lumenomics improves visibility, streamlines communication, and saves $200,000 by managing lighting installation projects with Smartsheet

lumenomics is a Seattle, Washington-based human-centric natural lighting company specializing in designing, installing, and servicing illumination systems for commercial buildings. The company relies on smart technology to help building owners more easily manage energy efficiency and maximize the use of natural light.

Diversity is a key part of the way lumenomics does business. The company is woman- and LGBT-owned, with a workforce comprising 41 percent ethnic minorities and 46 percent women. “It's my personal goal that we include individuals that aren't commonly found in the construction industry,” says Marti Hoffer, Founder, CEO, and President of lumenomics. “Many of our leadership and management roles are filled by women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community.”

Every day, lumenomics relies on Smartsheet software to manage design and installation projects and communicate and collaborate seamlessly. “We love Smartsheet, because when we’re sleeping, Smartsheet is working,” Hoffer says. “It’s always running behind the scenes, making sure all our projects are up to date.” lumenomics had long relied on email and spreadsheets for project management and communication internally and with customers. This made it difficult to organize project information effectively and create reports for leadership teams. “We didn’t have good visibility into the status of projects,” says Hoffer. “Our employees at customer sites had dozens of text messages with photos of lighting installations, which made it challenging to create reports quickly. This meant clients were sometimes dissatisfied because they weren’t receiving updates on time.”

To solve the problem, lumenomics wanted to find a better way to manage projects. “We needed agile, dynamic tools,” says Hoffer.

Tracking All Lighting Installations from Beginning to End with Smartsheet 

Hoffer found the solution to the company’s challenges with Smartsheet, which she discovered in 2019. “I decided I loved this tool, and I spent hours every day working to rebuild our business with Smartsheet,” she says. The rest of the company soon adopted Smartsheet, with project managers and the accounting, finance, and marketing teams relying on the software to track projects from beginning to end.

lumenomics project managers are the heaviest users of Smartsheet, relying on the Smartsheet mobile app at job sites to update survey data and lighting fixture photos and report back to managers in the main office. Each Smartsheet contains a project completion column that is marked finished when project managers have gone through a quality control process. This feeds into a completion report submitted to leaders, with key project information and thumbnail photos showing the final lighting installation.

“Executives can use Smartsheet to quickly see each project status, and they can drill down to project details at a glance as well,” says Hoffer. 

Once a project is marked complete in Smartsheet, the company’s accounting team uses an integration between Smartsheet and Acumatica, lumenomics’ enterprise resource planning solution, to perform a calculation showing the percentage complete for each job. Additionally, lumenomics manufacturing production employees use Smartsheet dashboards to quickly see what stage roller shade products are at on the assembly floor. “We use Smartsheet on the floor to display an updated schedule, and all our teams can see that within the tool,” Hoffer says.

Deeper Project Visibility and Stronger Communication 

With Smartsheet, lumenomics has a simple, easy-to-use solution for tracking all projects. “If you think about a map that shows you the location of all the light fixtures in a building, and they are numbered, Smartsheet displays all the fixtures in a grid for anyone to see,” says Hoffer. “Then, project managers in the field simply attach a photo that shows completed work for each number. They can also make comments about each lighting fixture, and mark it done or not. It's really that easy and simple.” 

Better visibility also leads to better communication between teams. For example, a project manager can leave a comment in Smartsheet for installation directors to see which projects are completed. “Previously, communication from the field to the office was all through text messages,” says Hoffer.

“If you were managing 30 active projects and had 100 photos for each project on your phone, it was extremely hard to manage that. Now, the accounting department can see an updated status in Smartsheet and determine quickly why a project went over budget, for instance. It helps us understand projects better from a budget perspective.”

Faster, Easier Client Updates

lumenomics is taking advantage of stronger visibility and more accurate project data to update clients faster and easier on the progress of installations. “We have a healthcare client we’re doing window coverings for, and we can look in Smartsheet and tell them which orders are in the fabric cutting stage and how much more production is needed,” says Hoffer. “We can also tell them exactly when we expect to ship orders to them. Previously, we couldn’t get that information to clients immediately. We can now.”

More than $200,000 in Savings

Using Smartsheet to track projects and budgets, lumenomics is also reducing operational costs.

“We had a large installation that had 30 different projects and stakeholders in five time zones,” Hoffer says. “In the past, that would require 4-5 project managers, but Smartsheet enables us to reduce that by 75 percent because it streamlines everything and gives everyone visibility into the entire process. Reducing our headcount by 75 percent means we save more than $200,000 on that job, which leads to an increase in earnings for us.”

Next, lumenomics expects to expand its use of Smartsheet to support ongoing business growth. “As we grow and continue to partner with Smartsheet, we hope to use more of the premium tools and features,” says Hoffer. “Our goal is always to make project management more efficient and cost-effective, and Smartsheet helps us do that.”

For more information about this story, please see our case study.