Case Studies

Key Benefits

Powerful form builder

Re-flow’s customisable form builder enabled Wainwright to tailor digital forms to match their needs, with different forms for operatives, foremen, and supervisors. The ease of use meant new forms could be quickly created or updated in-house, allowing Wainwright to stay agile and responsive to changing site needs.

Instant form uploads

With Re-flow, documents submitted on site – timesheets, incidents, defect reports, confirmation of verbal instructions, and so on – were instantly available to office staff. This real-time visibility gave the company tighter control over operations and a much faster turnaround for internal processing and external communications.

Real-time dashboard visibility

Re-flow’s dashboard provided a centralised view of operations, consolidating key data like job progress, vehicle checks, staff activity, and health and safety documentation and allowing data-led decision-making. Managers could track field performance, monitor compliance, and generate reports quickly, all from a single platform.

Summary

Before adopting Re-flow, Wainwright was contending with the inefficiencies of manual systems – delayed defect reports, late timesheets, and a heavy admin burden that impacted both invoicing speed and sustainability efforts. The company needed a solution that could capture field data in real time, streamline administration, and present information clearly and accessibly to drive better compliance and faster decision-making.

Re-flow offered a flexible digital platform that fitted perfectly to Wainwright’s operational structure. Field teams could submit forms instantly, updates were shared in real time, and management gained centralised oversight through an intuitive dashboard. Wainwright saw time and cost savings, instant invoicing, improved compliance, and gained a software partner as the business grew. Re-flow has become an indispensable part of their daily operations.

Organisation details

John Wainwright & Co. Ltd is a quarrying and surfacing company based in Somerset with a big emphasis on sustainability. Founded in 1891, the company operates the Moons Hill Quarry – the only source of hard basalt in the Mendip Hills – supplying premium aggregates and asphalt to the construction industry.

In the early 2000s, Wainwright expanded its operations by launching a road surfacing division who now complete projects for both public and private sector clients across the UK.

Challenges

Before looking at field management software, Wainwright’s surfacing department were progressing well. But certain day-to-day challenges were making life more difficult than necessary.

Managing huge volumes of paper-based processes across remote teams was causing delays. Waiting for documents to return to the office held up invoicing and auditing. Defect reports arriving late meant fitters couldn’t react to issues quickly. Jobs further afield often meant timesheets arrived a week late.

The admin burden of processing and duplicating paper also took its toll when scanning, saving, filing, and creating carbon copies. Physical journeys just to drop off documents impacted not only efficiency, by adding extra downtime, but Wainwright’s sustainability goals.

Processes affected:

• Vehicle and plant defects

• Site reports

• CVIs

• Health and safety start and shift briefings

There were also challenges around engagement and compliance. Traditional health and safety documents were dense and difficult to read – lots of small text, often hand-written. Operatives weren’t always engaging with them properly. 

Aims

Wainwright wanted a field management system that could capture crucial site data in real time, streamline administrative tasks, and make that information immediately available for invoicing, audits, or health and safety monitoring.

Key goals included:

• Digital-first data capture: to enable operatives to log forms and updates directly on site, having them upload to the cloud, and removing the need to return paperwork to the office.

• Faster, more accurate invoicing: to make project and job data available instantly so the admin team could raise invoices without delay.

• Responsive incident and change management: to allow field teams to record incidents, near misses, and project changes immediately, with built-in sign-off and traceability.

• Better engagement with compliance processes: to present health and safety and other key forms in a more readable, structured format to drive proper understanding and participation.

• Simplicity and accessibility: to choose a platform that was intuitive enough for everyone to use confidently – regardless of technical skill level.

Wainwright discovered Re-flow through a recommendation from another firm in the industry. After hearing how well it was working for them, the system felt like a natural fit.

Solutions

The key benefits of Re-flow for Wainwright included:

• Digital transformation: from vehicle defect checks to supervisor reports, every form could be submitted from the field and accessed instantly by office staff.

• Real-time information sharing: data submitted from site would be instantly available at head office, allowing for rapid response to incidents, immediate sharing client communication, and same-day invoicing.

• Customisable form builder: Re-flow’s flexible form builder would allow Wainwright to tailor forms to each role – operatives, foremen, and supervisors – ensuring the right data could be captured at the right level.

• Timesheet and payroll accuracy: operatives would be able to log shifts and emergency callouts in real-time, enabling accurate, timely payroll and full visibility of out-of-hours work.

• Support for sustainability goals: the platform could facilitate tracking of fuel usage, tonnage, and site activity – supporting environmental reporting and carbon reduction strategies.

• Scalability and support: Re-flow’s platform would be able to scale seamlessly with the business. New users, forms, and workflows could be added with ease, while dedicated support would ensure ongoing configuration and training.

• Intuitive interface and easy adoption: the clear, user-friendly design of Re-flow’s interface and easy-to-use form filling would promote adoption across teams, even among users previously hesitant to switch from paper-based systems.

• Improved communication: updates, job packs, and workload changes could be issued directly to site via the Re-flow app, ensuring everyone worked from the most up-to-date information.

• Comprehensive dashboard oversight: Re-flow’s centralised dashboard would bring together job statuses, health and safety documentation, and reporting tools – giving managers full oversight and enabling data-driven decision-making.

Results

‘I would recommend Reflow to every surfacing business within the industry, definitely,’ said Matthew Moore, Wainwright’s contracting general manager.

Emma Jackson, commercial assistant and the company’s Re-flow expert, highlighted how Wainwright have used Re-flow’s flexibility to adapt the software to their specific needs. ‘We use Re-flow in a tiered system. So we have operatives on site, then you have the foreman who are in charge of the operatives, and then we have supervisors who are in charge of the foreman. Each member has a different role in Re-flow and in the workplace, and it’s been a huge improvement getting immediate information from site.’

Re-flow has helped Wainwright achieve:

• Massive time savings: an estimated 10 hours per week were saved in admin and site visits, thanks to real-time data capture and reduced travel for paperwork collection.

• Cost and carbon reductions: by cutting unnecessary mileage, Wainwright saved up to £300 per week in fuel, directly supporting their sustainability goals.

• Instant invoicing: with job data submitted digitally, invoicing could happen as soon as the work was done – rather than waiting for physical documents to return.

• Real-time site visibility: supervisors and the office team had immediate access to shift updates, incidents, and scope changes, enabling faster client communication and better project control.

• Better engagement and adoption: even reluctant operatives were quickly won over by Re-flow’s intuitive system. Forms were clear, legible, and easy to complete.

• Improved compliance and H&S oversight: time-stamped digital forms gave confidence that vehicle inspections, CVIs, and health and safety protocols were being followed and recorded properly.

• Simplified monthly reporting: dashboards provided instant access to key data like operatives per site, tonnes laid, and jobs completed – crucial for accurate KPI tracking.

• Scalable support for growth: as the workforce grew from 28 to 54 operatives, Re-flow adapted with them—adding users, forms, and new workflows with minimal disruption.

Has Re-flow made an impact? Could the company go back to how they were operating before? Matthew Moore put it well. ‘Never,’ he said. ‘Hand on heart, I could never see us deviating from what we do now with Re-flow and going back to how we used to work. Never. I couldn't think of anything worse.’

And the ‘support has been very, very positive from the initial start up till now. If we need any help in the background with the dashboards or updating the app, we can just contact Re-flow, set up a quick Teams meeting, go through it on screen, get it sorted, and off we go.’