When time is of the essence, public school systems need a vendor on which they can rely: How Thermal Conditioning has built relationships and trust with mission-critical organizations by quadrupling their speed of project completion.
Working within a school system’s time constraints
When a public school facility requires HVAC maintenance, repair, or equipment replacement, the time frame for completion is one of the primary factors considered. This type of facility is considered mission-critical, meaning the failure of facility systems could result in the inability to achieve its purpose and mission. However, it’s important to remember that the amount of time it takes to complete a project is determined by more than just how long it takes a vendor to do the job. Some padding and buffer is naturally included in all project estimates. There is plenty of time to manage unknowns, but it’s typically wasted in the traditional way projects are managed. That’s how Thermal Conditioning is different.
In order to keep students and faculty comfortable and safe, and prevent school closings, capital assets must be maintained and replaced at the appropriate time to avoid mission-critical issues. For example, failure to meet the deadline of replacing a boiler could mean canceling classes. Or, a missed deadline on a water heater replacement that serves the cafeteria could result in shutting down lunch service for students.
It’s also important to note that these projects must be completed when the building isn’t in use, so this often means scheduling project work during nights, weekend, and school system holidays and breaks. With a mission-critical facility, meeting deadlines is crucial and Thermal Conditioning has realized this, adapted their processes, and championed this practice for reliable and timely project completion.
Due date completion of 95%
Historically, other vendors' projects are completed after the original promised due date, are rushed at the end and content is compromised or they are delivered over budget. This is especially true in multi-project environments where different projects are competing for resources simultaneously.
As a company, Thermal Conditioning is proud to have a due date completion rate of 95%, meaning that 95% of the time, the company delivers their project on or before the agreed upon deadline.
Gaining trust with actionable results
The professional relationship with this local public school system was built one project at a time. Over the years, Jason Demby, vice president of construction services at Thermal Conditioning, and his team have put significant effort into improving turnaround time to benefit the school system, which has, in turn, increased the school system’s confidence in Thermal Conditioning as a preferred vendor.
Jason explained, “When jobs are completed quickly and correctly, customers are more likely to trust that same company again for future projects. We knew that by focusing on this, we’d be able to help organizations better achieve their missions and also build trusting relationships with them.”
As a result of these efforts, Thermal Conditioning has been able to reduce completion time on a number of projects for the school system, including:
- Chiller replacements: reduced from a week to two days
- Boiler replacements: reduced from six days to three days
- Water heater projects: reduced from two weeks to just a matter of days
They were able to complete nearly every job in less time than was expected, giving the school system more flexibility, solidifying their faith in Thermal Conditioning to get jobs completed within their tight deadlines.
Going forward
Thermal Conditioning looks forward to continuing to strengthen this relationship and to build new relationships through excellent project due date completion. Jason elaborates, “In my opinion, if we’re not continually progressing, we’re losing. After each project we complete, I get client feedback so I know where we’re excelling and where we can improve so that we continue to grow as a company.”
“As we continued to prove our value, more opportunities arrived for us to bid on bigger jobs,” said Jason. “We pride ourselves on building meaningful relationships with our clients. We’ve seen our projects with the school system grow over the years because they’ve come to rely on the work we do. They know they can trust what we say and that we’ll do what it takes to ensure the work is done around their schedule.”
Ready to find out more?
At Thermal Conditioning, we help companies like yours every day. Through close relationships and trust, we help our customers achieve the HVAC solution they need today – and we help them prepare for the future.
