Fires, floods, and landslides are devastating. After taking all possible measures to get people through these disasters safely, the next step is to assess the physical damage to properties. A fast and professional response in these situations is J&M Keystone’s specialty.
Growth through Collaboration and Adaptation
Founded in 1984 by Jim Bronson in the San Diego area, J&M Keystone initially focused on emergency construction services and carpet cleaning. Lee Sherman, Operations Manager at J&M Keystone notes, “It’s a great business that’s doing really well. We see growth every year.”
According to Sherman, collaboration has been the key to much of their success.
“A lot of people have a lot of input,” he explained, “and we try to foster that and see what works and what doesn’t work.”
The ability to adapt and remain flexible has also been important for the company. When the company started in 1984, for example, many of their contracts were large-scale carpet and flooring installations. According to Sherman, such contracts didn’t work well for their company which is why they strategized to offer a variety of services.
Services
Today, J&M Keystone offer services for water damage, fire and smoke damage, crime scene cleanup, and more. “We also do containment, which is important if there’s construction going on in a hospital or in a laboratory,” Sherman said.
Serving the San Diego Area
In the years since J & M opened, San Diego County has almost doubled in population, growing from two million residents to an estimated 3.5 million in 2018. This growth has fueled construction and this, combined with the landslides and wildfires as well as the drought-flood cycle that California experiences has combined to drive the need for J&M Keystone’s emergency contracting services in the area.
Asset Management to Control Shrinkage
Of course, with this growth, came rapidly increased equipment loss!
These figures prompted the company to take action and they began to address asset management in a more structured and systematic way.
“About three years ago, we were doing research on asset management,” Sherman said. “We knew it was an area that if we solved, could save us a huge amount of money.” The company looked at a number of different options. “We were hoping for a solution that wasn’t heavy on physical hardware and also had GPS tracking capabilities to locate equipment left on jobsites,” Sherman said. They also hoped for easy-to-use QR codes, something that was mobile-friendly and had speedy startup. That’s when they found GoCodes Asset Management Solution.
Without the need to buy dedicated scanners and with all-inclusive support, the GoCodes’ cloud-based solution ensured the free trial system was up and running quickly and seamlessly.
“We tried this with one of our flood crews and were able to have them check equipment in and out and we were able to track where it was,” Sherman said. “Plus, we are able to track it down to where equipment was last and get back to those areas and contact those clients.”
Problem Solved!
With the ability to check in on the location of equipment by referencing the QR code scans, Sherman is now able to effectively manage the movement of equipment between sites and storage facilities. Since GoCodes integrates the power of Google maps, operators can quickly get driving directions and perform location searches right within the GoCodes’ solution all by using their phone.
“I can look up dehumidifiers and see where all of those are and when they were last touched,” Sherman said. “Once all our labels were purchased and placed on all our equipment, we’ve got our equipment loss down, probably closer to $1,500 per year.”
J&M Keystone continue to make strides in their field and look for ways to cut costs and improve efficiencies. It’s the way forward, especially in economically uncertain times. It’s a way of operating that works!
