Case study:
Hooper Corporation Transforms Reporting and Service Delivery With Access COINS
Access COINS ERP delivered an efficient paperless solution and automated processes to speed up reporting.
Business size
Large
Industry
Mechanical and Electrical Contracting
Product
Access COINS ERP+
Challenge
- As a company that works in the United States and Canada, Hooper needed an improved ERP solution to meet IRS standards in both regions and improve reporting and forecasting across the expanding company.
Approach
- Hooper implemented Access COINS ERP Open Architecture.
Results
- Hooper now enjoys the benefits of an efficient, multi-currency paperless Service Department with the use of COINS ERP.
Hooper Corporation is a full-service electric power and mechanical contractor. Headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin since 1913, Hooper has extensive experience in completing large and complex projects throughout the continental U.S. and Canada. A COINS client for over 28 years, they moved to COINS Open Architecture after an extensive construction software search process.
We have been with COINS since the late 80’s and have had a lot of success with it, then it got to be time for us to move on the next platform. We did go out to the market and looked at several competitor products and determined the COINS product was still a great fit for us. We’re very excited about the new flexibility it provided us from more ability to collect remote collection of data, flexibility in reporting and the general fresh look.
The Power of COINS ERP Multi-Currency Features
With Hooper’s expansion into Canada, Bob Schaller, Hooper's Treasurer and Secretary, discussed the benefits of having a multi-currency system that processes transactions in real-time while complying with international accounting standards.
We’ve been in Canada for the last several years and we needed to price all transactions throughout the year at the various currencies to meet the standard for both Canada and the US. It takes hours and hours to do that, so having a system that can do that on the fly each week as you go through processing probably takes 40 to 80 hours of work off our plate at year end.
Ad-Hoc, Accurate Reporting
Hooper was also looking for an advanced reporting system, which can generate accurate reports at the touch of a button. As a single source of truth for data across the company, COINS ERP provides any custom report needed at the click of a button.
Michael Blaschka, IT Director, discusses the power of targeted, flexible and intuitive ad-hoc reporting in COINS Open Architecture.
Oftentimes you don’t need to know all the things that are going right, you need a snapshot. We certainly need to know about things that are potentially going wrong, so targeted reporting is the best way to do that. You don’t require the user to dig into the system to try to find some piece of information. You deliver that piece of information and you do it in real time and you do it when it’s needed. The COINS system has excellent tools for doing that.
Real-Time Data For Improved Construction Project Management
Robert Hoffer, Controller, discusses how having more real-time forecasting and costing tools within COINS Open Architecture allows project managers to better manage their jobs.
There are a lot more tools for forecasting so we’re able to get more information entered, more timely. They’re able to see their costs in more real-time because of the reporting capability that’s available. We love to see our Accounts Receivable Aging when it gets above a certain point automatically sending a notification to project managers. There’s a packet of information our Board of Directors receive every month that we love to run automatically and send them as well.
Making It Easier To Complete Administration On-Site and On The Go
Hooper’s upgrade to COINS ERP Open Architecture helped improve service delivery across the company. Cloud-hosted ERP helps project managers access job costs and reports on-the-go, and COINS iPad apps helped service technicians do their job faster, resulting in happier workers and customers.
Prior to having the iPads and the mobile tech client, technicians would have to call into the office at the beginning of their day to figure out where they needed to go, or they would have to come into the office and pick up paper work. Now they can see several days into the future what their schedule will look like. They can leave right from their house and go directly to the first job. Now they can input everything into the iPad and it’s instantly delivered back to the office. They can capture customer signatures, access inventories, equipment lists, and look up cost codes so they don’t need to carry around books to look up anything. The information they need is right in front of them. The Scheduling Board is very clean, and a big advantage is that it can be tailored to our needs.
COINS was very appealing as there’s no desktop application to install. Overall, it’s a much smaller footprint in terms of IT engagement to maintain this system within the workforce and that’s important because our workforce is spread to multiple locations, multiple states, and even into Canada so we need the ability to set people up rapidly.
Working With COINS
COINS is an ERP which specializes only in construction, and our technical consultants are rich with construction-specific experience and an exemplary understanding of the needs of the sector. COINS also works hard to ensure the system is working best for its users. Bob Schaller explains why Hooper has continued to work with COINS for nearly 40 years.
When you start talking about changing a system over, having some confidence in the people that are going to help you make that conversion is critical, and we’ve always had great success with the COINS team. I know the people; I can call and reach out to them and we’ll get a call back the same day with a familiar voice that knows how we’re using the system and what our needs are.
Explore COINS Case Studies
