Steadberry – ERP Redevelopment and Mobile Solutions

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Overview

Steadberry, a UK-based facilities management company, has been a valued client of Bluebrick Studios for over a decade. During that time, we’ve partnered with them on multiple projects aimed at improving efficiency, streamlining operations, and adapting their processes to meet the needs of a fast-changing industry.

From overhauling their internal business systems to digitising field operations, our work has helped Steadberry move away from outdated, restrictive tools and towards flexible, scalable solutions that keep pace with both business demands and technological change.

The challenge

As with many established businesses, Steadberry’s digital infrastructure has evolved piecemeal over the years. Their original ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system was a desktop-based application that was functional but limited:

It was tied to specific hardware and operating systems.
Extending functionality was difficult and costly.
Vendor lock-in made them reliant on a single provider for updates and support.

At the same time, a significant part of their operations – building maintenance surveys – was still being carried out using paper-based processes. This approach was slow, prone to errors, and made it difficult to capture and share accurate data quickly.

Steadberry needed a long-term partner who could:

Modernise their ERP system for greater flexibility and scalability.
Replace manual survey processes with a digital alternative that improved speed, accuracy, and traceability.
Ensure both solutions were secure, maintainable, and adaptable for the future

Our solution

Bluebrick Studios approached the project as a multi-phase transformation, addressing the ERP and mobile survey requirements as separate but complementary developments.

1. ERP system redevelopment

We began by mapping out the functionality of Steadberry’s existing ERP, identifying which features to retain, improve, or replace. Our goal was to rebuild the system in a way that was vendor-agnostic – giving Steadberry full control over their platform without dependency on a single supplier.

The new ERP was developed as a flexible web application using a PHP framework (Laravel), running on a Linux server environment with a MySQL database. This provided:

Cross-platform accessibility – Accessible via browser from any device, removing hardware restrictions.
Modular design – Allowing new features and modules to be added as needs evolved.
Improved security – Incorporating modern authentication and access control.
Scalability – Capable of supporting growth without significant redevelopment.

By making the system browser-based, Steadberry’s teams could access it from multiple locations without installing desktop software – an immediate boost to operational flexibility.

2. Mobile survey solution

The second major improvement involved replacing the paper-based building maintenance surveys with a dedicated Android application. The app was designed to allow operatives to:

Conduct surveys quickly and efficiently on-site.
Capture exact image and location data for each task.
Submit reports instantly to the ERP system for processing.

This eliminated the delays and inaccuracies associated with paper forms, while also giving management better visibility into field operations.

3. Transition to Progressive Web App (PWA)

As mobile technology and user expectations evolved, we worked with Steadberry to replace the Android app with a Progressive Web Application (PWA). The PWA offered several advantages:

Platform flexibility: operatives could use any modern smartphone or tablet, removing the need for expensive dedicated Android tablets.
Offline capability: the PWA could still function without a live internet connection, syncing data when a connection was restored.
Reduced maintenance overhead: updates could be deployed instantly without requiring app store submissions.

This shift gave Steadberry more flexibility in hardware procurement and reduced the total cost of ownership for the system.

The results

Steadberyy’s operations have been significantly improved by the new ERP and mobile survey solutions:

Increased efficiency – Field operatives can complete and submit surveys more quickly, with data immediately available for processing.
Greater accuracy – Image capture, GPS tagging, and digital forms reduce the risk of errors and omissions.
Improved scalability – The modular ERP design allows for the easy addition of new features as business needs evolve.
Lower hardware costs – The move to a PWA eliminated the requirement for expensive, single-platform devices.
Enhanced security and control – The web-based ERP ensures Steadberry owns and controls their data, free from vendor lock-in.

Ongoing partnership

Our relationship with Steadberry is long-standing and collaborative. We continue to host, support, and enhance both the ERP systems and the PWA, providing

Regular updates and security patches.
Feature enhancements in response to operational needs.
Technical support and troubleshooting.

By maintaining an open, ongoing dialogue, we ensure the solutions we’ve built remain aligned with Steadberry’s goals and industry developments.

Technologies and methodologies

Frameworks and languages: PHP, Laravel, React
Database: MySQL
Hosting environment: Linux
Approach: Modular web application design, mobile-first development, iterative improvement

The Steadberry project demonstrates Bluebrick Studios’ ability to deliver long-term digital transformation, replacing outdated systems with modern, flexible tools that grow with the business.