Nosto ja kuljetus Ruuska Ky (Lifting and Transport Ruuska Ltd), located in Jyväskylä, is a 60-year-old family business. In 2002, the current entrepreneurs Mari Kankaanperä and Timo Ruuska bought the company from their father, Seppo Ruuska, who founded it in 1962. The company has undergone several stages of development, moving from gravel driving to concrete transport and crane trucks in the 1980s. Today, services include lifting and transportation of heavy goods, telehandler services, and transportation of ready-mixed concrete. There are about twenty employees, and the fleet is 11 trucks and one telehandler. By the summer of 2022, another new crane truck will be under construction. The largest employers are the construction industry and the relocation of crushing stations.
In 2021, it was noted that a more modern alternative to the old ERP system was needed to get more out of it. In addition to the vehicle tracking, the minimum requirements were a functional dispatching, the reduction of paperwork, and the possibility of integration into financial management and payroll software.
A few options were available for a closer look, of which LogiApps proved to be the most suitable solution. The software designed for the industry and compatibility with financial management applications promised the least work with deployment. The fact that several companies in the industry already use LogiApps also provided certainty for the choice.
Deployment went smoothly. In early December 2021, test use began with a few drivers and office users. In the middle of the month, training was held for all staff, and the test period in parallel with the old system continued until the end of the month. Because everyone adopted the system really quickly, it was possible to switch to using LogiApps as the only system in January 2022.
The one-month test period was also enough to personalize the software to suit your own needs. LogiApps implemented the change requests really quickly, and they provided support at our own office when needed. In hindsight, easy customizability was one of the features we did not dare to hope for, but which confirmed the choice was good.
“Actually, I was wondering how everyone learns to use it so quickly,” laughs transport entrepreneur Mari Kankaanperä. “Over the past couple of years, smartphones have become so strongly a part of everyone’s everyday life that their use for work has not caused any resistance, even in such a traditional industry,” she continues.
After a few months of use, the benefits of modern software are already visible. Under the old system, there was a traditional calendar in which gigs were manually recorded. As a result, especially at peak times, the company’s telephone lines were already burdened by employee calls alone. Now that all communication with drivers has gone digital, customers don’t have to queue on the phone.
Another clear benefit was being reminded just a week before this interview. “When cleaning one of our cars, a 4-year-old work order was found there, which has never been invoiced,” Kankaanperä regrets. An electronic system where data is never left behind by one person greatly reduces the possibility of errors.
“Now we are really satisfied, the software is so flexible, and we got what we wanted,” concludes Kankaanperä.