Forgeline Ops
Operational software and a private dashboard: job tracking, capacity planning, live margin and an audit trail built around how the business actually runs.
Forgeline runs specialist installation and maintenance contracts with a forty-person field team. The whole operation ran on one workbook that three people were afraid to edit at the same time.
- Client
- Specialist B2B services, 40 staff
- System
- Operational software + dashboard
- First release
- 10 weeks
- Surfaces
- Ops console · field view · management dashboard
- Status
- In production, on support
| Job | Stage | Margin | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| FG-3310 | On site | 31.2% | On track |
| FG-3311 | Scheduled | 27.8% | On track |
| FG-3312 | On site | 11.4% | Variance flagged |
| FG-3313 | Awaiting parts | 24.0% | At risk |
| FG-3314 | Complete | 29.6% | To invoice |
The commercial problem
A forty-person operation was running on a spreadsheet nobody dared change.
Job status, engineer allocation, materials and margin lived in linked sheets that broke weekly. Capacity was guessed. Nobody could answer “are we making money on this job?” until the invoice went out, and by then it was history.
Before: one workbook, three editors, weekly breakages
System strategy
How the system was shaped.
01
Model the job, not the spreadsheet
One job record carrying scope, allocation, materials, time and cost from won to invoiced.
02
Make capacity visible before it bites
Declared team capacity against committed work, weeks ahead rather than on the day.
03
Show margin while it can still change
Cost accrued against quoted value as the job runs, with variance flagged early.
04
Permissions and an audit trail
Who changed what, when, and whether they were allowed to — recorded rather than reconstructed.
Two journeys, one system
- 01EnquiryStructured capture from the public site, routed by service and region.
- 02ScopingSite requirements captured against a checklist rather than in an email thread.
- 03QuotationPriced from the same rate data the operation later runs on.
- 04Scheduled workConfirmed dates and named engineers communicated to the client.
- 05Completion & invoiceSign-off, photographs and invoice raised from the job record.
- 01Won work becomes a jobThe quote record becomes the job record — no re-entry, no second system.
- 02Allocation against capacityEngineers assigned from declared availability and skill, not from memory.
- 03Field captureTime, materials and photographs recorded on site, offline-tolerant.
- 04Live marginCost accrues against quoted value; variance beyond threshold is flagged to a named owner.
- 05Invoice & closeInvoice raised from actuals, with the audit trail intact.
Key capabilities
What the system actually does.
- Job trackingOne record from won work to invoice, with stage ownership.
- Capacity planningDeclared availability against committed work, weeks ahead.
- Live margin per jobCost against quoted value, with variance flagged early.
- Role permissionsField, office and management scopes with explicit approval steps.
- Audit trailImmutable history of who changed what, and when.
Architecture snapshot
Four layers, one source of truth
Nothing exotic. A boring, well-drawn architecture is what keeps a system cheap to extend three years later.
- Dashboard load
- 1.1s median with 12 months of data
- Field capture
- Works offline, syncs on reconnect
- Access model
- Role-based · approval chain · MFA
- Public surfaceService pages, enquiry capture, client status viewStatically delivered
- Application layerJob model, capacity engine, margin accrual, permissionsCore logic
- Data layerJob record, time and materials ledger, immutable audit trailPostgres
- Integration layerAccounting, payroll hours, supplier ordering, email & SMSRelay
Accessibility
- Field view is designed for outdoor use: large targets, high contrast, no hover dependency.
- Dashboard figures are available as accessible tables, not only as charts.
- Risk states carry text labels alongside the crimson marker.
Commercial value
What changed after launch
Figures supplied by Forgeline from their own reporting.
- 128 hrsadmin recovered per monthMeasured
- 62active jobs tracked without a spreadsheetMeasured
- 0workbook breakages since launchMeasured
Future expansion
Where it goes next.
Phase two — scoped
Subcontractor portal
Bring subcontract labour onto the same job record and audit trail.
Phase two — in discovery
Predictive capacity
Forecast load from pipeline probability rather than confirmed work alone.
Concept
Asset history
Track serviced assets across contracts to support planned maintenance revenue.
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Same problem, different sector?
The pattern behind Forgeline Ops — replace the master spreadsheet running a 40-person operation — transfers to most businesses selling complex, high-value work.