the desired transition as:

Paper-driven → digitally assisted → not technician-driven.

The technicians should probably only need a very simple mobile workflow: see today’s jobs → open job details → record arrival/completion → record labor → select/add parts/equipment → add notes/photos → complete job.Scheduling, pricing, invoicing and accounting control can remain primarily with the office.

Nevada Illumination — Current-State to Future-State Workflow

THE FUTURE-STATE WORKFLOW

 

The future-state service workflow should become:

 

Customer Request → Digital Service Order → Manager Review → Schedule/Dispatch → Technician Mobile Job → Work Performed → Electronic Work Order → Manager Review/Approval → QuickBooks Invoice

And the future-state estimate workflow:

Estimate Request → QuickBooks Estimate → Customer Approval → Digital Work Order → Schedule/Dispatch → Technician Mobile Job → Electronic Completion → Manager Reviews Actual vs. Estimated → Adjustments → QuickBooks Invoice

Digitize the workflow without unnecessarily changing how Nevada Illumination operates.

The field technicians should not become estimators, schedulers, accountants, or invoice creators. Their digital responsibilities should be limited to view job → review instructions → record time → record parts/equipment → add notes/photos → complete job. The manager retains scheduling, pricing, exception review, and final billing control.

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