Rehlko Delivers Greater Transparency to Customers with Real-Time Project Insights Using Smartsheet

Rehlko is a global leader in energy resilience, delivering innovative solutions across power generation, energy storage, and renewable technologies. Formerly Kohler Energy, Rehlko launched in 2024 as an independent company committed to powering progress and ensuring reliable energy for critical applications worldwide.

The company’s Power Systems division, which sells and installs backup generators to data centers worldwide, uses Smartsheet to manage these projects. “We process orders, ship products on time, and then help get the generators installed and up and running as quickly as possible,” says Garrett Miller, senior account manager at Rehlko. “These are large projects, with lead times up to a year or longer, and Smartsheet helps us ensure our processes are smooth and efficient.”

When Miller was asked to manage large data center customer projects, he soon realized there was no central project management platform solution available. “Our salespeople all had their own folder structure and they used different spreadsheet and email tools to document project milestones,” he says. “It was difficult to communicate with leadership about the status of projects. I have regular calls with 15 internal groups, and it was challenging to capture and present updated data in a way that made sense to each specific group. I knew we needed to find a more effective way to track projects and present data to internal stakeholders as well as customers.”

Using Smartsheet to Manage Processes and Display Updated Project Data

Miller found what he was looking for after meeting with the Rehlko new product development team, which used Smartsheet to manage internal projects. “We have a ton of data coming in every day, and Smartsheet looked like a simple, effective way to capture and present that data,” says Miller.

Miller and his team quickly adopted Smartsheet and began using it to manage large data center projects, from initial order to final installation. When a new order comes in, the Rehlko sales staff fills out a commercial data sheet, a Smartsheet form that contains high-level project details, including specific products, total order amount, customer contact information, and shipping details. Once the commercial data sheet is created, an ID number is added to the project and a new project folder is generated. The folder includes sheets for schedules, tracking logs, freight, shipment details, change orders, ledgers, and payment progress. Sheets within each project folder include tasks associated with eight different gates or phases. “We have weekly calls for each gate, and we use Smartsheet reports to show each line associated with a gate,” Miller says. “We also have filters in Smartsheet displaying milestones, key due dates, and at-risk projects.” Automated workflows in Smartsheet notify project managers and other internal stakeholders of due dates and tasks.

Teams at Rehlko also use Smartsheet dashboards extensively, giving both internal teams and customers access to project-specific dashboards. 

“All our customers have links to dashboards in Smartsheet, so they can see project schedules, financials, or shipment information in real time” says Miller.

A user-friendly tool that centralizes project data

Adopting Smartsheet was painless because of the solution’s low-code/no-code development platform. 

“Change can be hard, but Smartsheet is incredibly user friendly. It’s easy and accessible, which made it simple for people to get on board with it,” Miller says. “Once people start using it, they see how easy it is to display customer information and use filters and reports to find the data they need.” 

Using Smartsheet, Rehlko project managers can more efficiently track data center generator sales and project information from beginning to end. “Smartsheet gives me two huge benefits as a project manager: a place to centrally house all project data, and a way to display that data in a clear visual way to customers and stakeholders,” says Miller. “It’s made my job much easier.”

Boosting customer confidence through better visibility 

Rehlko team members have better visibility with Smartsheet, giving customers more confidence that projects are being completed correctly and on time. “Smartsheet dashboards are the most effective tool we have, because they give our internal stakeholders a view into what they need to work on for the data center team while also showing our customers where projects are at any given time,” says Miller. The best thing we can do for our customers is to become partners with them in these projects and the best way to develop a partnership is through trust. Smartsheet dashboards have been one of the leadings ways that we have gained trust through transparency with each of our data center customers.

With better visibility, Rehlko customers can now see when products will be delivered and when payments are due. “In the past, some customers wouldn’t receive updated information on delivery dates, for example,” Miller says. “Now, that data is always available to them in Smartsheet, there are no longer any surprises when it comes to product shipping dates or payment information.”

Saving 1,200 hours per year on project updates

Smartsheet has helped Rehlko project managers easily scale to tackle this large workload increase. 

“I’m saving 25 hours a week on updating projects because of Smartsheet because I no longer have to manually update separate spreadsheets for all the different projects,” says Miller.

Rehlko is continuing to explore additional Smartsheet features, such as artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically generate formulas. “We’re looking to increase efficiency by bringing even more automation into our processes with Smartsheet,” says Miller. “Additionally, other departments keep asking me how to use Smartsheet for their specific business areas. When someone comes to me with a process problem, I tell them Smartsheet will always find a way to get it done.”

For more information about this story, please see our case study.