Shelbyville Parks: Bringing Structure to Citywide Maintenance

The Shelbyville Parks Department maintains a wide range of public spaces throughout the city, from greenways and sports fields to restrooms and playgrounds. For a small team managing such a broad scope, staying organized and efficient is essential.

The Challenge

Before implementing a centralized system, the team relied on outdated software and a mostly manual approach to manage maintenance tasks and parts. Work orders were scattered across emails and physical notes, and there was no structured way to track parts usage or inventory levels. This made it hard to follow up on tasks, keep supplies stocked, or understand how time and materials were being used.

Doug Conner, Maintenance Supervisor, wanted to simplify the process for issuing work orders, make responsibilities clearer, and start keeping better track of labor and parts, all within a system that the team would actually use.

The Solution

The department implemented a centralized maintenance platform to manage work orders, plans, and inventory in one place.

Doug described the transition as smoother than expected.

“The system is easy to use compared to what we had before. You can navigate each tab smoothly, the data entry is easy, and you can even update the work order as you go. If issues arise, you can create an activity inside the work order right away.”

Doug Conner

Maintenance Supervisor

From day one, one of the most noticeable shifts came from inventory control.

“The inventory piece has been huge for us. We can track our items from purchase to use by the technician, and once it’s been entered into a work order, it will automatically remove a part from the system, making sure we never miss a reorder point.”

Doug Conner

Maintenance Supervisor

The team now logs spare parts directly in the system and links them to individual work orders and assets. Inventory counts update automatically as parts are used, and Doug has full visibility into what’s available at any given moment.

Work orders are also being managed more clearly. Doug creates and dispatches tasks to technicians with detailed steps, scheduled dates, and required materials. In the field, technicians access these tasks using the mobile app and scan QR codes to quickly view locations and information.

“The implementation was second to none. The team at Tractian did a great job of explaining the software and walking us through any questions or issues that we had.”

Doug Conner

Maintenance Supervisor

Impact and Outcomes

Since rolling out the new system, the team has seen meaningful changes:

• Work orders are easier to manage, update, and complete
• Everyone has visibility into task ownership and status
• Time spent on manual work has decreased, and records are more complete
• Inventory tracking is now centralized and accurate, reducing wasted time and supply issues
• Parts are directly linked to work orders, improving cost tracking and planning
• Team adoption has been strong, with technicians and administrators using the system daily
• Other departments are now creating requests to report facility-related issues, enabling the team to respond and assist more efficiently

“If another parks department or company asked me whether to switch, I’d tell them yes. Tractian is so easy to use and has so many different options that provide me and my team members with the capacity to streamline all of our internal processes. We’re already starting to look at data and talk about how to improve based on what we see.”

Doug Conner

Maintenance Supervisor