Discover how Lutley Windows eliminated lost paperwork, improved invoicing reliability, and transformed office productivity by implementing Kanna across their planned and repair works divisions.
case study
Lutley Windows
Discover how Lutley Windows eliminated lost paperwork, improved invoicing reliability, and transformed office productivity by implementing Kanna across their planned and repair works divisions.
Manufacturing Industry
United Kingdom
50-99 Employees
Company Name
Lutley Windows
Number of Employees
90
Business Activities
The company manufactures and installs windows, doors and glass units
Services
KANNA Project
KANNA Report
Lutley Windows is a Wednesbury-based specialist contractor serving housing associations across the UK. The company manufactures and installs windows, composite doors, patio doors, French doors, and glass units under the Rayo product range. With around a decade of trading and a growing workforce of fitting teams, Lutley Windows operates across both planned works and reactive repair divisions.
Background And Effects of KANNA Implementation
Issue
As Lutley Windows grew from a small operation into a business running up to 25 fitting teams, the manual processes that had served them in their early years began to break down entirely.
Every job was managed on paper. Each pack sent out with a fitting team contained property reference numbers, addresses, customer details, survey information, and production notes. When the business was small, this was manageable. As it scaled, the cracks became impossible to ignore:
Fitters regularly failed to return completed paperwork, forcing office staff to locate, reprint, and reprocess documents
The repairs division was running entirely off a single shared spreadsheet that had been in use for six years. It crashed on opening, had too many concurrent users, and offered no audit trail
All repair photos and job updates were being shared via WhatsApp, with no centralised record
When paperwork went missing, jobs could not be invoiced. Some were written off entirely
Production errors occurred when survey information was not passed correctly through the chain, resulting in fitters arriving on site with incomplete orders
The business had no way of knowing who had entered what information, when, or whether it was correct. Communication gaps between surveyors, production, the office, and fitting teams were causing real financial damage.
"We have had instances where we haven't had the pack back. So we couldn't claim for that job. That's a massive implication on the business. We sent in a team, which we've had to pay, but we can't charge for the windows or our service because stuff was missing. One person alone was spending a whole week trying to find the work."
Jason Smith, Senior Contracts Manager, Lutley Windows
Key Factors For Implementation
Before discovering Kanna, Lutley Windows had been exploring the idea of commissioning a bespoke app. Quotes from developers came in at between £50,000 and £100,000, with ongoing maintenance costs on top of that. The director came across Kanna independently and raised it with the team.
Once they saw the platform, the decision was straightforward:
Price was a significant factor. Kanna offered the functionality they needed at a fraction of the cost of a custom build
Flexibility was critical. The ability to create custom reports, tailor job information, and configure the system to their specific workflows meant they could replicate and improve on their existing processes without compromise
Ease of use mattered across a mixed workforce. Fitting teams, office staff, and production all needed to be able to use the system without extensive technical knowledge
Breadth of use across departments. From surveyors and fitters through to accounts and production, Kanna could serve the entire business from a single platform
"Everything seemed to align. I was thinking, can it be that good? And obviously, we had the first meeting. From there, it's just been plain sailing."
Jason Smith, Senior Contracts Manager, Lutley Windows
Effects and Improvements
The impact of implementing Kanna has been felt across every part of the business:
No missed invoices. Since implementing Kanna, Lutley Windows has not had a single job that could not be invoiced due to missing documentation. Handover packs are completed digitally, photos are attached directly to jobs, and everything required for client sign-off is accessible in one place
Real-time job visibility. Managers can check the status of any job from their phone, whether in the office, on a site visit, or on holiday. There is no longer any need to chase colleagues across departments for updates
Improved office productivity. Staff who were previously bogged down chasing paperwork and filling gaps are now actively taking on additional work. The planned works team has begun supporting the repairs division with bookings, a crossover that simply was not possible before
Custom reporting that works in the field. Jason and his colleague Joanne have built custom report templates within Kanna, including a glass ordering form with drop-down fields for sizes, thickness, and pattern. What was previously a WhatsApp message that could be misread or lost is now a structured, trackable digital submission
Production integration. The manufacturing team now receives jobs directly through Kanna, giving them visibility of what needs to be made and when it is scheduled for fitting
Improved staff morale. Office staff who were initially reluctant to adopt the system are now enthusiastic users. The shift in attitude has been notable
"We have seen a massive change in the office and the attitude of the people in the office as well. They didn't like it at first when we brought the system in, but now they absolutely love it."
Jason Smith, Senior Contracts Manager, Lutley Windows
Person Interviewed
Jason Smith, Senior Contracts Manager, Lutley Windows
Jason oversees the planned works division and has significant involvement in the repairs side of the business. He has been with Lutley Windows for seven years and was central to the evaluation and implementation of Kanna.
Field Teams and Collaboration
The transition for field-based fitting teams mirrored the experience in the office. Some took to the system immediately, while others, particularly those less comfortable with technology, needed a little more time and support. With consistent encouragement, all teams are now using Kanna as their primary tool on site.
When a fitter arrives at a job and encounters an issue, the photo goes straight into Kanna. Office staff can see it immediately, understand the problem in context, and respond without a phone call or a WhatsApp thread. The shift away from fragmented communication channels has had a tangible effect on how quickly problems are identified and resolved.
One area still being refined is offline access. Some contracts take teams into areas with no mobile reception. Kanna's offline mode allows jobs to be downloaded in advance, but a small number of engineers occasionally forget to do so before heading out. The team is working on making this a consistent part of the morning routine.
Customer Service
The customer-facing benefits are also becoming clear. Previously, when a client or housing association contact rang to ask about the progress of a job, the response often involved tracking down paperwork or asking someone else to investigate. Now, the customer service team can pull up a job in real time and give an accurate, immediate answer.
Lutley Windows is also exploring giving their housing association clients view-only access to relevant jobs within Kanna. This would allow clients to check progress themselves without needing to contact the Lutley team, reducing interruptions and improving the overall service experience.
Future Improvements Desired for Kanna
Direct PDF export for completed reports and handover packs. Currently, the team downloads in Excel format and converts to PDF manually. This is a known development item and one the team is looking forward to
SMS integration was raised as a potential future requirement and is being explored as a separate integration
Lutley Windows is based in Wednesbury and specialises in the manufacture and installation of windows, doors, and glazing products for the social housing sector.
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