Hardwood Floors August/September 2017

The next apps help identify and display wood species. Give the following apps a test drive to help not only on the job site, but also with your customers, defining and explaining the species:

HEALTH/SAFETY We’ve also seen incredible advances in health and safety technology. Whether working alone or on a team, frommonitoring steps and heart rate, to addressing safety on the job site, there is technology for you. Many fitness trackers track steps and heart rate. But did you know some of these can also track activity/rest periods, sleep patterns, and even deliver calendar reminders, text messages, and emails? Talk about the whole picture of your health. For job site safety, the Occupational Safety andHealth Administration (OSHA) has an expansive website including an online step-by-step Compliance Assistance Quick Start system focused on construction, publications, and up-to-the-minute safety news. Also in this category is the FallSafety app (iOS and Android), which recognizes a fall and contacts someone for you. On a larger scale, the Construction Safety Compliance app by Safety First Data Systems helps companies maintain a safe work environment, even providing fillable OSHA forms. Finally, many other safety-related apps are available in the marketplace. Do be sure you choose those with recent updates or you may be seeing older regulations. Although this isn’t a comprehensive listing of all the technology and applications available, these should trigger ideas on how to use technology to stay connected to the people, information, and technology that increases efficiencies, job safety and drives your business forward. Jodi O’Toole is Director of IT and Web Development at the National Wood Flooring Association in St. Louis. She can be reached at jodi.otoole@nwfa.org.

APP

COST

HMA American Hardwood Species Guide

Free

TRADA Wood Species Guide Free Wood Explorer

Free and Premium

Finally, no list of apps would be complete for the industry without mentioning customer and project management tools. Apps abound for this category, especially customer relationship management (CRM). Project apps usually have a cost associated with them. However, there are many free CRM apps, and those below have solid reputations behind them. Evaluate these apps to see if they can help cut costs, paperwork, errors, or increase team efforts, ultimately increasing profits and customer satisfaction.

APP

COST

Hubspot CRM

Free

OnSite Punchlist

Free and Premium

Plangrid

Per User

Zoho CRM

Free

Introducing a stunning new brand of long and wide sliced faced flooring from the craftsmen at American OEM. HEARTHWOOD continues a 70 year legacy of beautiful, responsible, and enduring hardwood for the next generation. ROOTED IN SUSTAINABILITY.

For more information contact us: info@hearthwoodfloors.com or visit us @ hearthwoodfloors.com

FLOORS WITH DEEP ROOTS

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

31