For the off-road vehicle industry, suspension and tuning make all the difference. The Shock Therapy team knows this first-hand. After all, they race the cars themselves.
"We're all enthusiasts in this market and got into this business to make our personal cars ride better," says Justin Smith, owner at Shock Therapy LLC. "Our services have expanded into something that most people in the utility terrain vehicle (UTV) industry want and need. And it's allowed us to really grow."
Yet like so many companies, Shock Therapy’s growth outpaced its processes. Justin realized that manual, paper-based operations needed an upgrade, so he turned to Claris FileMaker and custom app creation to tune his business for success.
Racing to meet deadlines, but paper trails get in the way.
With a growing list of loyal fans, it didn't take long for Shock Therapy to rise as the number 1 tuner for UTVs. The crew includes racing gurus who leverage their passion to create products other UTV fans will love.
According to Steve Feick, technician at Shock Therapy, "Our work is a lot of fun. But we're very serious when it comes down to our deadlines. We do anywhere from 10–13 cars a day, so it's just a constant go, go, go."
Meeting those deadlines grew more difficult due to paper-based processes. Justin recalls the constant questions: “Was a customer called? What was this person told? Where's that part? Did you file this or run that bank deposit?"
To find a fix, they turned to Angel City Data — a Claris Partner — to explore creating a custom app for business success.
From paper graveyard to automation with FileMaker's custom app creation.
For Jake Johnson, lead designer at Angel City Data, the overwhelming stacks of paper made a quick impression. "What struck me when I first started working with Shock Therapy was the paper flying everywhere. Gina, the operations manager, had a paper graveyard on her desk," Jake explains.
Shock Therapy needed a more agile way to run the business. Yet for a team long accustomed to paper systems, it would take something extraordinary to convince them to switch gears.
As an experienced Claris Partner, Angel City Data immediately knew FileMaker could transform Shock Therapy's business processes. Using FileMaker's custom app creation toolset, Jake and the Shock Therapy team collaborated to automate Shock Therapy's full operations — building a system to help the crew track orders, parts, invoices, shipments, and more.
Finally, it was time for a test drive.
"I'll admit, I was one of the people who didn't want change," says Steve. "Being used to the paper system, I didn't want something digital. But when I had the custom app in front of me, I saw it was easy and could quickly find what I needed."
With FileMaker, Shock Therapy accelerates its business.
The Shock Therapy team appreciates how FileMaker impacts its business. According to Jake, "Today when I walk into the Shock Therapy shop, I see everyone on their iPads, and they know exactly what to do. Everyone's notified when major milestones happen.”
Shock Therapy employees now better focus on their customers’ vehicles and no longer worry about manual processes. "FileMaker allows the team to hone their attention on detail. They now work in an agile format and can focus on solving one thing at a time. FileMaker has streamlined the entire business," Jake adds.
And Justin agrees. He exclaims, "We knew how much FileMaker was going to fix the business, but we had no idea what the custom app really was going to do once it was in place. And our app has been 10 times better than we thought it was going to be, even throughout that development process."
In the world of low code, FileMaker stands out for helping companies create whatever type of custom solution the businesses need: whether that means tackling specific issues or running entire business operations on the FileMaker platform.
For Shock Therapy, this scalability translates into an easy-to-use system that keeps its entire business on track — no paper trails required.
Now let’s get your engine started! Find out more about low-code application development and see how your business can thrive with FileMaker.
And when you’re ready for a test drive, try out FileMaker free for 45 days. Start your free trial today!