About Lowell Area Schools
Located 18 miles east of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Lowell Area School District serves approximately 3,500 students from preschool through 12th grade. With a staff of 480–500, including teachers, custodians, and administrative personnel, the district is dedicated to providing a high-quality learning environment. Greg Pratt, Director of Operations at Lowell, knew a well-maintained school infrastructure would be essential to achieving this mission, which is what led him to seek a better facility management system.
Enter, FlowPath.
The Challenge
Before implementing FlowPath, Lowell Area Schools used another computerized maintenance management system, but found it lacking in user-friendliness and efficiency. With their previous system, work orders typically took 5 to 7 days to complete, delaying critical maintenance requests.
Before adopting FlowPath, Lowell Public Schools encountered several facility management obstacles:
- Difficulty tracking and prioritizing maintenance requests.
- Lack of visibility into work order statuses and completion timelines.
- Inefficient communication between staff and maintenance teams.
- Reactive maintenance leading to costly repairs and disruptions.
The district needed a solution that would streamline work order management, improve response times, and be intuitive for staff at all levels.
"The number one piece that we identified as a goal was to turn around our work orders quicker. Right now, with FlowPath, most of our work orders are being completed in 2 or 3 days, even with some long-term requests in the system."
– Greg Pratt, Director of Operations, Lowell Area Schools
Why FlowPath?
After evaluating multiple solutions, Lowell Public Schools selected FlowPath due to its user-friendly interface, comprehensive features, and seamless integration with comprehensive customer support.
Key decision-making factors included:
- An intuitive platform that required minimal training.
- Real-time tracking and reporting for improved accountability.
- Automation capabilities to streamline maintenance workflows.
- A responsive support team committed to customer success.
Ease of use was a primary factor in the district's decision to adopt FlowPath. Staff members, including those who were less tech-savvy, found the system simple and intuitive.
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