Three routes per site — how a location-based data model eliminated duplicate documentation work
Site visit documentation was produced as photos sent via messenger, in a scope that depended on the engineer, and every subsequent job at the same address required repeating the entire effort. We built an app based on a location model instead of a project model, with standardized documentation scope, four roles, and an events module recording costs.
Documentation in photos and work done twice
Each engineer used their own scope and their own way of describing, so material quality was uneven and verification time-consuming. The biggest problem emerged with repeat jobs at the same address. The system organized data around the project, so a subsequent job in the same building meant redoing the entire documentation from scratch, even though technical conditions remained the same. The company was planning expansion into further regions. Maintaining the existing way of working would mean multiplying this problem in every new location.
What we didA data model built around location
- Changed the central data object from project to location — one location aggregates documentation from all jobs at the same address, eliminating duplicated effort on subsequent deliveries.
- Standardized the site visit scope — three mandatory installation route variants, each tied to a specific spot on the site.
- Changed how technical points are identified — from distance-based descriptions to physical markings used on site, removing interpretive discrepancies between the engineer and the installation crew.
- Defined four roles — administrator, project manager, engineer, and installer — with separate permission scopes and views matched to their tasks.
- Linked the system with the existing CRM — creating a project requires an existing client record, and identifiers come from systems already used in the company, preventing a parallel database from forming.
- Added an events module covering dates, notes, attachments, and cost and revenue recording, keeping technical documentation and financial data in one place.
- Ran tests on real jobs, collecting feedback from the person responsible for documentation approval — most panel improvements came from that path.
What changed
Site visit documentation has a uniform scope regardless of the engineer performing it. A repeat job at a known address leverages existing documentation instead of requiring its recreation. The installation crew receives material in a format that doesn't require follow-up questions about interpretation. Costs and revenues are recorded at the event level, feeding the engagement profitability calculation.
“'Documenting how the company works' isn't a binder document — it's enforcing a uniform workflow through the tool the team uses every day. The most important decision was changing the object around which data is organized. Organizations default to organizing around jobs, because that's how they invoice. Technical knowledge concerns the place, not the job.”
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