Anthracite frames, white silicone
The team is fitting anthracite grey frames on a house with a rendered finish. They have white and brown silicone on the van, not grey. They are short of the matching 25mm trim, and the cill end caps are for a different cill profile. Someone drives to the merchant, or the job is finished with what they have and a note to come back.
Why vans are never quite right
Window fitting uses a long tail of small items in many colours and profiles: trims, cloaking, cill ends, cill extensions, packers, fixings, expanding foam, silicone in several colours, low modulus sealant, beads. Each job's needs depend on its frame colour, cill type and wall finish, which the fitters may not know until they arrive.
- Van stock is checked by eye and topped up from the yard when someone notices.
- Each job's colour and profile needs are not listed for the fitters beforehand.
- Trims and cill ends for less common colours are not kept in stock.
- What was used on each job is not recorded.
- Items bought at the merchant on the way are not tracked or costed to the job.
What short vans cost
Trips to the merchant mid-job lose fitting time. Finishing with the wrong colour trim or silicone looks poor to the customer and often means a return visit. Emergency purchases cost more than stock bought in bulk. And unrecorded use means you never know what finishing materials really cost per job.
Van stock tracking we build
- Each job's finishing needs are worked out from its frame list: frame colour, cill type and length, trim sizes and colours, silicone colour to match frames and wall finish.
- Each van has a stock list, set up with your fitters, of what it usually carries.
- The day before a job, the app compares the job's needs with the van and produces a pick list from the yard for anything missing.
- Fitters log what they used at the end of the job with a few taps, or by scanning barcodes where the items have them.
- Yard stock is reordered from your suppliers when it falls below levels you set, based on actual use.
- Merchant purchases are recorded with a photo of the receipt and costed to the job.
| Job need | Worked out from | Checked against |
|---|---|---|
| Silicone colour | Frame colour and wall finish | Van stock |
| Trims | Frame colour and trim sizes on the order | Van stock |
| Cill ends and extensions | Cill profile and lengths | Van stock |
| Packers, fixings, foam | Frame count and sizes | Minimum van levels |
After a few weeks on the new system
Vans leave the yard with what the next day's jobs need, in the right colours. Merchant runs become rare. Finishing matches the frames. And you finally know what trims, sealants and fixings cost per frame, which feeds into quoting.
The yard also benefits: stock for less common colours is ordered ahead of the jobs that need it, instead of in a panic on the morning of the fit.
Is your van stock a guessing game?
- Fitters regularly stop at the merchant during a job.
- Silicone or trim colours do not match the frames.
- Van stock is topped up by memory.
- You do not know what finishing materials cost per job.