Hi-Tech Trusses: from disconnected tools to one system.
Hi-Tech Trusses, part of Alkan Group, designs and builds timber roof trusses in Melbourne. Its quoting, designs and accounts sat in three tools that never talked to each other. We joined them into one system, with AI agents handling the admin in between.
Where they started
Eight people in the office kept the business running across three separate tools. Quotes were built in a large Excel spreadsheet. Designs and customer records lived in MiTek SAPPHIRE Management. Accounts, purchasing and sales lived in MYOB. And there was no inventory tracking at all.
None of it was connected. The same details were typed into each tool by hand, and nobody could see the whole picture in one place.
"We were constantly fighting over which quote was the right version. Ali came in, mapped out exactly how we work, and built a system that actually fits our business. Everything is in one place now."
What we built
We did not take away the tools the team already knows. We built one system that sits across them and joins them up, then added what was missing.
Hi-Tech's system
- One version of every quote
- AI agents
What the AI does
AI agents handle the admin between the tools. The team stays in charge of anything that goes out to a customer.
Reads incoming emails
Sorts and analyses what arrives, so nothing sits waiting in the inbox.
Fills in enquiries
Suggests the details for a new enquiry from the email it came in on.
Helps read plans
Pulls key details out of the plans to get a quote started.
Drafts reminders and follow-ups
Prepares the reminder and correspondence emails. A team member checks them before they go.
Analyses performance
Reports on quotes, jobs and the numbers, so Selim can see how the business is doing.
Follows Hi-Tech's rules
Everything it does follows how Hi-Tech prices and builds, written down before we started.
How we built it
A build this size runs in three stages.
- Step 1
Survey
On site at Hi-Tech, we mapped how a job moves from the first enquiry to the truck leaving the yard, and which tool holds what.
- Step 2
Foundation
One place for the data, the links to MiTek SAPPHIRE and MYOB, and Hi-Tech's rules written down for the AI to follow.
- Step 3
Build
The parts, one at a time, each tested on real jobs. Quoting first, because it took the most hours.
What changed
A quote used to mean pulling details out of three tools by hand. Now everything is connected, so once the customer's specs are in, a quote usually goes out in an hour or two.
The team quotes in the new system, stock is tracked for the first time, and Selim can see the whole business in one place.
Why not off-the-shelf software
Off-the-shelf software changes for all its customers at once, never for yours. Hi-Tech's system was built around how they already quote, design and deliver, it works with the tools they already pay for, and it grows one part at a time as the business changes.