Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Kirkwood Electric Gains Graphical Accountability of Divisions
Overview
Country or Region:United States
Industry:Building and Construction
Customer Profile
Kirkwood Electric began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, in 1895. They incorporated in Cape Coral, Florida, in 1976, and have served Lee, Collier, Hendry, and CharlotteCounties for nearly 30 years.
Business Situation
Since the Cape Coral community has matured, Kirkwood Electric has expanded their Service division. Records and accountability for this division were weak. The company needed a solution capable of easily tracking service technicians for this division.
Solution
With the help of Microsoft reselling partner, Templeton and Company, Kirkwood Electric implemented Microsoft® Business Solutions–Solomon including modules for Field Service Management and Project Management.
Benefits
Customizability
Graphical accountability
Ability to grow the company
Ease of reporting / "The ability to make work orders look exactly how we want them to look has added more value than any other piece of software we looked at could provide."
Melodie Young, IT Director, Kirkwood Electric
Kirkwood Electric, Inc. began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1895. It was founded by Harry R. Kirkwood, the great-grandfather of today's Kirkwood Electric President, Wayne R. Kirkwood. The business has been carried on by Wayne's grandfather, Ralph C. Kirkwood, and his father Ralph H. Kirkwood. Kirkwood Electric was incorporated in Florida in 1976. This fourth-generation company is composed of four divisions; Residential, Commercial, Service, and Home-Technologies. As their Service division grew rapidly, Kirkwood needed a solution to help them improve the records and accountability of this division. They also wanted to improve tracking of Residential and Commercial project profitability and reporting. Kirkwood implemented Microsoft Business Solutions–Solomon (now part of Microsoft Dynamics™), including the Field Service Management and Project Management modules.
Situation
Kirkwood Electric originated in 1895 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1976, they incorporated in Cape Coral, Florida, a community that has grown from 20 homes in 1960 to 100,000 homes today.
Kirkwood Electric operates four divisions, including Residential (new residential homes), Commercial (condominiums, hotels, medical offices, retail stores, and so on), Service (service work ranging from residential work to commercial projects such as colleges and gated communities), and Home-Technologies (computer hook-up, phones, satellite, and security systems). The company has 100 employees and 20 users. Annual revenue for the company is approximately $7.5 million.
Kirkwood was using a COBOL-based accounting package. This included accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, limited job costing, and general ledger. "We had to do a great deal of manual labor to get the reports we wanted," says Patricia Beech, Office Manager/Controller. "It was strictly an accounting software."
This solution was not fully ODBC compliant. "At times, information I was able to pull out into Microsof Excel would not have all the information that had originally been entered into the accounting program," says Melodie Young, IT Director.
While closing the month with general ledger was simple, budgeting was cumbersome. It was also difficult to determine profitability by division. "I could tell how the company was doing overall; but I could not determine profitability by division," says Beech. "The only thing the old software could do for our Service Department was generate work orders and invoices."
Kirkwood Electric needed a solution that could do more than generate work orders; they wanted a solution that had the ability to dispatch crews, track their current location, and provide an overview of the work in progress. "We knew our Service division was weak on records and accountability," says Beech. "Since the Service Department is a fast growing division, we needed to find a solution to meet those needs."
While the project module in their old software was "pretty good" according to Beech, it lacked reporting capabilities. Information had to be extracted from the accounting software via ODBC into Microsoft Excel worksheets to do the calculations for labor costs on jobs. "Our reporting demands had simply outgrown the ability of our old software," stated Young.
Solution
Kirkwood Electric implemented Microsoft Business Solutions–Solomon (now part of Microsoft Dynamics™) with the help of Microsoft reselling partner, Templeton and Company, PA. They implemented the Field Service Management, Financial Management, Supply Chain Management, Project Management, HR Management, and Customization Tools modules.
"When we first started looking for new accounting software, Mr. Kirkwood made the directive clear. He believes strongly in Microsoft as a company and has a great deal of faith in Microsoft's software. Through his research, upon discovering Microsoft's involvement in accounting software, the answer was obvious. Every other piece of software we use is a Microsoft product," says Young.
"We made the decision to go on a solution based on Microsoft because we are confident Microsoft will support the product for many years to come," says Young. "We had looked at several software providers; but we had a comfort level with and trust in Microsoft that we didn't have with the others."
"Templeton added an additional level of confidence by diving in and striving to learn about our business and how we operate before suggesting the Microsoft accounting solution that best fit us. They didn't just stamp us into a pre-set mold like many other companies have tried," says Young. "We are confident that Microsoft is going to be here tomorrow and we know we made the right decision."
The Field Service Management module was one of the primary reasons why Kirkwood Electric selected their new solution. Since technicians in the Service division change locations frequently, the needs of this division are unique from those of the other divisions. Crews in the other divisions, such as Residential and Commercial, often stay in the same location for multiple days; so they are fairly easy to track.
"Dispatching and tracking crews for the Service division was a juggling act," says Beech. "Using Microsoft Solomon has helped us follow crews and their work orders from dispatch to final profitability."
The graphical dispatch board is "exciting" to Kirkwood. Each line on the board represents a crew and the colored boxes represent a service call and its location. Viewing the board enables Kirkwood to identify exactly where each crew is at during any portion of the day. As with any electrical company, there can be "emergency service calls" placed to Kirkwood each day. The graphical dispatch board allows Kirkwood to quickly shift crews from jobs of lower priority to those of the highest priority.
"The ability to make work orders look exactly how we want them to look has added more value than any other piece of software we looked at could provide," says Young.
Another Microsoft Solomon module appreciated by Kirkwood is the Project Management module. The biggest benefit Kirkwood has experienced is the ease of adding change orders and addendums to contracts. "The ability to add change orders, as they are generated, provides us with a much clearer picture of the revised project totals," says Beech.
In any given year, Kirkwood Electric works on approximately 1,200 new homes and over 100 commercial projects, ranging from small businesses to multi-million dollar projects. Project Accounting enables Kirkwood to track budgeted versus actual labor costs on these projects. Customized reports allow them to see project costs on a week to week basis.
"We use Project Controller from the inception to the conclusion of each job, be it residential or commercial," says Beech. "Through Microsoft Solomon, project costs can be determined on a weekly basis instead of at the conclusion of the project. Because of this, Project Controller is a useful tool for our Project Managers."
Kirkwood Electric operates a warranty program for homeowners who experience problems during the first year of homeownership. Even though these costs aren't billable, Kirkwood utilizes Microsoft Solomon to track these costs back to the original project. This provides Kirkwood with a more accurate picture of profitability for individual jobs.
Project Accounting also tracks "retainage", or the portion of the project that has been withheld for payment at the completion of the project. Commercial jobs are usually billed monthly based on the percentage of completion. Using Project Controller allows Kirkwood to input their schedule of values and present AIA billing completely customized to that project. Residential jobs pay 70 percent after rough-in is completed and the remaining 30 percent after the job is done. Microsoft Solomon helps track both costs and payments for projects.
Microsoft Business Solutions "Beyond the Call" worked with Kirkwood to customize the solution. These customizations provided integration with Microsoft MapPoint® business mapping software, which enable Kirkwood to print maps showing the location of a customer's residence for Service division staff. Given that numerous canals intersect the streets of Cape Coral, this has been an exceptionally appreciated feature.
Benefits
Customizability
"We appreciate the fact that we can make Microsoft Solomon into whatever we want it to be," says Young. "It has the flexibility we need for both today and tomorrow." Young indicated she has completed numerous customizations on her own and has had assistance for the remainder.
The screens of both the Field Service and Project Management modules have been customized to hide fields that Kirkwood doesn't use and to create additional fields they need. This saves the company considerable time.
Kirkwood has customized the set-up for both invoices and work orders. "Once the staff learned that screens and reports could be customized, they came up with all kinds of suggestions to improve them," says Young.
Graphic Accountability
The Field Service module was one of the major reasons Kirkwood selected Microsoft Solomon. "We have gained tremendous ground in accountability," says Beech. "Prior to implementing Microsoft Solomon, it was extremely difficult to tell where one service technician was, much less where all of the service technicians were; now with the graphical dispatch board, we can see where all the technicians are supposed to be at a single glance." The graphical dispatch board now provides the Services division with excellent accountability.
Ability to Grow
"When we started the selection process, one of the goals I had was to find a solution that could grow with the company," says Beech. With Microsoft Solomon, the company is now able to grow without having to increase the clerical staff at the same rate.
Ease of Reporting
Prior to implementation, Kirkwood was forced to bring data out into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets before they could use it. This data had to be manipulated before it was useable. "Crystal Reports provides us with instant reports based on actual data. The level of editing required prior to staff using this information is nil," says Young. "I have also found that training time has been significantly reduced due to the consistent feel of the software and because of the customizations. If a field isn't required to be used, it doesn't appear.
Prior to implementation of Microsoft Solomon, Young spent six to eight hours each week pulling out and manipulating data for reports on the profitability of projects. The time required for this task has been reduced to a mere 30 minutes, ten times less than was previously needed.
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systemsthat your company already has implemented. By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship, and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes, and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success.
For more information about Microsoft Dynamics, go to: