Customer Case Study
JMP Engineering
Canadian Engineering Firm Converts to Vision and Greatly Enhances Organizational Efficiency
The Challenge
An industry leader in industrial control systems, Canada-based JMP Engineering specialises in delivering automation solutions for a wide range of businesses including water parks and auto manufacturers. Strong demand for JMP services drove the engineering firm to open five new offices in a 7-year span. During this period of rapid growth, management realised that it was quickly outgrowing its current systems. Project Management functions were Excel-based and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) activities were managed through a combination of disparate systems that were not tied together. Other important processes were entirely manual. For example, the accounting staff spent days at a time manually entering timesheets and expenses for engineers in the field.
JMP needed a robust back and front office software solution that would modernise their existing systems and unify the management of their entire organisation.
The Solution
Though they had successfully used Deltek's FMS and Wind2 products in the past, JMP saw the need for a more sophisticated, comprehensive solution as their business expanded. They initially purchased and implemented a financial management system from another vendor, but quickly realised that it could not meet their needs. "We tried another financial management software solution, and within a week, we knew it wasn't going to work for us. That's when we turned to Deltek Vision," said Jeremy Sluyters, Operations Manager for JMP.
Specifically designed for professional services firms, Deltek Vision automates and integrates the planning, tracking, and administration of both resources and projects. Management immediately recognised that Vision would help to streamline processes, manage resources more efficiently and increase overall firm profitability. JMP was particularly pleased with the inherent web-based architecture of Vision. "I can access Vision from anywhere over the web, and no matter where I access it from it's all the same, which helps us maintain control for audits," said Gord Cumming, JMP's Controller.
After moving from FMS and Wind2 to Vision, JMP embarked on a phased implementation, starting with accounting, and time and expense, and then moving on to project management and CRM.
Over a four-month period, JMP was able to seamlessly migrate all data and functions from their legacy systems to Vision, and started using the new system immediately without any loss of functionality or productivity. JMP also took full advantage of Vision's flexibility to configure the solution to manage by function, by client, or by project. Today, JMP enjoys the benefits of an efficient, integrated system that meets the needs of every staffer from accountants and engineers to executives and project managers.
The Deltek Advantage
JMP staff understood and leveraged the full value of Vision as soon as the conversion was complete. Now, internal resources spend no time manually inputting time and expenses and focus their efforts instead on generating reports and analysing the business to find improvement opportunities. Project managers are able to better manage staff and project tasks, which has led to profitability improvements. The accounting group is now more efficient which has increased the speed of billing and cash collection. And finally, business development uses Vision CRM to gain increased visibility into sales and marketing activities.
Overall, JMP was extremely pleased with how effortless the conversion process was, and they continue to applaud Vision's usability. "I'm able to administer Deltek Vision with no prior knowledge of accounting or database systems," Sluyters continued. "Everyone here can input or retrieve the data they need without stepping on the toes of any other function. That's something we couldn't say before."
Today, with a web-based architecture and a single, centralised database, Deltek Vision helps JMP to effectively manage their business across multiple offices in multiple locations throughout the world.
JMP Engineering at a glance
Company Name: JMP Engineering
Headquarters: London, Ontario, Canada
Primary Business: JMP is a North American-based
systems integration firm that delivers
automation, control and information solutions
that improve production performance and
profitability for customers in the food/beverage,
life sciences, automotive, environmental, gas
and metal processing industries.
URL: www.jmpeng.com
| The Deltek Advantage |
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The implementation of Deltek Vision enabled JMP to:
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