The number of countries and industries benefiting from FileMaker software continues to grow as more companies learn to adapt the database tool to their specific needs. Vinepower Limited, a contracting firm for the viticulture sector based in Blenheim, New Zealand, is furnishing its employees with iPads to keep better track of its operations.
Vinepower provides vineyards with workers for year-round tasks such as pruning and thinning and employs up to 250 during peak season in the Marlborough Region, a well-known producer of Sauvignon blanc wine. The company used FileMaker to build a database they affectionately call “Vinny.”
For field work, supervisors carry iPads where they enter information on vine rows and workers, and later sync all the data in the Vinny database. This work used to be done manually in a much more time-consuming and tedious process. The new solution has had both operational and financial benefits.
“We’ve got better knowledge of our production and how workers are performing,” said Vinepower director Jono Bushell to The New Zealand Herald. “It’s also allowed us to do invoicing before we even do payroll, which improves our cash flow.”
FileMaker helps supervisors track their workers’ progress at the vineyards.GE Capital says that the use of custom solutions is on the rise worldwide among mid-market companies. Software like FileMaker is more available than ever to businesses that don’t have large IT departments or budgets at their disposal.
FileMaker developers can help companies by creating and customizing databases to fit their specific needs. Training is also available for employees, even those without extensive IT knowledge, to learn how to update and manage their own systems.