Case study: Prime Lift

Prime Lift sells, services, inspects, and maintains automotive lifting and workshop equipment used by car dealerships, independent service shops, and commercial vehicle operators. The company holds exclusive regional rights for certain manufacturers and supports a wide range of equipment, from passenger vehicle lifts to large commercial and bus lifts. 

Field service is central to operations. Technicians travel long distances across provinces, often leaving on Monday and returning at the end of the week. A single customer location may contain dozens of individual assets, each requiring its own inspection report, service record, and potential follow-up work. 

This operating model creates inherent complexity: regulatory inspection requirements, asset-level documentation, long travel times, and delayed physical handover of information between field and office. 

The challenge

Before adopting Shepherd, Prime Lift relied almost entirely on paper-based workflows supported by spreadsheets and basic accounting tools. 

Inspection and service reporting followed a manual process: 

• Technicians completed paper inspection forms for each asset 

• Customer details and serial numbers were repeatedly handwritten 

• Paperwork was often completed after hours while technicians were traveling 

• Reports were only returned to the office after technicians came back from their routes 

As a result, office staff had no real-time visibility into completed work. Inspection data typically arrived a week or more after the service occurred. Quotes for required repairs were generated late, and invoicing was delayed even further. 

This affected both operational control and cash flow. The company was paying technicians and travel costs immediately, while invoicing lagged behind. Lost or incomplete paperwork created additional risk, including uncertainty over whether work had been completed and, in some cases, unbilled jobs.

Decision and selection logic

The move away from paper was driven by operational limits rather than a desire for new functionality. After stabilizing the business through several years of process improvement, management reached the point where existing tools could no longer support the required speed, accuracy, and control. 

Key requirements included: 

• Immediate visibility into completed inspections and service work 

• Reduced administrative burden on technicians 

• Better dispatching and scheduling transparency 

• Integration with the company’s accounting system (NetSuite) 

• Support for existing processes rather than forced redesign 

Shepherd was selected alongside a broader migration to NetSuite. The intent was to digitize and mistake-proof established workflows, not to treat technology as a substitute for process discipline.

Implementation scope

Shepherd was implemented across Prime Lift’s field service operation as part of a company-wide systems transition. The scope included: 

• Technician scheduling and dispatch 

• Digital inspection and service reporting 

• Office-side visibility into field activity 

• Integration with NetSuite for quoting and invoicing 

The implementation approach emphasized fit with existing processes. Prime Lift retained control over how work was performed, adopting Shepherd features where they supported flow and disabling elements that were not relevant. 

This rollout also served as a pilot within the family office portfolio, allowing lessons to be learned in a smaller operation before considering deployment in larger companies.

How Shepherd is used (in practice)

In daily use, Shepherd supports the core rhythm of field operations: 

• Dispatchers assign work and control how far ahead technicians can see their schedules 

• Technicians review upcoming jobs on their phones, often a week in advance 

• Inspections are completed digitally on a per-asset basis 

• Completed reports are available to the office immediately 

The system enables faster follow-through. Quotes for required repairs are generated shortly after inspections, and invoices are issued within 24 hours of completed work rather than weeks later. 

Prime Lift also uses Shepherd data as part of a daily operational review. Each morning, the team conducts a brief check-in to confirm completed jobs, identify issues encountered the previous day, and track recurring problems that disrupt workflow.

Operational impact

The transition from paper-based reporting to Shepherd-supported workflows produced several observable changes: 

• Inspection results became visible immediately instead of days later 

• Administrative rework caused by lost or delayed paperwork was eliminated 

• Quotes and invoices were issued significantly sooner 

• Managers gained consistent visibility into field activity 

• Technicians spent less time on manual documentation 

Over time, the company was able to complete more work with fewer technicians as staff retired or left, without reducing service coverage. While these gains were not attributed solely to Shepherd, management described a strong correlation between improved visibility, tighter process control, and increased output per employee. 

Integration with NetSuite also reduced the risk of completed work going unbilled, a recurring issue under the previous paper-based system.

Ongoing relationship

Prime Lift has continued to use Shepherd for several years and is now onboarding additional companies within the family office portfolio. 

The relationship includes ongoing configuration adjustments, reporting refinement, and direct collaboration with Shepherd support. Early implementation challenges—such as configuration details and app usage choices—were addressed without disrupting core operations. 

Management emphasized that successful adoption depended as much on internal readiness and process clarity as on the software itself.

Results

• Faster inspection reporting and operational visibility 

• Shorter turnaround from service completion to invoicing 

• Reduced administrative burden on technicians 

• Improved cash flow timing 

• Greater control and confirmation of field activity 

• A scalable foundation for future portfolio deployments