Background

SkyeTec is an industry-leading energy rating and building inspection company that provides third-party inspections for residential and commercial construction projects. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, SkyeTec works with builders throughout the U.S. and offers a variety of services. Service offerings include ENERGY STAR Certification, HERS Index Ratings, Blower Door and Duct Leakage Testing, Moisture Management and Quality Control, Punch-Out Inspections, and more. Each of these services is handled through individual work orders in SkyeTec’s software system, SkyeTrac.

Challenge

SkyeTec was looking for an updated inspection automation system to process work orders with higher efficiency and a quicker turnaround time than their existing process. The existing application was outdated and posed numerous challenges to the users. SkyeTec wanted the application to guide the inspectors with the fastest resolution by detecting the current location and the work order job site distance. The inspectors should be able to take pictures from the mobile app and use the same pictures in the final report.

Solution

SkyeTrac is the internal inspection automation system used by SkyeTec staff to process each inspection and related service for their numerous clients. For each work order, a certified professional (Rater, Field Inspector, etc.) was assigned to cover the closely located job site. WBPRO proposed to update the existing application to help optimize job allocation. The application was made user-friendly and responsive so as to enable smoother and faster identification of professionals closer to the job site and allocate them accordingly. This helped to significantly cut down on travel time and manage each work order more efficiently.

Map Scheduling provides an easy way to find the shortest path to each job location and assign work orders to Inspectors by considering the job site address and geographical location. For this, the system identifies geo-coordinates of each job site from their given address, plots them on a map, and also suggests an optimal travel path to reach all locations in the shortest duration. A scheduler uses the tool to select a number of work orders for each field staff and assign them after any required customization.

SkyeTrac mobile application allows users to see their job for the day on their mobile device once the work orders are assigned to the field staff. WBPRO identified the areas of improvement in the mobile application to enable the professionals to select each work order for performing the inspection and enter the findings, including values and real-time photos of each job site. Once the mandatory fields are filled in, the work order is submitted to the SkyeTrac server. The SkyeTrac server, upon receiving the completed/inspection data, processes each of the submissions, loading it into SkyeTrac system for further processing. Based on threshold values of each inspection type (HERS/RESNET/ESTAR, etc.), each inspection value is analyzed to find out whether the property has passed the inspection. Then, based on the email preferences of each customer, this result is emailed to the selected customer contacts directly along with certificates wherever applicable. In addition to the automated result emails, customers can also access their inspection results any time using the SkyeTrac Client Portal.

SkyeTrac Client Portal is an interactive web tool for real-time inspection data, results, and statistical reporting. Clients of SkyeTec get different types of access to this web tool, such as Divisional, Corporate, Region, Neighborhood, and Admin. Clients utilize SkyeTrac to check the status of their inspections, view inspection findings, generate reports automatically to view trends in the data, and compare divisions at the state or national level. SkyeTrac also provides training modules and marketing materials for sales and trade staff, all available at the click of a button. Admin gets a special impersonate provision to check the data correctness for the client/user.

A reporting module provides a comprehensive list of reports helpful in business decisions. Here are some examples of the reports:

• Comparative AC System Design & Load Criteria Report
• Home Infiltration Report (ACH 50)
• Duct Leakage Report
• Create Your Own Report
• Activity Summary Report
• Trade Performance Report