J. Peter Susca, Chief Financial Officer, J.A. King and Company, LLC
Category
  • Technology Optimization & Innovation
The Project

Our legacy on-premise calibration software was not integrated with our cloud based ERP system (NetSuite) causing duplication of data entry, lost / non billed work orders and connectivity issues for our field technicians.  I personally undertook the task of customizing the ERP system to include all of the functionality that the calibration software offered. 

The Technology

Netsuite

Metrics Matter
  1. Service Technicians averaged 4.2 days from when the calibration was done to when the Certificate of Calibration was completed and sent to our Customer this was improved by 55% in the new system to 1.9 days.
  2. Days to bill a completed work order averaged 8.3 days and were improved by 64% to 3.0 days which significantly increased cash flow.
  3. Connectivity issues from the field to the on-premise system resulted in Certs taking 20 to 30 minutes to complete.  Service Technician’s productivity (billable hours) improved by utilizing the new system from 65% to 85%.  The first year we were able to increase revenue by $725,000 with fewer Techs then we started the year and increased our gross margin by 3% ($214,000). 
  4. Two full time data entry clerks were utilized to invoice all of the completed work orders these positions were eliminated for a savings in excess of $72,000 per year.
Disruptive Factor

With thousands of customers and hundreds of thousands of pieces of equipment in our legacy calibration database the transfer to an integrated cloud based system was no easy task.  Based on our complex business model encompassing wide ranging industrial measurement and calibration services and products, which includes technicians embedded in large customer sites, as well as those working out of our five technical labs, we knew that to better service our customers a radical change was necessary. 

Shining Moment

When we started this project we were unaware of the power of the Customer Portal in NetSuite. Our customers now have the ability to go on-line and view their equipment, change the location of the equipment, determine the equipment calibration status, and quickly see which equipment is currently or past due for calibration.  They can also view, download and/or print all of their Certificates of Calibration on-line so they no longer have to keep paper files – this has proven beneficial when they are faced with ISO and other quality audits and auditors.  We currently have over 600 customers utilizing the Customer Portal which has given us a significant competitive advantage in the market place.

 

ABOUT J.A. King and Company

J.A. King and Company is a third generation family business that was founded in 1939 by Jim King Senior selling, servicing and calibrating industrial scales.  We’ve since expanded our core business by adding calibration repair and metrology services.  Our core business has focused on providing our customers with prompt, professional, and precise Industrial Measurement solutions.

J.A. King and Company, with over 200 employees, is headquartered in Whitsett, NC and has 6 full-service A2LA accredited ISO 17025 labs throughout the Southeast. In addition we have 6 embedded facilities where our Service teams work full time in our Customer’s facilities performing calibration & repair of measurement equipment, tool repair and management, parts management, process and line audits, and quality assurance / quality control functions.