McLeod Cranes, based in New Zealand, provides crane, transport, and hiab services across the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions, along with 24/7 support, engineering consultancy, and precast concrete placement. Over the past year, the business has turned to Slack to improve site inspections, asset management, and communication around jobs. As a result, complaints have decreased, productivity has increased, and overall communication has significantly improved.
Preparing for the future with Slack canvas
To help unlock future agentic productivity, McLeod Cranes recently migrated its internal intranet to Slack Canvas. By centralising and organising its data, the company has streamlined operations and laid the groundwork for the integration of agents, capable of transforming the way teams make decisions and take action.
Previously, McLeod Cranes struggled with scattered internal knowledge stored across outdated systems and physical documents. With teams spread across multiple locations and often working remotely, accessing critical information quickly was a challenge. Recognising the need for structured data to support productivity, Scott McLeod, Managing Director of McLeod Cranes, chose Slack Canvas as the solution.
“We knew we needed a central platform that could grow with us,” said McLeod. “Now all our resources are in one place in Slack Canvas, making it easier for the team to access the right information, wherever they are.”
By organising internal knowledge in Slack Canvas, McLeod Cranes is building the infrastructure to support future agents, ensuring these tools will have access to the data they need to help teams make smarter, faster decisions.
“We’re structuring our knowledge so that once agents are integrated, they can pull the right information at the right time to help us work more efficiently,” McLeod explained.
“We’re moving our company knowledge from the intranet to Slack Canvas so, in the future, agents can access the right data to help us make faster, more informed decisions.”
We're moving our company knowledge from the intranet to Slack Canvas, so in the future, agents can access the right data to help us make faster, more informed decisions.
Agent-ready operations
With centralised and structured data, McLeod Cranes is preparing for a future where agents within Slack can support the business with faster decision-making and more efficient processes. These agents will seamlessly integrate with Slack, enabling teams to interact with them conversationally, unlocking productivity in real-time.
McLeod envisions a customer service agent that will instantly provide his team with key operational insights—such as the availability of cranes, operators, and equipment.
“With agents, I can see a future where we’ll be able to respond faster and more accurately, making our dispatch process seamless,” said McLeod.
“Agents will help us get the right information at the right time, so we can operate more efficiently and deliver better service to our customers.”
With agents in Slack, I can see a future where we'll be able to respond faster and more accurately, making our dispatch process seamless.
Building a seamless ecosystem for the future
At McLeod Cranes, we’re creating a connected ecosystem where the tools we rely on work together to enhance productivity. We’re investing in Salesforce Field Service with a vision of agents that can take action, providing real-time support that is relevant to our business.
Looking forward, Slack will be deeply integrated with Salesforce, making them part of the same ecosystem. This allows Salesforce Sales Cloud and Service Cloud to communicate valuable and relevant information to the right people, at the right time, directly through Slack.
The real breakthrough? Communication isn’t just one-way anymore. With this integration, you can chat directly with Salesforce in Slack and even trigger actions in real-time, like managing resources or processing orders—all through a simple conversation.
“Our vision is to create an ecosystem where Salesforce, Slack, and agents work together to not only deliver information, but to drive real-time action. This integration will empower our teams to make smarter, faster decisions, and transform how we operate in the future.”
