How Grove City College gets more done and has the data to show it

Challenge

When John DiBenedetto joined the maintenance department at Grove City College, he knew of only one maintenance management software for schools: School Dude (now Brightly). It hadn’t been updated since the late 90s and was useless for many of his team’s functions.

His first priority was to examine the department’s systems, find inefficiencies, and reorient his team to better processes. DeBenedetto recalls, “Right away, I dove into School Dude and I was like, ‘This is terrible.’” He decided to take a careful look at what they needed in a maintenance management software, and find a new one.

Given the variety of facilities across a densely populated campus, they needed a modern software that would be robust enough to fit all of their needs. But it also needed to be simple enough for their tech-resistant team members to jump in and use it.

"The implementation process was so easy that it was flawless. We were using it right away! …Once you get buy-in from enough of the group, it’s infectious for the rest."

Jon DiBenedetto
Solutions Developer

Solution

After a product demo, the team immediately knew Limble was exactly what they were looking for. They made the decision in January of 2022, but planned an August implementation to allow for sufficient transition and training time. However, they found it was so easy to adopt they had it up and running within just a few months.

One issue that arose during implementation took everyone by surprise. “Because School Dude was so bad, the guys actually had a difficult time adjusting,” explained DiBennidetto. They needed to unlearn many of the workarounds they put in place to make their old system work. It took a shift in perspective, but with Limble, they had a system flexible enough to be customized to their needs, rather than the other way around.

When it came to training, DiBenedetto didn’t need to worry—they taught each other. As new staff were hired, the existing team show them how Limble worked.

• Reporting and custom dashboards

• Work order request portal for students

• Inventory tracking and management

• Easy-of-use for any level of technical savvy (or lack thereof)

• Mobile functionality

• Streamlined communication

Result

Limble has provided more efficiency, accountability, and useful data — all things they didn’t have in a reliable way before. They were able to get over 2,000 work orders done in just one summer, which wasn’t a possibility before Limble. They were getting a lot more done than with their old system and they now had the data to prove it. And with custom dashboards that clearly show productivity, they were able to offer assistance to those who seemed to be struggling. “We’ve been using it for strategic and accountability purposes; the custom dashboards have been incredible for that!”

His team has said that they’re on time or ahead on their PMs for the first time ever. That positive feedback has proved to DiBennedetto that Limble was the right choice.

"I am not a salesman, but I do love raving about something that I love. I can talk about Limble forever. We’re better now than we were before."
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‍Jon DiBenedetto
Solutions Developer