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Industrial/Commercial Mechanical Contractor
$60M Revenue, 190 Employees

"These improvements from S&L gave me succession-ready stability and visibility, strengthened our bonding capacity by lowering risk and tightening controls, and finally put our projects on rails—clear WIP and job-cost visibility, faster change orders, steadier cash and EBITDA, and partners who can forecast, delegate, and grow without me firefighting."

                                                                                                                                                        - Dave M. - President

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​Starting Situation
Our client, a $60M Industrial/Commercial Mechanical Contractor, was experiencing rapid growth across HVAC/piping projects that created schedule slippage, uneven change‑order capture, prefab underutilization, Accounts Receivable (A/R) issues, and limited project/job‑cost visibility; Project Managers (PMs) and foremen were overloaded, driving margin fade and cash delays.

Approach

​One-week on-site Deep Dive Discovery plus a 2-day round of employee surveys and interviews with management and PMs, including shop and field walks and project file audits.

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Focus — Project Implementation (what we actually installed and how it ran)

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  • Project launch (“Job Start”) kit: One-page scope, risks, budget, schedule, and procurement plan; formal Estimating → PM handoff with acceptance checklist.

  • Change-order (CO) workflow: CO log, 48–72-hour draft standard, required backup (RFIs, photos, T&M tags), pricing template, and submission/approval SLAs.

  • Field productivity rhythm: Daily crew plan, constraint removal list, foreman huddles, and weekly labor curve review vs. budgeted hours.

  • Prefab pull planning: Standard prefab kits, look-ahead schedule, shop/field kanban, and install sequences to reduce on-site time.

  • Procurement discipline: Long-lead registry, release milestones, preferred pricing matrix, PO cutoffs, and submittal gating to protect schedule and margin.

  • WIP/Earned-Value dashboard: Weekly WIP and EV snapshot: cost to complete, margin at completion, billings vs. earned, CO aging, and cash exposure by job.

  • Two-lane schedule: “Hot lane” for critical path tasks and “normal lane” for base work; daily variance tracking and recovery actions.

  • Finance cadence: 13-week cash updated weekly; billing milestones set at contract; AR DSO ladder with escalation steps.

  • Governance cadence: 15-minute daily ops huddle; weekly PM/Foreman review (risks, COs, labor/productivity); monthly backlog review with bid/no-bid and margin filters.

  • RACI clarity: Responsibility-Assignment (RACI = Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) for Estimating, PM, Field, Prefab, and Procurement.

  • Training & SOPs: Short SOPs for Job Start, CO pricing, prefab kitting, and billing; PM/Foreman coaching and shadowing.

  • Controls & documentation: Photo evidence, T&M tags, delivery receipts, and daily logs tied to COs and billings to defend revenue.

  • KPIs we watched: GM vs. estimate, labor productivity, CO velocity and hit rate, schedule adherence, WIP accuracy, AR DSO, CCC, and forecast accuracy.

 

90-Day Results

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  • Gross Margin (GM) on active work ↑ +2.7 points via tighter labor tracking and change-order compliance.

  • Field labor productivity ↑ +12% (daily plan, prefab kits, constraint removal).

  • Change-order approval cycle time −35%; submission hit rate ↑ +10% with standards and documentation.

  • A/R Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) 58 → 45 days through progress billing discipline and punch-list documentation.

  • WIP accuracy 72% → 92%; weekly earned-value snapshot adopted.

  • Procurement wins: preferred pricing + lead-time locks delivering 1.1% COGS reduction run-rate.

  • Finance cadence established: 13-week cash rolled out; job-cost forecast variance (Estimate-at-Complete) −28%.

 

6-Month Results

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  • EBITDA margin ↑ +2.3 points; margin fade per project −32%. (EBITDA = Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization)

  • Prefab utilization 28% → 46% of eligible hours; average install time −16% on prefab scopes.

  • Schedule adherence +14 pts; expediting costs −38%.

  • Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) −9 days via faster billing milestones, earlier CO approvals, and closeout rhythm. (CCC = Cash Conversion Cycle)

  • Backlog quality improved; average award size +7% at steady win rate.

  • Governance locked: Estimating → PM handoff, PM/Foreman weekly reviews, and RACI clarified—freeing senior leaders 1.5–2 days/week.

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