Located in Pennsylvania and chartered in 1850, Erie Cemetery has served the local community for more than 175 years, and now cares for more than 55,000 burials.
Between this and their two other cemeteries - Wintergreen Gorge [built in 1932] and Laurel Hill [purchased in 1972] - Erie Cemetery Association currently manages a total of 75,000 to 80,000 burials.
With a team of 27 employees, including 17 groundskeepers, they carry significant historical responsibility while operating a complex, modern cemetery business.
Faced with an unsupported legacy system, time-sucking paper-based processes, and limited mapping capabilities, they set out to future-proof their operations.
By partnering with PlotBox, they’ve transformed everything from work orders and cremation workflows to digital mapping and public-facing grave search - gaining greater visibility, stronger communication between office and grounds teams, and enhanced customer service.
We had the pleasure of speaking with members of the management team, who provided frank and honest feedback on their PlotBox experience - both the many positive outcomes and the inherent challenges of switching to a new solution. We spoke with:
David Rinderle, Executive Director, responsible for the overall strategy, direction implementation of the overall business plan, and primary go-to interface for the board;
Debra Colby, Family Service Representative [and project manager for PlotBox], carrying out training, and is very hands-on presently with mapping alignment;
Betsy MacKrell, Manager of Sales and Marketing, go-to contact with previous solution vendor, and involved data collection for the PlotBox import.
With their legacy software being sunsetted and no longer supported, leadership recognized a need to take action.
This risk was compounded by the fact that nothing had been developed within their solution in over two years, as well as their data sitting on an on-site server, without cloud back-up.
System limitations also meant that processes were time-consuming - one example of this was communications with grounds teams being primarily carried out using, “3x5 cards tucked into shirt pockets”.
It was clear that they needed a cloud-based, future-focused solution partner that could support their long-term strategy and evolving operational needs.
In terms of what they were looking for in a new solution, mapping was important - and in a way that could take them forward from a technology standpoint.
In particular - being able to provide tools that would enable the public to find graves with ‘walk-to-grave functionality’ via interactive digital maps.
While the old mapping was somewhat accurate, the previous software didn’t utilize what they considered to be, “current technology.”.
In other words, “There were no 3D pictures of gravestones. There was no zooming down into a headstone, walking to a grave, or any of that kind of thing.”.
After researching the market, they chose PlotBox - viewing it as one of the top software providers for the deathcare industry.
PlotBox’s public-facing platform [EverAfter] was of particular interest - especially the ability to brand their custom site as ‘Erie Cemetery’ - which they described as, “good functionality.”.
Another thing that stood out was the experience that PlotBox brings to the table.
This, in turn, has enabled them to speak to and share best practice with other cemetery operators, which along with the fact that PlotBox is an actively growing product, is something they value.
While the team reflected on the significant effort that was required during the transition, they noted that it did deliver some unexpected value.
“Although it was hard work, it did highlight for us the areas that we needed to work on.”, they said.
In this way, the implementation process exposed some gaps that have ultimately helped them, now that they’re almost a year post-implementation.
The most immediate impact for the team was seen in work orders and cremations.
In terms of cremations, they now have a new process that works very well.
“We did have to change our cremations process with our crematory here - how that behaves and acts with paperwork and functionality.”, they said, “But it actually has a nice flow to it now, which is good. That's lovely.”.
Grounds teams - many of whom had never used computer systems before - quickly adapted to new ways of working.
“They have adopted [it] with ease…we are quite impressed with them,” the team shared.
Work is now tracked, assigned to precise locations, and permanently recorded against deeds and graves, providing real-time visibility and accountability.
“That's completely valuable in so many ways. The fact that everything that takes place on the grounds is assigned to a location or deed is connected for eternity…is so much better than all the paper and the cards.”
The scheduling facility has also been of great practical benefit.
As mentioned, prior to PlotBox, on-site work was assigned via 3x5 cards indicating the section, lot, and grave, lot owner, and what action was to be carried out where - the same for burials.
However, while the office team may have seen the cards for grounds orders at some point - they’d have come back to them, “in chunks” months later. With burial cards, they may never have seen them again.
Now, families receive faster updates, supervisors have clearer oversight, and management can begin analyzing resource allocation across all three cemeteries.
“It's easier to get back to a family, and let them know that something's happened on the grounds. We can check the system and ensure that it did take place.”
Citing one example, if a complaint from a client was received that a grave had settled due to not being backfilled - rather than filling out a card and hoping to hear about it eventually - they now get the finished notification in their email, allowing them to call the family back immediately and letting them know that it’s been addressed.
The combination of drone views, work orders and maps has also enabled the team to carry out a lot of, “clean up” work across the grounds.
“I’m finding numerous headstones that have been moved out of the way, off of their foundations - probably decades ago - they're just in the wrong places, and I can physically see that and put out a work order right there with ease to get that remedied.”
Drone mapping and updated digital records have also unlocked new opportunities. Staff are identifying previously unknown inventory and correcting decades-old inconsistencies.
At the same time, they’ve noted that visual mapping tools and integrated work orders have made it easier to spot maintenance issues and address them proactively.
The mapping process itself, they note, was “pretty easy.”.
“That was quite nice”, they say, noting that PlotBox made it easy, having set everything up prior to the drone flights taking place.
“Where to put all of our information, and the back and forth between all three companies was quite easy”, they continued, “Implementing all the drone flights and getting to see them was just wonderful. It's a view of the cemetery we've never had correct in some places.”.
They also acknowledged the amount of work that goes into ensuring that all of their data is aligned and accurate, as well as the importance of allocating resources to getting it right.
“One, we are getting a sense of how big it is now,” they said, “And two, we are actually committing people to get it done, instead of just saying, “Well, someday.”.
In terms of support, the team appreciated the number of downloadable SOPs made available to them, while also realizing that it presented them with a lot of information to download and put together for employees.
While recognizing that there was a lot of information to fit into learning sessions, they appreciated that their CSM was happy to assist with any additional questions they had - and had no issues in providing additional in-person training at their Erie location.
“Our CSM and CSM lead are a fabulous part of your team.”, they said.
At this point, everyone is very comfortable, including their grounds crew - something they were quite worried about initially, given the change to how they utilize work orders.
However, as they say, “They've done fabulously…everyone is doing a very good job in the system.”.
Nearly a year into their partnership with PlotBox, Erie Cemetery operates with greater confidence, improved communication between office and grounds teams, and enhanced peace of mind through cloud-based security.
As they recognized, the move wasn’t just about replacing software - it was about building a stronger operational foundation for the future.
When asked if they would recommend PlotBox to other operators, their answer was simple: “Yes - and we have.”
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