
Launch HN: OSIMple (YC W18) – Automating data entry for inspectors - mikemiller117
Hi HN,<p>We’re Amanda Chan and Mike Miller, the cofounders of OSIMple (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.osimple.co&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.osimple.co&#x2F;</a>). We automate data entry for inspectors by replacing stacks of paper with tablets and by generating completed inspection forms, saving them almost half of their inspection time.<p>Through conversations with friends and professors in the civil engineering department at our university, we discovered that data entry and report writing can be quite a time sink for bridge inspectors. Bridges need to be inspected regularly but a great deal of inspectors are using pen, paper, and camera on site and manually entering data back at the office. Those who do use software use old, clunky applications that often require persistent internet connection in the field.<p>We figured we could build something better so we created OSIMple. There are two parts to the software. First is a mobile application that inspectors use to complete their inspections. It essentially digitizes the inspection form and keeps all the photos and notes organized. The second part is a website. Once an inspector finishes an inspection, they upload their data from the mobile app to the website where they may review and edit the inspection data and finally generate a completed inspection form as a PDF.<p>We started started selling to bridge inspectors and now our software is being used on over 400 bridges. It’s become clear that other types of inspection could benefit from our software as well. So now we’re expanding to include home inspectors. Like bridge inspectors, home inspectors often have nothing or inelegant software to help them complete their job. We aim to change that, for home inspectors and beyond.<p>Thanks for reading! We’d love to hear feedback from the HN community and any ideas or experiences you&#x27;ve had in this space.
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privacypoller
Congrats on your launch! There is huge opportunity in the relatively boring
fields of digitizing paper-based tasks for established industries. I worked in
this field ( mobile data collection & integration for environmental management
systems in forestry, oil & gas) for a significant period and the hard part was
not the data collection but the unique workflows of each organization. Nobody
wants to change "how" they fit the data collection piece into the rest of
their processes so you either don't offer it (and create a easily replaceable
niche service) or you end up with numerous bespoke customized solutions -
what's your plan?

I'd challenge your statement that there's nothing available for some of your
biggest potential markets, unless you're talking a more complete lifecycle
solution specifically targeting verticals than just the data collection. Also,
what's the "automation" component? To me that implies some form of automatic
data collection or predictive workflow creation - both which are huge selling
points, but hard to pull off.

Finally a key feature that you could consider are the document management
aspects around data collection. Even big organizations do this poorly. The
ability to accurately group and find related documents (like inspections over
time or by project) tends to be missing in data collection. As a user I likely
have one or more sets of related documents that fit together based on some
component of my workflow that I share with a team, clients regulators and the
public in different capacities. The most common solution I see is the network
share and an email alias.

Good luck with your venture and enjoy the ride!

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baby_wipe
Parsable seems to be dealing with the issue of unique workflows. From what I
understand they provide a tool to companies that lets them create their own
workflow.

[https://www.parsable.com](https://www.parsable.com)

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rubycowgames
What is industry 4.0? What was industry 3.0?

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martind81
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industry_4.0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industry_4.0)
and more info about the previous ones:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Industrial_Revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Industrial_Revolution)

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handbanana
Site took a good 5 seconds to load anything. Was just a white screen before
that

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rajeevk
I had the same experience. I thought some problem with my internet connection

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infectoid
Sounds similar to what SafetyCulture[1] do. It's a great idea and good to see
this space opening up.

[1] [https://www.safetyculture.com.au/](https://www.safetyculture.com.au/)

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wilfriedchung
Congrats Amanda & Mike! What about plane security inspections? Will from SE ;)

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puneet2x4
Good job Amanda & Mike, 'tis fair!

