Westkon Precast

Since 1987, Westkon Precast has produced structural precast components and detailed architectural products for the building and engineering construction industry. Over the years, they have grown to accommodate specialty services for the civil engineering sector, producing bridge beams, barriers, and feature noise walls, as well as other precast concrete products. Today, they are recognized as a pioneer in the field, with the capabilities to produce a sustainable and versatile building material that is showing extraordinary growth.

Westkon Precast has manufactured and constructed precast products for some of Australia’s largest and most prominent landmarks, buildings, sporting stadiums, and road developments.

In mid-2019, we received a collaboration request from this Australian company.

The initial challenge was the client’s legacy system.

Westkon Precast, an early adopter of Salesforce since 2008, presented a unique aspect to the project: instead of implementing the Salesforce solution, a core service of ours, we inherited and had to improve their existing system. The system then required modernization to align with the latest technological features offered by Salesforce.

The collaboration began as a project-based engagement, with the client providing specific requirements. We successfully implemented these requirements, showcasing our expertise in two vital areas of Salesforce support: consulting and solution development.

Following that, to the delight of both parties, the collaboration was extended and flourished for a remarkable five years. Over this period, we have evolved into experts in Salesforce solutions within the AEC industry, with Westkon Precast standing out as one of our most successful and enduring projects.

All the solutions we built are custom-made and tailor-made.

While Salesforce offers a range of off-the-shelf solutions, we opted to develop every module, functionality, and solution ourselves to align with the industry’s specific requirements and the client’s unique business and production organization.

In the initial five years of our partnership with Westkon Precast, our focus was on enhancing existing solutions, alongside the development of entirely new modules and functionalities for further optimization.

Throughout this process, had a rule that each of our solutions must meet four conditions:

• to be user-friendly, easy to use for the end user,
• to be compact, with clear navigation,
• to be functional and serve business effectively, 
• to be customized to meet the client’s specifications and needs.

Thanks to effective communication and collaboration with the client, all our solutions are swiftly implemented, and aligned with the company’s requirements.

The Kameleon Solutions team has played a pivotal role in elevating Westkon’s Salesforce system – now called Westkonnect – to a new level, ensuring widespread adoption and aiding employees in their daily tasks, reporting, and processes. And given the highly specific demands of the AEC industry, Westkon Precast – operating as a precast manufacturer and on-site installer – required extensive customization to address various facets of their business, encompassing:

• Estimating;
• Planning;
• Management;
• Production;
• Quality control;
• Delivery.

To this day, we remain convinced that this project represents a one-of-a-kind instance of Salesforce implementation, wherein the entire company is enveloped by Salesforce features.

Engaging in this project is a testament to the beauty of creativity in the process, as we construct something entirely new. This approach might not be the norm and it deviates from the typical way companies utilize Salesforce. Yet, we have dedicated more than 2300 hours to developing and constructing solutions and processes to integrate the entire business seamlessly into the platform.

In the specified period (2019 – today), where we completed numerous tasks, we’ll spotlight the most noteworthy achievements and advancements in critical business areas. 

We embarked on a groundbreaking transformation by transitioning the existing system from Classic to the Lightning environment.

This inaugural Westkon Precast project involved a thorough review of all components and functionalities, seamlessly aligning them with the new system. The adoption of Salesforce Lightning brought about innovations in functionality, navigation, components, and the generation of business reports. Over the subsequent five years, the following accomplishments were realized:

The manufacturing costs were reduced after implementing production planning and management modules, as well as a comprehensive time and attendance module.

These solutions provided timely and accurate information, empowering project managers to plan labor and resources well in advance, and steering away from guesswork and potential crises.

We have achieved a substantial increase in productivity.

The live labor data supplied by the system, a critical aspect of Westkon’s business, enables decision-makers to promptly respond and adjust manufacturing parameters, enabling the company to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and stay within the project’s budget.

We have attained 100% system stability for logging employees’ working hours, a vital element for the company’s operations that directly impacts the calculation of employee and associate wages.

Operating with zero tolerance for errors, the system ensures precise compensation for each recorded working hour. Such solutions prove particularly essential in industries with a significant temporary workforce, elevating production plant productivity and ensuring the successful completion of planned projects within designated time frames. 

We achieved a reduction in recasts by implementing a rigorous quality control system that is monitored daily, resulting in substantial cost savings.

Additionally, we bolstered the QA segment, enhancing customer satisfaction by revitalizing and upgrading the existing QA module. The introduction of new options and streamlined processes throughout the quality control chain, including efficient documentation generation, directly contributed to heightened customer satisfaction, incorporating client-driven quality control measures. Advancing beyond the initial few complaints and challenges, we have now reached a point where Westkon Precast customers have not raised any concerns in the past 12 months.

Significant time savings were achieved by developing a new solution to generate precise reports and by introducing modules to streamline the traditionally time-intensive reporting process.

The reporting system also provided the Westkon Precast team with invaluable real-time information, enabling informed decision-making and eliminating guesswork.

• The introduction of the automatic time and attendance system, as part of Westkonnect, resulted in Westkon Precast saving two full days of data entry.
• Implementing the Project Management tool as an internal management system saved the client hundreds of emails each week, streamlined information, and reduced the hours spent searching for information among numerous emails. This initiative also accelerated and enhanced the productivity of their meetings.

Notably, our emphasis on solutions for Profit and Loss (P&L) reporting, a fundamental aspect of any business, led to the automation of this critical task.

Intriguingly, we integrated the existing document generation solution with our new system, creating a seamlessly connected and successful overall system.

Any potential waste of time and money is eliminated, by optimizing a critical aspect of the business – the system for transporting and delivering products.

This comprehensive transformation ensured a 0% error possibility, improved functionality for a more efficient workflow, and reduced the processing time for customer delivery requests. Additionally, we significantly enhanced customer request flexibility by offering more options and conveniences, such as the ability to schedule multiple deliveries simultaneously.

Following the modernization, the system operates flawlessly, and our Kameleon Solutions team is committed to resolving any issues within 15 minutes, regardless of substantial time zone differences.

This aspect is crucial to the business since delivery trucks cover extensive distances across Australia, and any malfunction or system failure could result in significant time and financial losses for the client.

Presently, every Westkon Precast employee, ranging from factory workers to directors, utilizes business solutions based on Salesforce. Furthermore, their customers also engage with Salesforce through a portal, where they can efficiently organize orders and deliveries to their addresses, benefiting from substantial functionality. Every individual, whether directly or indirectly, is integrated into the Salesforce-based system.

This practice is globally unique, as many companies usually choose to implement a Salesforce solution in just one sector, like customer support or sales. However, Westkon’s approach involves the comprehensive permeation of Salesforce solutions across the entire company and all departments.

With everyone in the organization using Westkonnect daily, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Individuals recognize its value and potential, consistently working towards further development to enhance user-friendliness and utility.

We see Westkon Precast as an exemplary case of how Salesforce can positively impact an entire business, offering a comprehensive solution that benefits all sectors of the company.