Metro Controls Case Study

Established in 1986, Metro Controls is an HVAC and temperature control contractor specializing in Building Management Systems and Automation. Their goal is to help their customers in Detroit and greater Michigan be more energy-efficient, while also gaining better control and visibility of their HVAC systems. Over 50% of Metro Controls’s work is temperature control for school districts, and they have experience with industrial, auto manufacturing and government facilities as well.

RECOGNIZING THE PROBLEM

Prior to partnering with Jonas, Metro Controls used Maxwell MMS. With Viewpoint’s acquisition of Maxwell MMS in 2015, they were put in a very difficult position. They had to either stay on Maxwell MMS and cease to receive support and development on the software, or move to Viewpoint Vista, a completely different software. Like many others in this position, Owner John Mollicone researched other software solutions that could meet their current business needs but also provide additional functionality.

After assessing their experience with Maxwell MMS, Metro Controls established a wish list for their next software partner. Because many staff were hesitant to transition from Maxwell MMS, Mollicone knew he needed a software partner with a strong training and implementation team to help Metro Controls go live quickly.

With the Maxwell MMS sunset imminent, its replacement needed to be simple and easy to learn, allowing Mollicone and his team to continue running their business without missing a beat. Lastly, Mollicone sought a software solution that provided project managers with greater visibility, to empower them to make better decisions, save time and remain on budget.

JONAS CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE TO THE RESCUE

After researching multiple software options, Jonas checked off all the required boxes, in addition to providing more functionality at a better price point.

Upon transitioning, Metro Controls was very pleased with Jonas’ training and implementation. When discussing his experience, Mollicone said, “They walked me through each module every day, task by task.” By leveraging best practices, and bringing a wealth of knowledge and life experience, Jonas consultants gave Mollicone a level of confidence that they were able to effectively go live. Jonas’ knowledgeable consultants completely grasped Metro Controls’s business needs, and showed Metro Controls how to optimize and reengineer each of their processes.

Once they went live, Metro Controls noticed vast improvements in many areas when compared to Maxwell MMS. One example was with Jonas Service Billing. “It’s amazing how fast you can generate an unlimited amount of service invoices in a few clicks,” said Mollicone.

In addition to Jonas’ ease of use, Jonas provided Metro Controls with increased time and flexibility. Previously, a full day was required to complete 30 service billings with Maxwell MMS; with Jonas, that time dropped to a mere five minutes, accelerating the process by approximately 99%.

Prior to partnering with Jonas in 2015, Metro Controls had 35 technicians and three administrative staff. Since then, they have doubled their technicians and only added two administrative staff. In the last four years, Metro Controls grew their business and took on more jobs while relying on Jonas to take care of the back end of their business. With Jonas, they have been able to increase profitability and improve their technician utilization.

With Jonas, Metro Controls has improved job costing and now has more insight into each project, helping them increase their margins by 5%.

In addition, Jonas has also enabled increased visibility for project managers and provided them with the information needed to manage each job. Metro Controls was particularly impressed with the Jonas Job Dashboard, which had all the necessary information a project manager would require such as job costing, cashflow and AR. “It’s very easy for project managers to walk through their jobs because of how user-friendly the dashboards are.”  When compared to Maxwell, project managers were able to better track their jobs and have more accurate job costing.

In terms of user experience, Mollicone was impressed with how the entire Jonas solution ran faster and smoother than Maxwell MMS, allowing Metro Controls’s employees to increase productivity and efficiency.

In addition to Jonas’ ease of use, the Jonas Support team continues to be a tremendous resource. Mollicone said, “When an issue arises, we usually get it resolved within one to three days, and they are always pleasant and easy to work with.” 

FUTURE GROWTH POTENTIAL WITH JONAS

Despite the difficult position they were put in to quickly transition software, Metro Controls has been reaping the benefits of a fully-integrated solution with Jonas Construction. After a lengthy search, Metro Controls has improved their processes and were also exploring other ways Jonas could increase their efficiency and business growth.

Two of Jonas’ key features, which Mollicone plans to implement are Jonas Document Management and Project Scheduler. With Jonas Document Management, Metro Controls will reduce their reliance on paper and use electronic invoicing to lower their costs and accelerate billing cycles and cashflow. Jonas’ project and resource scheduling module Project Scheduler will help Metro Controls track and allocate resources more effectively, which will provide them with the tools to take on bigger, more complex jobs that would have been difficult to manage previously.

With an established foundation of processes to build upon, Mollicone and his team can now confidently expand their team and accept more jobs. With Jonas, Metro Controls no longer has to worry about administrative and manual tasks to inundate staff and technicians. As Jonas continues to develop and improve product offerings, Mollicone looks forward to taking advantage of the many features Jonas offers in its all-in-one construction management solution.