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From Paper Lists to Same-Day Billing: The Alberni Electric Story

Very excited about finding Ply! Our billing system has been a challenge with every tech calling the same part by different names. Now we'll be able to bill on the spot, spend less time billing large projects, and solve several problems in one app!

Book a DemoElectrical
Working capital freed up by reducing excess inventory
Material costs reduced through better supplier management
Clear visibility into spending patterns
Cash flow improved within 60 days

The Challenge

Alberni Electric was tying up too much cash in inventory they didn't need. Poor visibility into what was actually being used made it impossible to optimize purchasing.

The Solution

Ply's spend analytics and smart min/max levels helped Alberni right-size their inventory. Better purchasing decisions freed up working capital.

The Results

Working capital freed up by reducing excess inventory
Material costs reduced through better supplier management
Clear visibility into spending patterns
Cash flow improved within 60 days

The Full Story

About Alberni Electric

Alberni Electric is a respected electrical contractor based in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Since 2012, they have provided exceptional residential and commercial electrical services to Port Alberni, Tofino, Ucluelet, and surrounding areas.

With a team of four licensed Red Seal journeymen and three apprentices, Alberni Electric is committed to safety, quality, and superior customer service. In recent years, they launched a new division, VI Power Guard, to expand into clean energy solutions, including solar power installations, generators, car chargers, and maintenance services, responding to a competitive market and a growing demand for sustainable energy.

The Challenge

Operating in a location with no nearby wholesaler, Alberni Electric carries between 1,200 and 1,400 inventory items at any given time. After a period of rapid growth, the company found itself without the systems needed to manage that volume and the cracks began to show.

Stock would disappear into vans or onto job sites without being logged, leading to overstocking, dead inventory, and constant reordering of items they already had. But the most painful problem showed up at billing time. Each technician had their own informal language for parts and their handwritten material lists reflected that.

They'd put 'smoke detector' on a material list, but what kind? There are CO2 detectors, battery-operated, hardwire; without that extra detail, it's really hard to bill accurately and on time. We'd be going through four people just to process one list.
Stacey Smith
Co-Owner at Alberni Electric

That four-person billing loop, from tech to manager to admin and back again, was draining time, creating frustration, and slowing down cash flow.

The Solution

Alberni Electric needed a system that would standardize how materials were logged, integrate with their existing tools, and fit into the daily routines of a field-based team. And Ply ticked all the boxes.

We already worked with Jobber and I had seen the integration possibility with Ply on their site, and it just seemed like a really fantastic fit. We didn't want something built around spreadsheets. We needed something the guys could actually use on the job.
Stacey Smith
Co-Owner at Alberni Electric

With Ply, technicians now log materials directly into jobs from their phones, using standardized product descriptions pulled from the system. The guesswork is gone and so is the paper trail. Inventory updates flow between Ply and Jobber in real time, giving the office clear visibility into stock levels across the warehouse, vans, and job sites.

The Ply team’s support also stood out during rollout, making the transition smoother even for the more old-school members of the team:

The support has been fantastic. It's been an interesting journey so far, but it's been a really positive one too.
Stacey Smith
Co-Owner at Alberni Electric

The Results

Since implementing Ply, Alberni Electric has seen meaningful improvements across billing, inventory management, and day-to-day operations.

  • Billing that actually closes: Removing the multi-person material review loop has dramatically shortened billing cycles, with jobs processed far faster than before.
  • Real inventory visibility: The team can now see at a glance what’s in the warehouse, what’s in vans, and what’s running low, eliminating the guesswork that led to costly overordering and dead stock.
  • Standardized material language: Techs log materials using consistent, specific descriptions, which has eliminated admin back-and-forth and reduced billing errors.
  • Jobber integration that just works: As Stacey puts it, the Ply-Jobber integration is the standout feature. Inventory numbers update automatically across both systems, keeping the office and the field in sync.
  • A foundation for growth: With VI Power Guard expanding into clean energy services, Ply gives Alberni Electric the operational backbone to scale without the chaos that came with rapid growth before.

Stacey’s recommendation to other contractors is unequivocal:

If you're an electrical contractor or in plumbing, anything where you're dealing with hundreds of parts a day, it is a no-brainer. The integrations, the time it saves the office, the money you save by not over- or under-ordering. The cost per month is really reasonable, the support is fantastic. It's a win all around.
Stacey Smith
Co-Owner at Alberni Electric

See how easy inventory can be - even for first-timers.

Book a Demo

Very excited about finding Ply! Our billing system has been a challenge with every tech calling the same part by different names. Now we'll be able to bill on the spot, spend less time billing large projects, and solve several problems in one app!

Stacey Smith
Alberni Electric

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