Springfield Pet CremationProposal · August 2026
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05 - Investment

Nine weeks, in four phases, each one useful on its own.

This is not a system that has to be finished before it earns its place. Phase 1 alone replaces the workbook. Everything after that is compounding return - and the phases can pause between each other without stranding anything.

Delivery plan

Phase 1
Weeks 1–3

Case workflow & chain of custody

  • Intake, farewell, cremation and return stages with validation
  • Case list, search, and the four operational queues
  • Named logins for office, operator, driver and manager
  • Import of the existing workbook, with data cleaning as we go

The spreadsheet stops being the master record.

Phase 2
Weeks 4–5

Compliance centre

  • Temperature capture per cycle with the 850 °C check
  • Exceptions log with cause and corrective action
  • Permit and plant register with review dates
  • Inspection pack export, and the per-case certificate for owners

An inspection is answered from one screen.

Phase 3
Weeks 6–7

CRM, invoicing & keepsakes

  • Owner and vet records with consent and retention
  • Keepsake catalogue, stock levels and outstanding-item tasks
  • Invoices, payment status and ageing
  • Review requests and follow-up scheduling

Nothing closes with money or a keepsake outstanding.

Phase 4
Weeks 8–9

Vet portal & reporting

  • Practice logins, collection requests and status tracking
  • Referral attribution and per-practice reporting
  • Management dashboard: turnaround, volumes, margin
  • Handover, written procedures and staff training

Referring practices self-serve, and you can see where work comes from.

How your workbook becomes the starting data

Migration is the step most likely to go wrong, so it is the step we would run most openly.

  1. 01Export the four tabs and map all 51 columns onto the case model - already done for this demo.
  2. 02Run an automated validation pass that surfaces impossible dates, blanks and inconsistent references, as a list to review with you rather than a silent fix.
  3. 03Load history read-only so past cases stay searchable and retainable for the required period.
  4. 04Run both in parallel for two weeks: the system is the master record, the workbook a safety net.
  5. 05Retire the workbook, keep an archived copy, and set the retention clock.

Risks, named up front

Staff prefer the spreadsheet

Phase 1 is designed around your existing sequence, so the screens follow the order people already work in. Training is half a day, and the operator's screen is deliberately narrower than the workbook, not wider.

The tablet at the cremator is a hostile environment

The cremation screen is built for large touch targets and gloves, and works offline, syncing when it reconnects. If a cycle must be recorded on paper, there is a catch-up entry that stamps who entered it late and when.

Migrating dirty data

We surface every problem row rather than guessing. You decide what the correct value was - and for anything unknowable, the record says so explicitly, which is far stronger than a plausible invention.

Cost of change during a busy period

Phases are independently useful. If you stop after Phase 2 you have already replaced the workbook and made inspections trivial. Nothing later is a prerequisite for that.

What we would like to agree next

  • 1. A walkthrough of this demo with the whole team. The office, operator and driver will each spot something we have got wrong, and that is the point of showing it before building it.
  • 2. Sight of the APHA approval and the Part B permit. The compliance screens should be built against your actual conditions, not our reading of the general guidance.
  • 3. A decision on Phase 1 only. Three weeks, a fixed scope, your data migrated. Judge the rest on that.
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