Utracon increases productivity by 70% with custom applications built on Zoho Creator
"The most important thing for us is the power of automation. We are able to import, process, arrange, and consolidate data much faster. Whenever we want to find any critical information, it's available in a single place."
Vuthy Lim, Lead, Marketing and Sales, Utracon.
The company: About Utracon
Utracon Corporation Pte. Ltd. is a specialist contractor based in Singapore operating in major structural systems and engineering solutions for concrete structures, offering design and construction services for permanent structures and temporary works. Established in 1998, Utracon has been delivering high-quality and cost-effective solutions across a wide range of sectors, including infrastructure, residential, commercial, and industrial construction. Their services cover disciplines such as pre-stressing, pre-casting, launching, forming and retrofitting.
The challenge
Before adopting Zoho Creator, Utracon faced several challenges in their daily operations. Manual paperwork and reliance on Excel spreadsheets consumed excessive time and workforce. Data storage and organization were cumbersome, leading to difficulties in tracking and retrieving essential information. Moreover, crucial insights for decision-making were often inaccessible due to scattered data.
"It was time-consuming. All the data, preparation, checking, and reviewing took a lot of time. It was also challenging to keep track of the spreadsheets flying all over the place. There was also a problem of missing critical data and insight. So, if I wanted to come up with the average rate to make a decision, it would take a lot of time to compile it."
Vuthy Lim, Lead, Marketing and Sales, Utracon.
The solution
In their search for a comprehensive solution, Utracon discovered Zoho Creator in 2022. Impressed by its customization capabilities and reasonable pricing, they chose it over the alternatives. With Zoho Creator, they could tailor applications to their specific needs, unlike off-the-shelf products that either over-provided or under-delivered. The platform offered a perfect balance of features and cost-effectiveness.
"The common thing is that most of the off-the-shelf solutions either over-provide—they try to pack a lot of stuff and sell it as a single package, which means we overpay for what we do not really need. Either that or they under-provided and didn't meet our criteria.
Zoho Creator struck a nice balance in between. We can customize the app to fit our business needs. And price-wise, it's also reasonable." — Vuthy Lim, Lead, Marketing and Sales, Utracon"
Vuthy Lim, Lead, Marketing and Sales, Utracon.
Utracon currently has five active applications built on Zoho Creator, namely HR and administrative management, sales pipeline tracking, quotation management, payroll processing, and staff time tracking, all aimed at improving efficiency, reducing manual tasks, and enhancing productivity across different departments within the organization.
HR and admin application: Helping automate functions such as staff time card management and expense report generation for claims, it streamlines HR processes and administrative tasks, reducing manual data entry and paperwork.
Sales pipeline application: Utilized for recording and managing all quotations to clients, it helps track sales progress, manage leads, and optimize the sales process.
Quotation management: This assists in managing and organizing quotations for customers. It includes features for creating, tracking, and analyzing quotations to improve efficiency in the sales workflow.
Payroll application: This application is part of the HR administration suite and is used for managing employee payroll processes. It automates payroll calculations, deductions, and generates pay stubs to reduce manual errors and save time.
Staff time card application: Focusing on managing staff time cards, especially crucial for a company like Utracon operating in the construction field, it helps consolidate time data from various projects, simplifying reporting and payroll processes.
"Zoho Creator has helped us a lot, especially in terms of productivity. For example, because our company is in the construction field, we have multiple projects running with our staff spread across them. Before Creator, we manually had to consolidate staff time cards and submit them to the admin staff for compilation. The entire process was very tedious.
After implementing Creator, everything is automated. The admin department is happy because they don't have to crunch through every paper or spreadsheet to process the time cards. For a reviewer like myself, I quickly get the data I want."
Vuthy Lim, Lead, Marketing and Sales, Utracon.
Benefits and ROI
The implementation of Zoho Creator enabled Utracon to process data quickly and generate reports effortlessly. Tasks that were once manual and time consuming, such as staff time card management and expense reporting, became streamlined and efficient, leading to an increase in productivity by 70%.
Looking forward
Utracon plans to expand its usage of Zoho Creator further, aiming to develop additional applications to replace Excel-based processes. Their vision includes creating a seamless workflow where various applications interconnect, optimizing efficiency and data flow across departments. With five applications already in operation, Utracon envisions leveraging Zoho Creator to enhance decision-making and operational excellence.
"Currently, we are expanding the admin app so the staff can claim their monthly expenses with it. We are also in the midst of creating another app to streamline our purchase order process so everything is integrated into a single solution."
Vuthy Lim, Lead, Marketing and Sales, Utracon.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Zoho Creator?
Zoho Creator is a low-code application development platform that allows users to create custom applications on their own, with minimal coding experience. The intuitive drag-and-drop interface empowers developers and business users to build web and mobile applications that satisfy all their unique requirements with ease.
Are applications built on Zoho Creator scalable?
Applications built on Zoho Creator are built to auto-scale—the back-end infrastructure seamlessly scales as business demand grows. Currently 14,000+ customers across 180+ countries are using over 6 million applications built using Zoho Creator, a testimony to the power of the platform.
Does Zoho Creator have a free plan?
Yes, Zoho Creator has a free plan. This plan comes with a limited feature set and only has one user, one application access, 250 MB storage, and 1,000 records. However, you have the option to upgrade to the paid plan whenever you wish.
What can I build on Zoho Creator?
Be it a task manager, a CRM, an ERP, or an application for almost any situation—you can build it on Zoho Creator. Just drag and drop elements on our visual builder and see your apps come alive instantly.
Can I build mobile apps on Zoho Creator?
Yes, the apps you build on the web run natively on PCs, tablets, and both iOS and Android mobile devices. You can also rebrand them and share it with your employees and customers instantly.