BlueLink Success Story

Utah painting contractor Rob Smith shares his experience working with the Graco BlueLink Job and Sprayer Management System and how it has helped him be more efficient and save money.

Describe your business and your role.

"We’re a residential painting contracting business located in South Jordan, Utah. We’ve been in business for over 6 years and paint an average of 30 homes per year. We have 5 full-time painters plus my wife and I, though I’m stepping away from being an everyday painter to focus more on business development."

What did you think about BlueLink when you first heard about it?

"I had seen BlueLink mentioned in a few painting groups on social media. I was in the market for a few new sprayers so I decided to check it out. After learning more about it, I could see the value and potential for how it could help our business right away."

What sprayers do you use with BlueLink?

"Our three Graco sprayers with BlueLink are an Ultra Max II 490 PC Pro Lo-boy, Ultra Max II 490 PC Pro Hi-boy and Mark V."

How long have you been using BlueLink?

"About a year and a half."

How does BlueLink help you run your business?

"Our estimates are more accurate, our spray pressure is always spot-on and keeping track of maintenance is so much easier.

With the ability to track gallons sprayed, my bids are much more accurate now. Before BlueLink, I would basically "guesstimate" how much material I’d need for the job and then deal with the consequences. Some jobs I was 10 gallons short and I even had one where I was 45 gallons over!  Now, I use BlueLink data on similar jobs we’ve completed in the past so I’m always within 3-5 gallons of material on every job.

Next, our PSI is now always where it needs to be for the material we’re spraying as my guys can see the exact spray pressure on the BlueLink display on their phone. If I’m not on the jobsite, I can always check to see the PSI and activity on each sprayer if I’m out running around. So, it definitely gives me some added peace-of-mind to know we’re spraying every coating the right way to provide the best finish possible and not putting added stress on the pump and spray tips.

Finally, our sprayer maintenance is a no-brainer now. Before BlueLink, maintenance wasn’t something I kept up with so we would go through more sprayers than we should of – which wasn’t good for the bottom line. Now, I can easily setup a maintenance alert through BlueLink so we all know it’s time to have a sprayer checked out when it needs to be and deal with any wear and tear issues before it’s too late.

As I see it…if you’re not using BlueLink, you’re losing money."

How did you manage these challenges before having BlueLink?

"It was pretty simple…when a sprayer or tip failed, it failed so I’d just go and buy another one to replace it."

What would you tell others about BlueLink if they aren’t familiar with it?

"I’ve seen some misperceptions in social media about BlueLink in terms of what it can and can’t do and how hard it is to use. Even though I’m a bit of a tech guy, it really is easy to setup and use.

You can track the activity and location of the sprayers that have BlueLink but the sprayer has to be turned on and connected to a phone with the BlueLink app. Also, you can see the sprayer PSI on your phone but you still have to adjust the pressure manually on the sprayer as always."

Visit www.graco.com/BlueLink to learn more about BlueLink and download the BlueLink app.