Home Smart 100 2012 Inspection Apps (SMART 100)

Inspection Apps (SMART 100)

10

Show your support for this innovation. Tweet it. Like it on Facebook. Leave a comment.

The following SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity. More about the SMART 100.

Inspection Apps (QLD)

This innovation initially came to life when…

Two innovators from Cairns established a statewide pool fence inspection business. A customised iPhone app and a bespoke database for managing the inspections was designed and developed. After 14 months and 3,500 inspections, the app achieved highly efficient outcomes. A team of 30 inspectors was managed by a single support person…but why limit this to pool fence inspections?

Inspection Apps created one iPhone/iPad app that can be used for any type of checklist inspection, across countless industries. Inspection Apps is the mothership of apps, providing a software solution for business, government, schools, real estate, mining, OH&S and so many more.

WHAT & HOW

The purpose of this innovation is to…

Automate the collection/storage of information from the field, improve report generation, and add functionality, at the customer level.

It was designed to allow (us) the non-programmer innovators to create any iPhone/iPad app within several hours, with a simple interface.

It does this by…

A powerful, customisable Web Application. The app is built fit for customer purpose, with their unique checklist questions embedded.

Alternatively, and also, it allows us to replicate the same app for multiple customers.

Once built, customers can:

  • modify/add/delete app checklist questions
  • modify the way in which a question is answered
  • add or delete any number of users without cost

PURPOSE & BENEFITS

This innovation improves on what came before because…

There is nothing else like it. To our knowledge, following extensive searching, this product is a world-first design in the way that it combines technology.

Whilst there are millions of other apps, no other system provides a complete customer-managed platform that provides a document management and email management system, scheduler, report generator, ability to modify questions and answer types.

Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…

The combined SaaS solution and iPhone app increases productivity and guarantees consistent quality.

A user who saves one hour by using Inspection Apps, and charges $100/hr, will achieve $100 saving. Across 10 inspections/week (or 520/year), the saving increases to $52,000.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

In the past, this problem was solved by…

  1. inefficient practices (clipboard, pen, digital camera)
  2. manually importing data/photographs into a report template
  3. spending tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars designing, developing and debugging a standalone customised laptop program/PDA template.

None of the above can compete with being able to produce a report, with embedded photographs, all while standing in front of the asset being inspected.

Its predecessors/competitors include…

Large software companies offering customised programs, typically at significant cost.

IT Developers offering standalone apps for specific inspection types. Prices $10k-$50k+.

Through iTunes, many apps are available, at modest cost, but they normally can’t be customised to meet customers’ needs.

TARGET MARKET

It is made for…

Any type of business that uses a checklist to inspect something, anywhere in the world.

There is a limitless number of inspection types and industries, but our target industries in Australia are:

  • Mining, oil & gas (WH&S inspections, Equipment inspections)
  • Construction (WH&S, JSA’s)
  • Government (housing, commercial building inspections, playgrounds)
  • Real Estate (condition reports)
  • Building inspectors & engineers (pre-purchase, pest, asbestos, sign-offs)
  • Hotel room inspections
  • Maritime vessel inspections
  • Schools (classrooms, playgrounds, science labs)

There are millions of inspections carried out each year, by thousands of businesses. The market for a fully customisable SaaS/app solution is mind-boggling.

DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY

It is available for sale through…

A Business-to-Business and Business-to-Government basis. The iPhone/iPad app is downloaded through a web page, which is far easier than iTunes. The web application is cloud-based and is accessible through a https secure web page, by user name and password.

Our marketing strategy is to…

Promote the product through our web site, direct email marketing to target markets, newspaper editorials, and a mining exhibition stand at an August conference. Enquiries shall be handled on a consultancy basis to develop relationships with each customer.

Price is advertised on the website and through e-brochures. Consulting fee ($1,980), plus monthly subscription fee (starting at $50).

SUPPORTING IMAGES

SHARE THE LOVE

You can show your support for this outstanding Australian innovation in three ways:

  1. Tweet it: Top left of each page
  2. Trigger a Reaction: Facebook ‘Like’, etc.
  3. Leave a Comment: Anonymous comments excluded.

More about the READERS’ CHOICE INDEX.