Airstron Inc. is keeping Florida cool. Since 1985, the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) contractor has been providing service and repair, preventative maintenance, and new installation services for its commercial customers throughout the Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Tampa metropolitan areas.

With a staff of 150, the company generates over $38 million in annual revenue. To ensure a successful flow of business from the field to the back office, Airstron relies on Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate and Sage Service Operations.

Manual System Places Damper on Operations

“You know those white dispatch boards mounted on the wall with sliders? That’s what we used before we implemented Sage Service Operations,” begins Jamie Pascucci, operations manager for Airstron. “Combine that with paper tickets and a lot of manual data entry. We were already using Sage 300 for our accounting and project costing, and the addition of Sage Service Operations was really transformational.”

Turning up Efficiencies with Sage 300 CRE

Airstron first implemented Sage 300 in 2002 to replace an aging application, and has never looked back. “Sage 300 lives up to its reputation as a solid construction management solution,” says Pascucci. “It handles all our ordering, billing, costing, and financials, so we were thrilled when we found out about Sage Service Operations.”

The company implemented Sage Service Operations in 2016 to provide field technicians with the critical information they need—and the office team with real-time updates from the field. The result is higher quality work, improved efficiency, and maximum profitability of the company’s service operations.

Heating up Communication

When a new service call is received, Airstron’s dispatchers create a work order in Sage Service Operations and are able to route the call directly to a technician’s mobile device.

Field technicians view open calls on their mobile devices, ranked by priority. New service calls are immediately visible, and the system also sends the technician an automated alert notifying them of new activity.

While on site, the technicians track time, materials used, and other information quickly, easily, and accurately in real-time. “Technicians can also create quotes in the field right from their mobile devices,” says Pascucci. “We get quotes in the customers’ hands more quickly providing a better level of service.”

Improving Cash Flow

Customers digitally sign the work ticket documenting the technician’s hours and parts used and a copy of the work order is emailed to the customer. “Our salespeople receive notification that the call it complete, and they review it, approve it and it flows to our billing department,” explains Pascucci. “If a return call is needed, the technician can schedule it right from the field and it flows into our dispatch calendar.”

Previously, all these steps were completed manually, with paper tickets completed by hand and copies of signed work tickets brought back to the office for review. “We are able to process our billing much more quickly now — which improves the company’s cash flow,” says Pascucci. “And there’s no more worry about losing a paper ticket.”

Better Inventory Control

The company’s fleet of trucks are set up as individual warehouses in Sage 300, enabling Airstron to accurately track precisely the location of its inventory assets. As parts are used on service tickets, the trucks’ inventory levels are kept up-to-date leading to better stock control and more strategic and cost-effective reordering.

Boosting Productivity and Service

Thanks in large part to the efficiencies Sage 300 and Sage Service Operations bring, Airstron is able to successfully complete more service calls — faster and more efficiently. “We’ve been able to automate many of the steps that were time-consuming and manual previously,” says Pascucci. “With more information and more tools in the hands of our techs, our productivity has improved, as has the overall level of our service.”

Pascucci concludes, “I would recommend Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate and Sage Service Operations to anyone. The combination has transformed the way we work. We’re able to be more efficient at every step, we have more insight into the profitability of our service business, and we have greater visibility into every aspect of our operation.”