Customers On The Move

Customers Corner – Customers on the Move

MCA, Inc is thrilled to announce their agreement with Work Environment Management, LLC

Work Environment Management (WEM), LLC is a female majority owned business that is authorized to sell MCA, Inc’s software to expand its reach and  have packages for businesses of every shape and size. WEM, LLC customers can use the Buy-Track-Save^TM model and see results quickly. Buy JPAC^® and SIS^®, Track your productivity and be on your way to Save. WEM, LLC has a proprietary onboarding that is unique for software sales. They are with you every step of the way on launching the software, and therefore savings, for your company. Then when you’re ready, WEM, LLC can also provide scheduling services to help with your business transition and support your communication with your GCs/customers. For more information, please contact info@wemsoftware.com.

WEM LLC. is excited to provide an update on the progress of some of our clients with representation on the East Coast, West Coast and the South!

In-West Electric out of Goodyear, Arizona is entering the second of their Agile Construction^® implementation and are tracking 15 projects using JPAC^®.  They have also sent multiple members of their team to attend Agile Construction^® 101 to further their knowledge and increase productivity across all levels of their organization.

 - “Things at In-West Electric have been good as we had our most profitable year ever thanks to you guys. We almost doubled our gross profit margin this past year. Your systems work well!” -  (Mike Wallis, Owner of In-West Electric, Inc., February 2021)

Frischhertz Electric out of New Orleans has begun their journey toward Agile Construction^®.   Frischhertz has just added their 19th user and are currently tracking five projects in JPAC^®.  They have also just begun conducting bi-weekly job review meetings with their entire project team to review the data in JPAC^® in order to make vital improvements to their process of project management and their bottom line!

All-Brite Electric out of West Haven, Connecticut is also entering the second year of their Agile Construction^® journey.  They have learned much in the past year and in addition to tracking their Job Productivity in JPAC®, they are utilizing Short Interval Scheduling (SIS^®) in order to capture jobsite distractions and make improvements to the setup of their jobs by reviewing that critical feedback from the field.  

MCA, Inc. is excited to provide a snapshot about the great achievements of the customers we have the privilege to work with. 

Aldridge: After seven years of Agile Construction^® process and tool implementation, the company’s ownership and executive team led a two-day Strategic Session to communicate why the program started at Aldridge, shared success stories over the past several years and reiterated its importance in the company’s operations going forward. Alex Aldridge and Mark Carani asked MCA to analyze the company’s reduction in volatility, despite growth and expansion over the past few years. The results showed clear evidence that usage of Agile processes and tools have led to improved profitability and predictability. With full support of the 65 key managers, executives, and field superintendents, the company plans to refocus its education and implementation efforts in 2021 and beyond to use Agile Construction® as a potential Franchising Model. 

We also wanted to highlight a project that Aldridge completed in 2020, which made use of Agile Construction^® processes and tools.  Application of Agile on large projects is not new to MCA, Inc. but something that may companies need to learn and adapt to. This project was a success both in its outcome (see here: https://www.ecmag.com/section/your-business/underground-improvement-aldridge-electric-renovates-chicago-subway-stations) and its results for Aldridge.

Staff Electric has entered their fourth year of Agile Construction^® application.  As one of the few practitioners to take on the full scope of Agile Construction^®, Staff Electric is embarking on a company-wide pilot of key processes, designed and tested by their Process Design Teams, such as a Job Start-Up Process, a WBS and Prefab Identification Process, a Procurement and Purchasing Process, Executive Quarterly Reviews (Audits), and a Closeout Process, just to name a few. Staff Electric has also taken advantage of the scheduling support from MCA, Inc., as well as quantifying the COVID-19 impacts with data from JPAC^® and SIS^®, helping their customers and end users understand the impact on time, cost, and quality (see the article “Five Steps to Take Control over your Project” in this SOTI). Staff is also in the process of developing their service department and also have created a productivity checklist that they are currently testing on one of their biggest cost codes, the branch rough code, to help improve the productivity on this code.  

Lemberg Electric had a busy and productive year 2020. Over the last half year, the Lemberg Board of Directors engaged Dr. Perry Daneshgari and MCA to assist Lemberg with the search for the next President of the company.  Effective November 2, 2020, the Board of Directors appointed Mr. Mark Chappel as the President of Lemberg Electric Company, Inc and Tim Scheid as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), with Dave Washebek continuing to serve in the executive positions of Trustee, Chairman of the Board and Secretary of the Corporation. Leadership at Lemberg Electric also took the next steps of non-linear growth and improvement in profitability and performance, and in October of 2020, held a two-day Strategic Planning Session with MCA, where the leadership of Lemberg Electric assessed their short-, mid-, and long-term goals and established a list of strategic initiatives that carve the pathway to get there. David M. Washebek was elected by the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) Board of Governors to be Vice President of its fourth district, covering WI, MI, IL, IN and parts of KY. 

Lemberg’s leadership team discussed and determined the company’s new strategy and plan for a successful future of the business. An integral part of the company strategy moving forward will be the commitment and dedication to Agile Construction^®, which has been recently announced on the company’s website. Project teams are also continuing to practice Agile Construction^® across Construction and Data jobs, and have recently engaged and completed a SIS® Next Level training. This training has helped project teams use SIS^® for planning ahead, and more accurately capturing obstacles on jobsites, allowing a stronger feedback to the company that will allow pro-active response to job-site obstacles and improvement of labor productivity on the job site.

Dixie Electric, Plumbing and Air (Dixie) stayed focused and dedicated to their work on improving company processes- on both Construction and Service sides of the company- and continued to roll out Agile Construction^® tools across their construction jobs. Process Implementation Teams have made major strides in improving both Construction and Service operations. Dixie’s construction team saw improvements especially pertaining to Prefab, Manpower Planning, Procurement, Job Start-up, and Work Breakdown Structure utilization. Dixie’s service team has worked on data-driven improvements in areas of the truck stock, technician service process, and structural roles between customer care, dispatcher, and procurement that have allowed the service department to end with a good year and significant growth. 

Dixie has undoubtedly made major strides in 2020 thanks to the leadership of individuals within and across the company. John Yelverton, President of Dixie, has not only been a driver of progress within his company but in his town as well. Starting 2021, John will share his leadership, passion, and energy with all of Montgomery in his new role as Chairman of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce. Read about his plan, focus, and strategy to develop his hometown and community, and his philosophy to shape a more successful and better Montgomery of tomorrow in the Montgomery Business Journal.

 

Electric Company of Omaha (ECO) is almost through their 2nd year of the implementation of Agile Construction^® on their jobs. Within one and a half years, ECO went from four pilot jobs to 47 jobs in JPAC^® in 2020.   Electric Company of Omaha focused on implementing the usage of a WBS and JPAC^® to all large jobs in 2020, and the results are very positive. Very great results are proven in the reduction of variation of the job results in JPAC^® over the last two years. In 2021 there will be a bigger focus on the SIS^® usage in the Field as well as the Office. WBS and JPAC^® principles will be applied to smaller jobs as well. Design teams have made great progress in designing and implementing several processes throughout this last year and building a training curriculum for the company. ECO’s special attention will continue to be on working with the field to increase prefab usage on all company projects. 

Graybar finished 2020 with positive reflection on their internal and external accomplishments relating to implementation and support of Agile Construction^® within the industry. Graybar is currently undertaking an extensive investigation into ways to better position themselves with their current contractor partners, specifically in Wisconsin and in support of Staff Electric. Enhancements to service offerings, pricing performance and support team strength is top priority. Graybar has already committed to support of Agile Construction^® Training and the upcoming Symposium as a means to better position their partnership programs.