RPA (Robotic Process Automation)
Huff-n-Puff Fitness Repair, LLC.
How Huff-n-Puff Streamlined Operations and Reclaimed 18+ Hours Monthly with RK.
For nearly two decades, Huff-n-Puff has been a leading fitness equipment repair specialist in the Midwest region, serving customers with comprehensive repair and maintenance, and handling everything from residential treadmill fixes to commercial gym equipment overhauls. As the business grew, so did the complexity of managing customer requests, warranty claims, and the intricate web of manufacturer relationships that define the servicing and repair industry.
Speaking with Dan Thompson, owner of Huff-n-Puff, he shared that Keyence RK has transformed their daily operations, freeing up valuable time to focus on what matters most: serving customers and growing the business.
The Outcome
Since implementing Keyence RK, Huff-n-Puff has automated several critical business processes, with plans for more in development. The most impactful automation alone saves the company around 18.5 hours per month, time now redirected toward customer service, business development, and other higher value strategic initiatives.
The Challenge of Data Entry
As a service business, Huff-n-Puff faced the all-too-familiar challenge of repetitive data entry across multiple systems. Dan went on to explain this was one of the primary items that led him to explore automation solutions:
"Just like any service business, there's a lot of data entry. And anytime you've got data entry, then you know, there's opportunity [for automation]."
One of the company's workflows involved constant switching between their primary business management system (Service Fusion), payment processing platform (Square), and various manufacturer warranty portals. Each customer interaction required manual data entry across multiple platforms, creating bottlenecks and consuming valuable staff time.
Quantifying Success
The impact of RK became immediately apparent through measurable time savings. Dan shared that their original use case has been hugely successful in regard to efficiency.
"In January we had 224 web requests come in. So basically, just off that one scenario that's 1,120 minutes, which then is over 18½ hours of time saved."
By automating data entry for web-based service requests, Huff-n-Puff has transitioned its team away from many of these 5-minute manual tasks, allowing employees to reinvest the recovered time into higher-value, customer-facing activities.
Application Management
What stands out as one of the most valuable features of RK is its ability to work with different software allowing for automation in areas that would previously require complex integrations. Huff-n-Puff has leveraged this in a multitude of ways helping handle tasks with varied inputs or switching between applications. As mentioned above, Dan and his team have developed automations that seamlessly connect Service Fusion with Square for prepayment processing.
"There are some things built out in Service Fusion, then they go over to Square to create an invoice, move the link, e-mail it to the customer etc. RK takes the estimate and then is able to go into Square, get that put in with all the right numbers where they belong, the right pricing, everything else, and then obtain that link, put it into the estimate, and then have it ready to send off to the customer."
This integration addresses a common pain point since there are several processes that rely on more than one system for completion. RK’s ability to allow different software to communicate through the front end has been crucial in Huff-n-Puff’s automation potential.
This same issue with transmitting data between applications persists with each different manufacturer Dan works with. Some provide web portals, others send detailed emails, and some use hybrid approaches when sharing information regarding warranties or servicing. He is currently working on a scenario to handle this bi-directional transaction in order to import warranty requests into Service Fusion, but then also export completion data back to manufacturer systems for claim processing.
A Growing Application Portfolio
While Huff-n-Puff has a number of different scenario automations in production, Dan was adamant to explain that his primary constraint isn't ideas but time.
"I've got a long list, and I keep adding to it... Really the main constraint is my time and how much I can put into it every single week with everything else that I've got going on. So, if I was more available then I'd have a lot more."
This speaks to both the accessibility of the RK platform as well as the abundance of automation opportunities. Dan was also quick to mention the unlimited support included with the RK tool. Each customer is assigned a specific customer support representative accountable for their learning and progress using the tool.
“Chandler (Huff-n-Puff’s CS Rep) has helped immensely with getting me fluent in being able to start to speak it [the RK language] as well.”
The two of them still meet almost every week to progress on further automations.
Where to Next?
Huff-n-Puff's automation journey is far from complete. While their focus remains on identifying new processes and converting them into automated workflows, the company's success demonstrates that even specialized service businesses can achieve significant operational improvements through strategic automation implementation. Reclaiming time and productivity, Huff-n-Puff has created a blueprint for industry automation that prioritizes both efficiency and customer experience.
As Dan continues building out his automation portfolio, Keyence remains committed to supporting Huff-n-Puff's growth through dedicated customer success resources and platform enhancements to help address real world service challenges.
