INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
As sensors become cheaper and easier to install, the whole process of maintaining equipment and assets is starting to shift from just
scrambling to fix problems to getting a hold of issues before they get out of control.
That opened the door for startups like Fiix, which
are creating workflow software that helps companies manage equipment and assets
That software enables companies to keep a close eye on equipment and resolve issues quickly before they become more complex to the point of
costing companies hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix
Every percentage point of efficiency, for some operations, can translate to revenue significant enough to the point that this kind of
Fiix said today it has raised $12 million in a new financing round led by BuildGroup.
&It was one of the last bastions of enterprise
software that yet to go through the same disruption that every other major software company [has gone through],& COO James Novak said
&If you look at human resource software, CRM software, accounting software, they&ve all gone through the same transition
This market was one of the last ones to go through that transition.&
Fiix takes the process of managing work orders, assets and inventories
and throws it all into a set of software that designed to be easier to use when compared to existing complex asset management software
That includes making sure all of this is available on a phone, where managers and employees can monitor what kinds of work orders are in
progress, approve them, or issue them
That designed to remove some of the time barriers that may keep managers from starting the maintenance process.
But because there a lot of
money to be made here, there going to be an increasing amount of competition
Already, there are startups like UpKeep, which came out of Y Combinator winter class last year
By giving managers a way to prioritize and get work orders done quickly, employees and managers can have a more real-time level of
communication — which means they can spot problems earlier and earlier, and keep things running smoothly.
