If you’ve ever done a job with the wrong part, you know the feeling.

You can make it work. You can wedge it in somehow. But you know you’re going to pay for it later: in callbacks, in extra time, in the customer asking “Why does it look like that?”

It’s the same when you’re making tech decisions for your skilled trades business. Especially when someone says, “Just turn on this feature,” and it’s clearly not built for how your office actually runs.

At The Graphite Lab, we talk about automation differently. 

Not because we’re trying to be clever, but because it matches how your business really operates.

You’ve already got tools and a process. You just need the right pieces, assembled the right way, so the work gets done without your team babysitting it.

That’s where assemblies come in.

First, a quick translation: tools, runs, and assemblies.

A tool is a building block. It has an input and an output. Basically, “take this info → do something with it → produce a result.”

A run is the moment that tool executes.

An assembly is a workflow built by stacking tools together so that the desired business process happens end-to-end.

It’s like those (trademarked) toy plastic bricks. Each brick is a tool. Then they’re put together into the assembly you need to accomplish a particular process. Which brings us to the next question.

Do we grab a prebuilt assembly off the shelf, or do we custom build?

A prebuilt assembly is the off-the-shelf set of tools. It’s designed to solve issues we’ve seen repeatedly across trades businesses: missed calls, responding to reviews, tech notifications, customer follow-up and data cleanup. All tasks that can be easily automated. 

Prebuilt assemblies are best when:

• the problem is common

• the workflow is predictable

• you want a solution in place ASAP

An important note here: prebuilt doesn’t mean “generic.” It means “proven.”

Here are a few examples of the kind of workflows that prebuilts can handle quickly.

Missed-call follow-up (without sounding robotic)

Sometimes, call volume gets overwhelming. If a call is missed, you automatically send a tailored follow-up text so you don’t lose that lead (and the potential profit). 

Canceled-job win-back

When a job gets canceled, you can automatically re-engage the customer to win back the opportunity. Again—common problem, common workflow, huge leakage point.

Technician and manager notifications that keep everyone on track

If a tech is late to dispatch, or if a job runs long, it pings a manager. If a dispatch is completed but the job isn’t marked complete, it reminds the tech. Is it flashy? No, but it protects your schedule and your closeouts.

Customer history summaries for techs

Technicians are automatically provided a short customer history summary when they’re dispatched—so the tech walks in with context instead of questions. It’s a great time-saver that also assures customers that you know what they need.

Standardized estimate summaries

Estimates often get messy because the story is buried in notes. A standardized estimate summary makes it easier for your staff and your customer to understand what’s being proposed.

In short, prebuilt assemblies are fast, reliable, and usually your smartest first move.

When might you need a custom assembly?

Sometimes, an off-the-shelf set is close, but it doesn’t quite fit your workflow, or procedures. 

This is the “custom-fab” moment.

Your business may have:

• multiple branches with different rules

• different job types that require different follow-ups

• a sales process that depends on how you categorize calls and campaigns

• a membership program that needs specific timing, language, and escalation

• an aggregator trying to standardize operations across portfolio companies without crushing what makes each team work

Custom Assemblies are created for workflows that are either:

1) unique to how you run your business, or

2) important enough that “almost right” costs you more than you’d save.

If prebuilt is the plastic brick kit, custom is sitting down with the bricks and building the exact model you want—because you’re not building the picture on the box. You’re building your box.

When is custom the right call?

Experience has taught us that businesses don’t need custom because they want something fancy. They need it because friction is costing them money.

Custom makes sense when:

• Your workflow has “ifs,” “buts,” and “except whens”

• “If the job is commercial, do this. If it’s residential, do that. If it’s after hours, route it differently. If the customer is a member, handle it another way.”

That’s where we flex to meet your reality. 

You’ve outgrown “one size fits all”

At $7M–$100M in revenue, you’re usually past the stage where a default setting matches how you operate. You’ve built a process that works—now you want tech that bends to it.

For example, you may need to standardize across multiple teams without breaking adoption. This is a common situation for multi-location operators and aggregators. You want consistency where it matters (reporting, service quality, speed-to-lead), but you also need to accommodate local differences.

A custom approach lets you keep your core model the same while swapping a few bricks per location.

When a workflow affects whether you win the job, get paid faster, reduce cancellations, or protect reviews, it’s worth getting it right. It’s like working in the field where you wouldn't “close enough” a gas line.

The simplest way to decide: “prebuilt first” vs. “custom first”

Simply put:

Go prebuilt first when speed matters more than perfection.

Go custom first when “almost right” creates more issues (and more costs).

Prebuilt-first looks like:

You want a quick win.

You want something your team doesn’t need training to adopt.

You want to stop bleeding time on a known bottleneck.

Custom-first looks like:

Your process is a competitive advantage (or protects your margin).

You have edge cases that happen weekly, not yearly.

You’ve tried tools that “sort of work” and your team hates them.

And honestly, most companies end up with a hybrid:

Start with a prebuilt Assembly to get 80–90% of the benefit quickly.

Then customize the last 10–20% so it fits your reality.

Consider this real-world scenario

Let’s say you’re losing leads on missed calls.

A prebuilt Assembly can handle the core workflow: missed call → follow-up text → capture response.

But then you add the real-world requirements:

• different offices cover different zip codes

• certain job types should route to a priority queue

• after-hours calls need a different message and a different booking link

• Spanish-speaking customers need a different version of the same follow-up

• VIP customers should always trigger a manager notification

That’s where custom makes sense—not because the idea is new, but because your business rules are.

This is the difference between “turning on AI” and building an automation your team can actually trust.

If you’ve ever made a build-vs-buy decision for software, it’s the same thinking—just smaller, faster, and more practical.

Prebuilt gives you proven capabilities quickly, with less effort.

Custom gives you control and fit, with more design work up front.

If you like the strategic framework behind that idea, Thoughtworks has a solid (and readable) breakdown of the build-vs-buy tradeoffs.

A few questions to answer before you choose

If you’re deciding between prebuilt and custom, don’t overthink it. Just answer these like you’re talking it through with your best operations lead:

• How often does this problem happen—daily, weekly, monthly?

• When it breaks, what does it cost us (time, money, reviews, cancellations)?

• Is the workflow basically the same across your businesses, or is it “how we do things here”?

• How many exceptions do we have to handle?

• Do we need this to work across multiple locations or multiple brands?

Those answers will help you decide.

Here’s the upshot. 

The goal isn’t to “do AI.” It’s to remove bottlenecks without adding new headaches.

Prebuilt assemblies give you traction fast.

Custom assemblies are automations that are built for your specific needs.

And we can help you sort this out in about 15 minutes. Tell us the workflows you’re trying to fix, and we’ll show you what you can solve with prebuilt assemblies, or where a custom build is worth it.