Printed On 5320 Page 1 Of 6 Pages Acme Electric LLC 2020

Printed On 5320 Page 1 Of 6 Pagesacme Electric Llc532020the Comp

Printed on 5/3/20 Page 1 of 6 pages Acme Electric LLC 5/3/2020 The company Acme Electric, LLC (Acme) is a local electrical company that does all phases of electrical work including residential, commercial, outdoors, new and remodel as well as service work. They service Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Nassau and Baker counties, in Florida and are available six days a week from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, and Sundays by appointment. They are always available for free estimates and emergency calls. The people Tom is the owner and has three crews of two people each. Each crew is assigned their own van. On each crew, one person is designated as the crew team leader/electrician and the other an electrician. Tom himself sometimes acts as a crew of one electrician using his truck. There is one supply/maintenance person (Supply) who is responsible for ordering and maintaining electrical supplies as well as maintaining the company’s vehicles. The Jobs The company has several categories of Jobs – commercial vs. residential and planned vs. ad hoc. Normally all the commercial Jobs are planned, while the residential Jobs are a mix of planned and ad hoc. The customers are categorized as “new” or “existing”. The work day Supply maintains a stock of electrical parts and supplies so that the crews can stock their van at the beginning of the work day with what they are told they will need for the day’s scheduled work or they anticipate they will need. If stock is not available, Supply may direct the crew to drive to a 3rd party electrical supply store on their way to the first Job or between Jobs. There, they obtain the anticipated, necessary stock for the scheduled work. During the work day, if the crew determines they need stock not on the van, they will either obtain it from the company’s stock area, any 3rd party electrical supply store close to the Job site, or call Supply requesting the item(s). The 3rd party electrical supply store, Supply, or Tom may deliver the additional supplies directly to the Job site. At the end of the work day, the crew leaders provide Supply with receipts of stock obtained from 3rd party electrical supply store(s). They also provide Tom with a list of the material used that were not on the Bill of Materials (BOM), items that were on the BOM but not used, and their crews’ labor hours separated by Job. Supply knows what and how many items to keep in his stock. Each week Supply physically inventories the stock, creates a list of items to purchase, and purchases the items on the list. Each crew’s van has a stock of commonly used items as well. At the conclusion of the work day, each crew restocks their van from Supply’s stock room and notifies Supply of any items they are unable to restock. Each electrician provides their own personal tools for use on a job. These are items like screwdrivers, hammers, tool belt, etc. - Acme provides no personal tools. Tom maintains contact throughout the day with crew’s team leader via a smartphone. They use text as well as voice to communicate. The team leader uses a map application on the smartphone for mapping to locate Job sites. The company contracts with a 3rd party vehicle maintenance company to maintain their fleet of vehicles. Currently the company has three Ford E250 vans and one Ford F250 truck. At the end of each workday, each assigned driver reports the vehicles mileage to Supply. Assigned drivers report immediately to Supply when they detect any possible vehicle issues that might require immediate or emergency repairs. Supply calls the 3rd party vehicle maintenance company to schedule both normal maintenance or immediate/emergency repairs. When vehicle drivers fuel the vehicles, they note the vehicle mileage, date, and time on the receipt. They then pass on those fuel receipts to Supply at the end of the day. At the same time, they also provide Supply with any other vehicle-related receipts acquired during the day. Each work day morning the crews arrive at Tom’s shop to prepare for the day. Tom gives each crew: 1. A list of Jobs by crew that the crew is to work on that day, and the order that Tom wants them completed. 2. A list of material for each Job, aka a Bill of Materials (BOM). The crew then either pulls the BOM from the stock room or Tom tells them what, when, and where to pick up the BOM or partial BOM from a 3rd party electrical supply store. A 3rd party electrical supply store may deliver additional BOM directly to the Job site. 3. Any special instructions about each Job. 4. Any special instructions about their day’s itinerary. At the end of the work day, the crews return to Tom’s shop. They: 1. Report verbally to Tom about their work day. 2. Provide receipts to Supply for any items purchased, including but not limited to, fuel, oil, materials, supplies, special equipment, etc. 3. The crew leader reports the van’s ending mileage to Supply. Definition of a Job Tom may receive a verbal or written Request for Proposal (RFP) from an existing or potential Customer. An RFP is a document written and sent by an existing or potential customer detailing the requested service. Generically, it is a method through which a business sends requests to a number of contractors so that these potential contractors can create and send proposals back to the Customer in response to the RFP. When Tom receives an RFP, he prepares and sends a Proposal back to the requesting Customer. Tom’s proposals are in the form of a Job with a status of proposed. The Customer can accept one of contractor’s proposals. If the Customer accepts Acme’s proposal, the Customer signs and returns the proposal to Acme. Upon receipt of the signed proposal, Tom changes the Job’s status from proposed to accepted. Each Job exists in exactly one status at any point in time. It may start out as a Proposed Job, then move to Accepted, Scheduled, In-process, Completed, Invoiced, and Paid in that order. Proposed – any type of customer may request electrical work (new vs. existing and residential vs. commercial). If the customer provides Tom with a written RFP and Tom chooses to, Tom provides a written Proposal in response. The Proposal consists of the customer information, scheduled dates, labor, BOM, special equipment, and notes. If the customer provides a verbal work description and Tom chooses to, Tom provides a verbal Proposal. Accepted – When the customer accepts the Proposal, the Job is moved to the Accepted status. In the case of a: written proposal, the proposal must be signed and returned. verbal proposal, a verbal acceptance is required. Scheduled - After a Crew is assigned, Tom schedules the work and the Job is moved to the Scheduled status. In-process – When a Team Leader reports the crew has started the Job, the Job is moved to the In-process status. Completed - When both the Team Leader reports that the Job is complete and the customer approves, the Job is moved to the Completed status. Invoiced – When an Invoice is created and sent by the Billing system, the Job status is moved to Invoiced. Paid – When the Billing system reports that the Invoice has been paid in full, the Job is moved to the Paid status. The proposed systems Tom wants an information system to assist with running the company and to keep information updated in real-time. He envisions possibly an office computer as the central repository for all information with his team leaders having mobile devices connecting in real- time to update field data as work is completed throughout the day. A Job Management System: 1. Tom wants to: Record a Windows Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for local files related to a Job and stored on the computer. The file could be: an incoming, written RFP; an invoice; written correspondence with the Customer; etc. Create a Job. Maintain a Job. Assign a crew to a Job. Assign a BOM to a Job. Assign a special equipment list to a Job. Assign a rental equipment list to a Job. Schedule a Job’s start and end date. Maintain a crew composition list. A crew consists of 1 - 2 employees and a vehicle and each crew is identified by its own unique ID. Maintain a special equipment availability list (owned by Acme illustrating availability but broken, scheduled maintenance, available etc.) Maintain a generic Bill of Materials (BOM) template. Tom uses this template when creating a Job. 2. Team leaders will input all variable costs associated with a Job at the conclusion of the work day or Job, prior to leaving the Job site. These may include, but are not limited to: identify employees and their hours worked on that Job; manage Acme-owned special equipment used and the time used in hours; modify the Job’s BOM, adding additional materials used and their quantity and deleting items not used; manage equipment rented - name and cost; identify vehicle(s) used and their mileage consumed. A Vehicle Management System: • Team leaders will be able to input all costs (both variable and fixed) associated with vehicles and equipment during the work day at the moment these costs are incurred. These may include, but are not limited to: fuel and lubrication (if required), supplies, repairs, purchase cost, insurance (for the vehicle or equipment only). • Automatic notification when any equipment or vehicle is due normal maintenance. An Inventory Management System: • Maintain material inventory; decrement items when pulled by crew(s); increment items when restocked by Supply or a 3rd party electrical supply store; automatic notification when any item falls below a pre-set level. Note: the following are outside the scope of this project, however they are Acme business functions: • Finance: accounts receivable, accounts payable • Customer service • Human resources

Paper For Above instruction

Acme Electric LLC: An Integrated Management System for a Local Electrical Contractor

Acme Electric LLC is a regional electrical services provider operating in several counties in Florida, serving both residential and commercial customers for a broad spectrum of electrical needs. The company’s operations encompass multiple job categories—planned and ad hoc jobs, for new and existing customers—requiring efficient management of field operations, inventory, vehicle fleet, and job documentation to optimize productivity and service delivery. This paper proposes an integrated, real-time information system tailored to support the complexities of Acme’s operations, ensuring streamlined workflow, improved communication, and enhanced resource management.

Introduction

In the competitive landscape of electrical contracting, effective management of projects, resources, and personnel is vital to delivering quality service and maintaining profitability. For Acme Electric LLC, this requires a cohesive system that connects field operations with office management, supplies, and vehicle maintenance. This integrated approach facilitates real-time updates on project status, inventory levels, personnel hours, and vehicle usage, allowing decision-makers to respond swiftly to operational needs and variances.

Current Operations and Challenges

The current manual processes involve disparate data sources, physical inventory counts, and phone or paper-based communication, which pose risks of inaccuracies, delays, and miscommunication. Crew members restock vans daily from central stock, report vehicle mileage and issues, and handle supplies through personal tools and external suppliers. Documentation such as receipts, job status updates, and inventory levels are often recorded manually or verbally. Although these procedures enable operational oversight, they are time-consuming and prone to errors that can impact project timelines and cost control.

Proposed System Components

1. Job Management System

• Centralized repository for all job-related data, including local files (RFPs, invoices, correspondence), accessible via Windows URI links.
• Creation, maintenance, and tracking of jobs with statuses—proposed, accepted, scheduled, in-process, completed, invoiced, paid.
• Assignment of crews, vehicles, BOMs, special equipment, and scheduling details.
• Real-time updates by team leaders on work progress, labor hours, and material usage, using mobile devices.

2. Vehicle Management System

• Input and tracking of fuel, maintenance, repairs, purchase costs, and insurance during daily operations.
• Automatic alerts for scheduled maintenance or urgent repairs based on mileage or usage thresholds.

3. Inventory Management System

• Real-time tracking of raw materials, supplies, and equipment, decrementing and incrementing stock as used or restocked.
• Automatic alerts for low inventory levels to enable timely replenishment.

4. Resource and Crew Management

• Maintaining crew compositions, including personnel and vehicles associated with each job.
• Cost tracking for labor, equipment usage, and vehicle operation, updated continuously during the workday.

Implementation and Benefits

The implementation of an integrated management system will standardize data entry, reduce manual errors, and enhance communication channels among field personnel and office staff. Mobile integration allows crew leaders to instantly update job progress, labor hours, and resource consumption, while centralized data repositories enable project managers to monitor overall performance and resource utilization. Automated notifications for vehicle and equipment maintenance minimize downtime, promoting safety and reliability. Additionally, real-time inventory monitoring ensures materials are available when needed, reducing delays and excess stockholding.

Overall, this system aligns with Acme Electric LLC’s operational goals of efficiency, accuracy, and superior customer service. It also lays the foundation for scalability and future technological enhancements, such as integration with accounting or customer relationship management software, further streamlining business processes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a comprehensive, real-time integrated information system is essential for modernizing Acme Electric LLC’s operations. By connecting job management, inventory control, vehicle maintenance, and resource allocation, the company can significantly improve workflow, reduce operational costs, and enhance service quality. As the competitive landscape continues to evolve, such technological investments will be critical for sustaining growth and customer satisfaction.

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