Ian Scott, General Manager, Wide Bay Crane Hire still remembers the patch-work system that once kept Wide Bay Crane Hire running. “We were using magnetic whiteboards, Excel sheets, diaries – plus a lot of back-and-forth phone calls,” he said.
“As the workload grew across our four depots, it became harder to stay on top of everything.” That was before May 2024, when the family-owned crane specialist swapped its paper trail for Visual Dispatch’s cloud platform. “Since then, we’ve got busier, and I honestly don’t know how we managed the old way,” Ian said.
A 40-year Queensland success story
Wide Bay Crane Hire started in 1984 with one 8-tonne tractor crane and a 20-tonne Kato and a promise to “put safety and quality of service above everything”. From its base in Hervey Bay the business has grown to four depots – Gympie, Maryborough, Hervey Bay and Bundaberg – and today runs a sizeable fleet ranging from 15-tonne pick-and-carry Frannas to a 230-tonne all-terrain. The company supports everything from house lifts to highway bridges and energy-sector shutdowns, backed by its own transport division for moving equipment between sites.
Ian’s personal journey mirrors that expansion. “I’ve been here for over 30 years,” he said. “I started as an apprentice diesel fitter, moved into the crane industry with my dad, then into management, and now I’m general manager.” As the operation grew, so did the coordination problem. “Transparency between depots was our biggest challenge,” he said. “If Gympie needed a crane, I had to ring Hervey Bay to see what was free. Visual Dispatch fixed that overnight.”
Why Visual Dispatch?
Visual Dispatch, now part of the RapidWorks group, rolls quoting, scheduling, field ticketing, maintenance and invoicing into one drag-and-drop dashboard. The tool was built for crane and rigging businesses that once relied on “complex paper filing systems and hard-to-understand spreadsheets”. Its visual schedule shows every crane, truck and crew member on a single screen; approved quotes flow straight to dispatch; and one-click invoicing mirrors the original quote.
Ian spent 18 months searching for software that could handle both allocating and billing. “Plenty did one or the other,” he said. “Visual Dispatch was the first that nailed both.”
Rolling it out
Implementation began in May 2024. “The schedulers needed the most training, but after six weeks we were working seamlessly – because we’d worked it all out,” Ian said. Even operators who were “not so tech-savvy” adapted quickly. “They got it within a fortnight and now they love it. Job details, lift plans, site maps – all on their phone in real time.”
Smarter scheduling, fewer phone calls
The drag-and-drop interface is now Ian’s favourite feature. “If the weather turns, we just pick up the job and drop it into the next slot. No rewriting boards, no lost notes.” That speed translates into better fleet utilisation. “Visual Dispatch gives me oversight of all four depots, so I can shift cranes between towns and make sure they’re being used to their full potential,” Ian said.
Field communication has improved as well. Operators receive electronic job tickets that carry lift plans, safety documents and GPS directions. “There’s no more to-and-fro asking a million questions,” Ian said. “The map function means new hires don’t get lost, and customers can’t dispute time on site because the data is right there.”
Quoting and compliance baked in
Visual Dispatch’s quoting module has proved just as valuable. The software lets users build “customer-ready templates” in minutes and tie custom pricebooks and overtime rules to each client. “It’s a game-changer,” Ian said. “I can produce a clear, precise quote in minutes and customers rarely have follow-up questions. Before, I was dot-pointing emails and lump-summing the hours.”
Compliance is another win. The platform tracks crane maintenance, lifting-gear inspections and operator licences, sending reminders before anything lapses. “It’s become a vital part of our business infrastructure,” Ian said. “We’re probably using 60 per cent of its capacity and still saving time.”
Cost and capacity
Quantifying savings is tricky because the business has grown alongside the software. “We’re definitely spending less time on the phone and paperwork,” Ian said. “That frees our staff to focus on other important work – things that add value instead of chasing details.” The system has also helped Wide Bay handle a higher volume of work without adding schedulers.
Customer reaction
Clients have noticed the difference, especially at billing time. “There was a brief adjustment when invoices started looking different, but the feedback was overwhelmingly positive,” Ian said. “We even had clients ring to say the new format ‘looks really good’.”
Looking ahead
Wide Bay is already exploring more of Visual Dispatch’s capabilities – payroll prep, detailed utilisation reports, even integrating purchase orders. “We’ve only scratched the surface,” Ian said. “But what we’re using today has already changed the way we run the business.”
Ian said he would never want to go back to juggling spreadsheets, diaries and magnetic whiteboards. For companies with multiple depots, he said, the ability to see every piece of equipment and every operator in one view is invaluable. “Visual Dispatch lets us maximise what we’ve got and get the right crane to the right job, first time.”
After four decades in business, Wide Bay Crane Hire shows no sign of slowing. With a growing fleet of cranes, four depots and a service area stretching from the Sunshine Coast to Gladstone, the company relies on fast decisions and airtight compliance. Visual Dispatch delivers both – turning what used to be a logistical bottleneck into a competitive advantage.
“It’s no exaggeration to say Visual Dispatch has become integral to our operation,” Ian said. “Point, click, schedule – then we get on with the lift.”