Controlworx

Summary:

ControlWorx, a New Zealand company that designs custom automation machinery, struggled with slow quoting and difficult stock tracking while using spreadsheets and emails. After switching to WorkGuru, they improved efficiency and organisation and reduced administrative time.

About the Company

ControlWorx, former Hortworx, based in New Zealand, is an engineering company that designs and builds machines to automate tricky or heavy tasks. They started by building gear for fruit packhouses but now help many industries where machines can make repetitive work easier.

Their team handles every part of the job—from design to electrical and mechanical builds—so they can create innovative solutions that fit each client's needs. Whether moving cartons or building tools for complex tasks, they focus on making the process safer and more efficient.

The challenge for ControlWorx

Before WorkGuru, ControlWorx tracked projects using spreadsheets, Xero, and a few other tools to keep track of jobs. But as the business grew, so did the gaps between systems. Knowing what had been quoted, ordered, built, or invoiced became harder.

Quoting was slow and manual, and managing stock was difficult. The team often found parts scattered across shelves, leftover from previous builds, or ordered at the last minute. Things slipped through the cracks without one central place to track it all.

"I had a gut feel for what we were spending time on but no data to back it up. That made it hard to quote accurately or explain delays to customers."— Rob Elstone.

Time tracking was a big issue, too. The team worked on mechanical, electrical, and fabrication tasks. Rob couldn't easily see how much time the team spent on each job and which were profitable.

"We were constantly cross-referencing spreadsheets, emails, and drawings. The quoting system was inconsistent, and it was hard to track what was happening on a job."

- Rob Elstone, Owner of ControlWorx

Key Benefits

Faster Quoting

Job Visibility

Better Stock Control

Shared Responsibility

The search for a solution

Controlworx needed a system that provided structure without slowing down the team. With guidance and support from Heidi Seal at Business Sense, they set up WorkGuru to match their workflow.

"Heidi really took the time to understand our business. We've got weird projects, a mix of people doing multiple roles. She mapped it out and helped us build the right processes into WorkGuru."

WorkGuru gave them one system to handle everything—quoting, ordering, time tracking, and stock. ControlWorw now breaks jobs into clear phases and logs materials used as they go. The team tracks progress in real-time.

The Xero integration allows the team to update their financial information with one click, making invoicing cleaner without extra manual steps. All financial data is updated automatically. Pricing is more precise with consistent quoting templates. With detailed timesheets, job costing is no longer a guessing game.

ControlWorx - engineering transformation

"We've gone from 'gut feel' to real data. I can open a job and see how we track materials, time, and the lot. That's a game-changer."

Rob Elstone

Owner at ControlWorx

The results with WorkGuru

The change was immediate. Controlworx runs projects with more clarity and less confusion. Thanks to improved templates, inventory visibility, and easier data entry, quoting is 10x faster—especially for smaller or repeat jobs. The team still makes the same effort to plan complex quotes, but now building and sending them is more efficient and consistent.

The team monitors progress in less time, tracks orders as they come in, and confidently logs time spent on each phase. By connecting each activity to job costs, they've eliminated guesswork.

Stock tracking is now part of the daily workflow. Whether they order new parts or use items from the shelf, the team records it all in one place.

There has been a shift in mindset. Instead of relying on one person to manage the entire process, everyone now shares responsibility. That change has freed Rob to spend less time firefighting and more time growing the business.

"It's structured but not rigid. We can flex the system around how we work."

- Rob Elstone, Owner at ControlWorx

Conclusion

For Controlworx, WorkGuru didn't just replace spreadsheets—it helped them organise the moving parts of every project. Now, quoting, purchasing, stock, and time tracking all live in one system.

There's no more jumping between tools or wondering where a job is. The team works from the same source of truth, and they can trust the numbers.

With support from Heidi Seal at Business Sense, they've built a setup that fits their work. It's not about changing everything—it's about making what they do more repeatable, reliable, and scalable. They no longer react to problems; they run jobs with confidence and control.

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