Nelson Plant Hire
Transforming Manual Processes Into a Streamlined, Scalable System In Under Two Months
At a glance
Sector: Waste Management & Skip Hire
Team Size: 5–10 employees
Sites: Hampshire
Project Duration: 2 months (implementation), & ongoing partnership and support
Summit Services: Accounting & Bookkeeping & Business Transformation Services: Process Improvement Consulting
Key Results:
- 75% reduction in admin tasks
- Admin time reduced from 1–2 days to 2–3 hours
- Real-time financial and operational visibility
- Automated scheduling, tickets, and route sheets
- Seamless system integration (no double entry)
- Scalable operations without extra admin resource
Background & Context
Nelson Plant Hire Skip Hire is a Hampshire-based waste management and recycling business with a team of 5–10 staff. Known locally for their reliability and friendly service, their behind-the-scenes operations told a different story. They were great at shifting tons of rubble, but not so great at shifting paperwork.
Every order, route plan, and delivery ticket was being manually recorded, making it almost impossible to get a real-time view of performance or cashflow.
They had invested in industry-specific software, Skip Trak, but didn’t know how to use it effectively. The result? Hours of repetitive admin and no clear picture of how the business was really performing. Basically, they were driving skips into the digital age with the handbrake on. This is where our process improvement consulting came into play.
The Challenges
Manual processes everywhere from route planning to reconciliation.
No live performance data, meaning decisions were always a step behind.
Software underuse. The tools were there, but not the know-how.
Scalability concerns. The business couldn’t grow without adding more admin time.
Goals & Our Approach
Nelson Plant Hire wanted to ditch the paper, keep the profits, and finally modernise their order-to-cash process. The goal? A slick, scalable, and stress-free system where jobs, deliveries, and payments flowed seamlessly from start to finish and the financial data actually made sense.
We already handled their Accounting & Bookkeeping Services, so we knew where the chaos lived. George, our in-house data and systems whizz, rolled up his sleeves and got to work.
Here’s the short version of what we did:
- Found the friction: We dug into their day-to-day and pinpointed the time drains.
- Mapped the magic: Designed a modern order-to-cash flow that could actually work in real time.
- As part of our process improvement consulting, we worked directly with the Skip Trak developers to uncover capabilities the team didn’t know they had.
- Connected the dots: Linked Skip Trak with their accounting system to eliminate double entry and late nights.
- Trained the troops: Simple SOPs, real-world examples, and no tech jargon allowed.
This wasn’t a full digital overhaul, just smart, focused business transformation that made life easier, faster, and infinitely less paper-heavy.
Implementation Timeline
⏱ Total Duration: 2 months (from discovery to full rollout)
Month 1: Discovery & Planning
- Deep dive into bookkeeping and process flow
- Created the ideal order-to-cash map
- Worked with Skip Trak to fill the knowledge gaps
- This phase formed the core of our process improvement consulting.
Month 2: Implementation & Training
- Automated scheduling, job tickets, and route sheets
- Integrated data between systems (no more manual re-entry)
- Staff trained and armed with new SOPs
Month 3: Post-Launch Support
Management were skeptical about change but we built a quick test case that proved results in days, not months, which shut down the doubts fast.
Results, Lessons & Impact
Administrative time has been whittled down to a breezy 2–3 hours, a fantastic leap from the previous slog of 1–2 days. This turbocharged efficiency means skips are zooming out faster, with fewer overcomplicated processes.
The benefits of these improvements include a huge 75% slash in administrative tasks, real-time monitoring and operations that scale up like magic without needing more hands on deck.
These improvements show the impact our process improvement consulting can have on reducing admin time and increasing real-time clarity.
