How National Contractor Ford AV Keeps Its Crews at 100% Productivity with Fieldwire’s Proactive Planning Tools

Ford AV at-a-glance

40-Plus
The number of specialist crews Ford AV sends out for jobs weekly

Zero
Productivity loss due to COVID-19 restrictions thanks to proactive project planning and management with Fieldwire

Ford AV

Solutions: Design, installation, and servicing professional and commercial sound, AV, lighting, and temperature screening systems
Customers: Businesses, educational facilities, churches, entertainment, government, performing arts centers, and sporting venues
Location: Nationwide with offices in more than 15 cities
Notable projects: Grand Central Terminal, American Airlines’ corporate offices

Before Fieldwire

At Ford AV, most project managers work from the office, which makes for a lot of back-and-forth communication between dispersed teams. In the past, project managers needed to email or call tradespeople in the field about the status of work, then log updates in various software. These different methods of tracking were prone to errors and delays, leading to potential rework and late payments from customers.

“Before Fieldwire, we used Excel spreadsheets and Google Docs to keep production moving. That took us much longer than it does now.”

David Allen, Corporate VP, Ford AV

With proactive planning and centralized progress tracking in Fieldwire, Ford AV was able to keep crews consistently working through COVID-19 restrictions, even as some customers needed to lock down jobsites. “There have been no layoffs during this time,” David says.

With Fieldwire

Right now, over 40 Ford AV crews are working on-site on Fieldwire, with more projects coming in as businesses reopen. Fieldwire lets Ford AV's teams continue to be productive during the pandemic by helping them collaborate and communicate, ensuring all office and field personnel are aligned and set up for success.

“We haven’t seen many problems with jobsite shutdowns since the beginning of the lockdowns. We’re calling up customers to let them know we can get projects done early.”

David Allen, Corporate VP, Ford AV

In addition to keeping teams at full productivity, Fieldwire helps Ford AV avoid costly rework. “We have a lot fewer mistakes due to revised drawings being uploaded to Fieldwire, as opposed to installing something that got changed that the site personnel wasn’t informed about.”