Repeated manual entry
Client, site and job details were typed again for every document — slow work, and an easy place for small errors to creep in.
Client Case Study
Transforming operations at GB Solutions UK
Forge designed and delivered a connected suite of bespoke applications for GB Solutions UK, replacing fragmented paperwork and repetitive administration with secure, practical digital workflows.
Watch the GB Solutions UK case study
A short walkthrough of the three portals Forge built for GB Solutions UK. Everything shown in the video is described in writing on this page, so nothing is lost if you would rather read.
The challenge
Managing multiple disconnected workflows
GB Solutions UK is a facilities management business whose teams work across many client sites. The individual tasks were well understood by the people doing them — what was missing was software that matched.
Forge began by mapping the real process — who captures what, where it goes, and which details get entered more than once — then designed the applications around it, rather than fitting the business into an off-the-shelf product. Four problems shaped what was built.
Fragmented paperwork
Reports, job sheets and quotes shared no common structure, and no single reliable place to be stored, filed and found again.
Work happens on site
Engineers complete jobs away from a desk. Anything that assumed a desktop computer and a keyboard was never going to be filled in at the time.
Two different user groups
Employees needed to sign in with their existing work accounts. Approved people outside the business needed access without being given one.
The solution
Three focused portals, one shared foundation
One connected platform. Built around the business.
Rather than one oversized system, Forge built three separate applications — job reports, job sheets and quotations. Each is shaped around a specific task, and all three draw on the same business records and the same technical foundation.
This was not a brochure website. The engagement covered business analysis, application design and development, authentication, document generation, integration with the client's Microsoft environment, cloud hosting, testing and deployment.
01
Job Reports Portal
Detailed, customer-facing job reporting. An engineer records the work carried out section by section, attaches the photographs belonging to each one, and the portal produces a report suitable for sending to the end client.
- Reports built from multiple work-completed sections
- Description and resolution detail captured per section
- Photographs attached to the specific work they relate to
- On-screen engineer signature capture
- Customer-facing PDF reports
- Secure email one-time passcode access for approved external users
- Controlled allow-list of authorised users, with time-limited single-use codes
- Built for use on a phone on site
02
Job Sheets Portal
A streamlined way for employees to log the essential details of a job, attach supporting photos and generate a clear, consistently formatted job sheet.
- Quick capture of the essential details of a single job
- Job type and job date
- Client and site selected from shared records
- Supporting photo uploads
- Consistent job-sheet formatting and reference numbering
- Secure employee access through Microsoft Entra ID
03
Quotes Portal
Structured quotation preparation using the pricing rules the business actually works to — several priced lines per quote, recurring as well as one-off charges, and VAT applied correctly.
- Client and site details pulled from the shared records
- Multiple works or pricing rows per quote
- Quantity and charge-frequency options
- One-off and recurring charge types
- VAT and total calculations
- Professional PDF quotations
- Alternative contact or address details where a quote needs them
Shared platform
What the three portals have in common
The portals are separate to use but joined underneath. This is where the connection actually lives: one set of business records, one place documents are stored, and one approach to access and reliability.
A shared client and site address book
One set of client and site records sits behind all three portals, so a site added while preparing a quote is already there when the report is written. Details are selected rather than re-typed — this is what removes the duplicate entry.
Documents stored in SharePoint
Finished documents are filed automatically into Microsoft SharePoint, in a structure the business can navigate and search. The portals reach the client's own Microsoft 365 environment through Microsoft Graph, so everything stays in the tenant they already own.
Automated document handling
PDFs are built from the captured data to consistent, branded templates, and photographs uploaded from a phone are resized and processed automatically rather than stored at full camera resolution.
Secure access, two ways
Employees sign in with Microsoft Entra ID using their existing work accounts. Approved external Job Reports users get in with time-limited email passcodes instead. No shared logins, and no accounts to hand out.
Hosted and monitored
The applications run as managed services on Microsoft Azure — no server in a cupboard. Email notifications, retries and failure alerts mean problems surface rather than going unnoticed.
Also delivered
- Migration of business email from IONOS to Microsoft 365
- Microsoft 365 tenant configuration
- SharePoint document library organisation
- Secure identity and access setup
- Business analysis, testing and deployment
Outcome
Three bespoke portals. One connected operation.
The portals are live and in daily use. The change is not one dramatic number — it is that reports, job sheets and quotations are now part of a single operation rather than three unrelated pieces of paperwork.
Information is entered once and reused, the documentation the business sends out follows the same conventions every time, and the people who need access have it in the way that suits them — staff through their work accounts, approved customers through a passcode.
Because the three applications share a foundation, the next change builds on what is already there rather than starting again.
Technology
Built with
Mainstream, well-supported technology, chosen because it fits the job and will still be maintainable in a few years.
- TypeScript
- Node.js
- Express
- HTML, CSS & JavaScript
- Microsoft Azure App Service
- Microsoft Entra ID
- Microsoft Graph
- Microsoft SharePoint
- Server-side PDF generation
- Server-side image processing
- Secure one-time passcode authentication
Services used on this project
Next step
Could your business processes work better?
Forge develops secure, practical applications around the way a business actually operates — from internal portals and automated documents to Microsoft 365 and cloud integrations.