Harrell-Fish Inc. is a mechanical contracting and service firm specializing in the construction, industrial, health care, commercial, food service, residential, and energy industries. They perform and excel in all areas including plan and spec work, design/build, construction management, and full 24-hour emergency service and maintenance.
With the goal of reducing their reliance on manual processes, developing a more integrated system, and improving their customer service, Harrell-Fish determined that their existing software system was no longer going to meet their needs. With the objective of transitioning into mobile technology as well, HFI began looking at software solutions that could address these needs. After an exhaustive search, they ultimately came to the conclusion that Jonas Construction Software was the right solution for their business moving forward.
Recognizing The Problem
Before making the transition to Jonas Construction Software, Harrell-Fish was using StarBuilder to handle their software needs. While StarBuilder performed adequately, it lacked certain functionalities which made the software more burdensome to utilize.
“We found that the reporting capabilities of StarBuilder was weak and the data was cumbersome to review and analyze,” stated Dave Conner, Chief Financial Officer at Harrell-Fish.
StarBuilder was also not integrated with their service operation, which forced Harrell-Fish to use numerous third-party software systems. While StarBuilder was able to interface with other software, it could not fully integrate. This was heavily dependent on manual processes and created a lot of physical paperwork, which was costly and time-consuming to complete.
Their dispatch also had to be done manually as well, with many worksheets being created to keep track of the dispatch schedule. As Harrell-Fish continued to grow, they came to the realization that they required a more integrated, automated, and mobile-friendly software solution to accommodate the needs of the business.
Jonas Construction Software To The Rescue
Jonas Construction Software has allowed Harrell-Fish to better manage their purchase orders, reduce their billing cycle and enhance payroll processing, and improve their overall service operation as well.
On the construction side of the business, with the Jonas Purchase Order module specifically, Harrell-Fish has seen a big improvement. As Dave Conner stated, “Prior to Jonas, all of our purchase orders were manually handwritten, which were then manually processed and matched with the invoices when they arrived. It was just a very manual process overall. Now with Jonas, we were able to write 15,000 digital purchase orders within Jonas in our first year alone, allowing us effectively to go from no electronic processing to a completely digital process.”
Even with the additional growth, Harrell-Fish has experienced, they have not had to hire any additional back-office staff members to accommodate this growth thanks to the capabilities of Jonas. Over the past 3 years, Harrell-Fish has grown from $9 million to $13 million on the industrial side, all without having to add any additional staff, as Jonas has allowed them to effectively manage their operation with existing personnel.
When it comes to their billing process, Harrell-Fish is now able to turn around billings about 5 days quicker with Jonas, improving their cash flow in the process. They have also reduced their payroll processing time from about 4 hours a month spread out across three employees, down to about an hour only with Jonas.
Benefits
By partnering with Jonas Construction Software, Harrell-Fish is running a more organized and efficient operation. With the service dispatch board, they are better able to schedule and manage their technicians through an easy-to-use dashboard view. If any discrepancies occur, they are quickly able to locate and correct them before the problem worsens.
In terms of overall functionality within Jonas, Harrell-Fish has been impressed so far, “The great thing about Jonas, and this is very important to us, is that they have demonstrated a constant improvement of the product and take the input of their customers very seriously when making enhancements to the software,” stated Dave Conner, “we truly wouldn’t be able to things we are doing now without Jonas.”
They also like the ability to design their own forms with Jonas, which helps to simplify the entire reporting process. Also, with the additional savings, they have attained through optimizing processes with Jonas, they have been able to put more money into the completion of actual projects.
Conclusion
Since becoming a Jonas Construction Software partner, Harrell-Fish has made great improvements with respect to enhancing and streamlining their business processes. Harrell-Fish took the time initially to prepare for the transition to Jonas, which led to a smooth deployment process and put them in a position to succeed from the start.
By implementing the software on a gradual basis, they allowed their employees to get acclimated to the system. Having already provided their technicians with tablets in the field prior to implementing Jonas, they have positioned themselves once again for a successful transition to Jonas eMobile in the near future. With the backing of a fully-integrated and automated software solution in Jonas Construction Software, Harrell-Fish knows they can continue to grow without having to worry about investing in further software.
About Jonas Construction Software
Jonas Construction Software provides industry-leading business management and accounting software to our clients. Our fully-integrated solutions provide all of the tools that you need to increase productivity and improve your bottom line. At Jonas, we make it easier for companies to focus on what is important – their customers, their projects and their employees. We do this by streamlining their operations and giving better visibility to the entire organization. This gives your employees the tools to do their jobs better, support your customers and achieve your company goals. Over 25 years ago, we made a promise called ‘Software for Life’. This is our commitment to never phase out any of our products and to continue to invest in improving them, so you’ll never have to implement a new system. Jonas Construction Software is backed by Constellation Software Inc. (CSI), a global software company that acquires and builds high market share, mission-critical vertical market software companies. CSI consistently maintains profitable growth and is entirely debt free.
