Polanko Cleaning Solutions + Rhumbix: From Paper to Digital T&M

Streamlining Construction Cleaning Operations

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Polanko Cleaning Solutions LLC is a specialty contractor based in Ohio that provides construction cleaning and general trade services across commercial and industrial projects. The company has built its reputation on delivering reliable skilled and unskilled labor services to support construction projects throughout the region.

Led by Kim and supported by operations manager Luis, Polanko Cleaning has grown to serve major projects across Ohio, including large-scale data center construction. As the company expanded into larger, more complex projects with higher documentation requirements, they recognized the need to modernize their field operations, specifically how they managed Time & Materials (T&M) work, a significant portion of their revenue.

THE CHALLENGE

Polanko Cleaning faced operational challenges common to many specialty contractors, but the issues were particularly acute on their largest project, a major data center construction project in New Albany, Ohio (QTS Data Center). This 18-month engagement represented a significant opportunity, but also exposed the limitations of their paper-based processes.

Manual Carbon Copy T&M Tickets

The company relied on traditional carbon copy books for documenting T&M work. Field supervisors would manually fill out tickets for labor hours, materials, and equipment, then physically transport them to the office for processing. This analog approach created multiple pain points:

• Labor-intensive process: Manual completion of tickets in the field, followed by office staff manually processing each one
• Delayed signature collection: Getting general contractor signatures on physical tickets created bottlenecks in the approval process
• Limited data visibility: No ability to track where labor hours were being spent across different work categories
• Difficult cost tracking: Manual processes made it hard to analyze which types of work were most profitable

“We’re doing the old school carbon copy stuff. And it’s just, I’m trying to find a solution that can help us be a little bit more efficient. On top of me being able to do some cool stuff with reporting.” — Kim, Project Manager, Polanko Cleaning Solutions

Client Demands for Higher Detail

The QTS Data Center project introduced new challenges. The client requested a higher level of detail in T&M tickets—beyond what Polanko’s existing carbon copy system could easily provide. Rather than paying tickets individually, the client used a manual monthly reconciliation process where all tickets for the month would be bundled, reviewed, and paid as a lump sum.

The Coding and Reporting Challenge

Polanko wanted to implement detailed work coding to understand where their labor hours were actually being spent. They identified five to six major categories of T&M work they regularly performed:

• Exterior projects requiring construction (E1): Building decks, stairs, or other structures outside
• Exterior material handling (E2): Moving products, equipment, or materials in exterior areas
• Interior projects: Construction work inside the building
• Interior material handling: Managing materials and products within the facility
• Trash removal: Cleaning up after other trades and removing construction debris
• Specialized cleaning: Project-specific cleaning requirements

“Right now, Luis is going to start building out, like data in excel that we can use to kind of like zero in on where the money’s being spent… but I’d like to have something that’s not so labor intensive.” — Kim, Project Manager, Polanko Cleaning Solutions

Back-Office Workflow Complexity

The team wanted field supervisors to create tickets with labor hours, work descriptions, and materials—but not include pricing at that stage. Back-office staff (Kim and Luis) needed to review each ticket, add standardized labor rates, apply appropriate markups, price out materials, and only then route tickets for client signature. This workflow required a solution sophisticated enough to support multi-stage approval while remaining simple enough for bilingual field personnel to use consistently.

THE SOLUTION

Rhumbix’s digital T&M solution directly addressed each of Polanko Cleaning’s operational challenges. The platform transformed their paper-based processes while maintaining simplicity for field users and providing the analytical capabilities Kim and Luis needed.

Digital T&M Ticket Creation

The core of the solution was Rhumbix’s mobile-first T&M ticket functionality. Field supervisors could create tickets directly from their smartphones or tablets, eliminating carbon copy books entirely. The entire process took minutes, and data was immediately synchronized to the back-office system in real-time.

“No, not for me. That’s pretty straightforward.” — Kim’s response after seeing the mobile ticket creation process

Custom Work Coding

Rhumbix supported Polanko’s need for detailed work categorization. The system was configured with custom codes (E1, E2, interior construction, interior material handling, trash removal, etc.) that field supervisors could assign to each ticket. At month-end, Kim and Luis could run reports showing exactly how many tickets and hours were spent on each work category.

Back-Office Review and Pricing Workflow

The web-based back-office portal addressed Polanko’s multi-stage approval needs. After field supervisors created tickets, Kim and Luis could view all draft tickets in real-time, review and edit, apply pricing with pre-configured hourly rates and automatic markups, preview final tickets, and route them for digital signature. Critically, labor rates and markups weren’t visible to field staff—only to back-office personnel.

Digital Signature Collection

Rather than hunting down project managers for physical signatures on carbon copies, Rhumbix enabled streamlined digital approval. The GC’s representative would receive an email notification, verify their identity, review the complete ticket, and digitally sign with just a few clicks—reducing signature turnaround from days to hours.

“That’s cool. I like that.” — Kim’s reaction to seeing the digital signature workflow

Monthly Bundling and Billing Support

To accommodate the QTS project’s monthly lump-sum billing process, Rhumbix provided ticket bundling functionality. At month-end, Kim or Luis could filter all signed tickets from a date range, select and bundle them, and generate a comprehensive cover sheet with total costs, number of tickets, and detailed breakdowns—a complete package ready for client billing.

Bilingual Support

Rhumbix’s mobile app was fully available in Spanish, ensuring adoption across the entire team regardless of language preference. Implementation support was also available in Spanish, with a Rhumbix team member conducting training sessions to ensure all field personnel were comfortable with the system.

“The app is fully in Spanish as well. So, I think once they get in there because there won’t be a ton that they really have to do in it. And there’s not going to be that many options, I think it’ll kind of lend itself to them pretty easily.” — Colin Sucher, Account Executive, Rhumbix

THE IMPLEMENTATION

Polanko Cleaning’s implementation approach reflected both urgency and pragmatism. Kim articulated the construction industry reality: ‘The nature of construction, I want it yesterday.’ Rhumbix delivered a rapid but structured implementation timeline of approximately 10 days from contract signature to full operational deployment.

Phase 1: Back-End Configuration (Day 1-3)

A Rhumbix Customer Success Manager worked with Kim and Luis in approximately a one-hour session to configure project data, employee roster, labor rates, markups, materials list, custom work codes, and company branding. Because Polanko used QuickBooks separately for payroll, the implementation skipped complex payroll integration.

Phase 2: Field Training (Day 4-6)

Rhumbix conducted approximately one-hour training sessions with the three field supervisors, covering mobile app navigation, T&M ticket creation, adding labor and materials, work code assignment, photo documentation, and offline functionality. The Spanish-language interface ensured all team members could work comfortably.

Phase 3: Field Deployment and Follow-Up (Day 7-10)

Following initial training, field supervisors began using Rhumbix on actual T&M work with supervised guidance. Back-office parallel testing validated signature workflows, and a follow-up training session addressed questions that emerged during actual use. The result: complete transition from carbon copies to digital T&M tickets within 10 days.

Contract and Pricing

Rhumbix proposed a package covering 10 user licenses at a total project cost of approximately $6,500, including $4,000 in annual license fees and $2,500 in one-time implementation services. The per-user licensing model (not per-project) meant Polanko could expand to their upcoming October project without additional cost.

“Awesome. That’s cool. You guys have a really cool model.” — Kim’s response to the pricing and implementation approach

THE RESULTS

Elimination of Paper T&M Tickets

The most immediate and tangible result was the complete elimination of carbon copy T&M books. No more lost tickets requiring reconstruction, no illegible handwriting causing processing delays, no damaged documentation, no physical storage requirements. The field-to-office workflow became instant and digital, with tickets available for back-office review within seconds of field creation.

Back-Office Efficiency Gains

• Data entry eliminated: No more manually transcribing information from paper tickets
• Pricing automated: Labor rates and markups automatically applied based on configurations
• Signature collection accelerated: Digital workflow reduced turnaround from days to hours
• Organization simplified: Digital filing automatically organized tickets by project, date, and status

Real-Time Visibility and Control

The shift from paper to digital provided something Polanko never had before: real-time visibility into T&M work. Kim and Luis could see at any moment how many tickets had been created, what work was being performed, and the current month’s total T&M value—enabling proactive management rather than reactive problem-solving.

Work Code Analytics

The custom work coding system delivered exactly what Kim and Luis had been trying to achieve through manual Excel analysis—automatically tracking hours by category, ticket volume, revenue distribution, and trends over time. This supported strategic decision-making: identifying their most profitable work categories, pricing future work accurately, and communicating value to clients with concrete data.

Client Relationship Enhancement

The client appreciated the clarity and organization of digital documentation. Rather than sorting through carbon copies, they received professional, consistently formatted tickets with clear descriptions, photos, and detailed breakdowns. This enhanced Polanko’s professional image and differentiated them from competitors still using paper-based systems.

“It is easy to use from obviously the end user perspective, which is the most important thing. But it does provide the GC a lot of clarity, really easy to approve those as opposed to getting the paper copies and keeping track.” — Colin Sucher, Account Executive, Rhumbix

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Client Requirements Drive Technology Adoption

Polanko’s digital transformation was catalyzed by client demands for detailed documentation. Companies that view client requests as burdens miss opportunities—investing in better systems not only meets current client needs but positions them to serve future clients and win competitive bids.

Simplicity Drives Adoption

“Well, that was a lot simpler… That was a lot simpler.” — Kim’s response after seeing the complete Rhumbix demonstration

Analytics Require Digital Data Capture

Luis’s attempts to build Excel-based analytics highlighted a fundamental truth: sophisticated analysis requires digital source data. Manually transcribing paper records into Excel is labor-intensive, error-prone, and unsustainable. True analytical capabilities require capturing data digitally at the source.

Speed to Value Is Critical

Contractors need solutions that can be implemented quickly without extensive IT infrastructure or months-long deployment processes. Rhumbix’s 10-day implementation timeline aligned with the urgency that characterizes construction operations.

LOOKING AHEAD

With Rhumbix successfully implemented on the QTS Data Center project, Polanko Cleaning Solutions is positioned for continued operational excellence and growth.

Expanded Form Digitization

• Safety reporting: JHAs, JSAs, and toolbox talks to improve safety documentation and compliance
• Daily reports: Comprehensive documentation of daily activities, weather conditions, and site status
• Equipment inspections: Digital checklists for telehandlers, scissor lifts, and other equipment
• Quality inspections: Documentation of cleaning quality and work completion

Competitive Differentiation in Bidding

When bidding future projects, Polanko can highlight their sophisticated digital field management capabilities as a differentiator. General contractors and project owners increasingly value subcontractors who use modern technology—it signals operational maturity, reduces coordination burden, and provides confidence in accurate documentation and billing.

“Awesome. Well, thank you… Yeah, this is perfect.” — Kim’s final assessment of the Rhumbix solution

Ready to transform your T&M operations? Click here.