District Profile

Location: Jacksonville, IL
Student Enrollment: Serves over 3,300 students
Campus Footprint: 6 Elementary Schools (grades K-5), 1 Middle School (grades 6-8), 1 High School (grades 9-12)

Super User Profile

Name: Courtney Cogswell
Title: Administrative Assistant to Maintenance Director & Curriculum Director
Tenure: Been with Jacksonville School District 117 for 4 years

Life Before ML Work Orders^®

Courtney and the team at JSD117 were using another software vendor for their work orders. Their work order system was costly and inflexible. They also had problems with their customer service department – responses and resolutions were very slow, which was a roadblock to their productivity. As they looked to make a switch, cost was a major factor. When Courtney and her team saw ML Work Orders they determined they could do so much more than their current system at a cost that was less. The value for ML Work Orders was clear.

The Transition Process

“The transition was entirely a cake walk,” exclaims Courtney, “They made it really easy for us. They set up a spreadsheet, had me look everything over and transferred the data into ML Work Orders. It was an easy process for us. They really handled everything.” The total time frame to transition JSD117 from their old system to ML Work Orders took less than a month. JSD117 made the transition over summer break, with the initial transfer of data taking less than a week. From there it was a couple of weeks to double check the data and train in the system.

Life with ML Work Orders

Since switching to ML Work Orders, Courtney has been able to manage their work orders more efficiently and in a way that works with their processes. “I truly enjoy using ML Work Orders versus our old system,” she remarks. ML Work Orders has been flexible in accommodating the way that they want to run their maintenance department. “All of the settings have been easy to manipulate to meet our needs,” states Courtney. She also describes the little things that make a big difference, such as:

• Being able to search a work order, not just by the work order number but a keyword that is in the work order
• Assigning work orders has become easier
• Viewing and managing reports

Courtney’s experience has also improved when it comes to dealing with support or when she has ideas for product improvements. “With our old system, we were not getting responsive feedback or quick responses back, especially when we needed it,” explains Courtney, “The support team at ML Work Orders gets back to me well within 24 hours, either with a solution or that they are looking into it.”

The positive experience has continued for Courtney as she has submitted new ideas. “I have submitted a few things to consider for new features that have been put in place, which was great to see and I really like that I can go in (to the idea portal) and see other people’s ideas and vote on those. It’s a very interactive customer service experience.”

One area of ML Work Orders that Courtney is excited to dig more into is the Assets and Inventory modules. “Assets and inventory have really stuck out because we didn’t have that capability before,” explains Courtney. They are slowly starting to implement those areas of the system to replace their manual methods of managing inventory and assets on paper. With those modules, they are beginning to look at adding ML Work Order’s Preventative Maintenance protocols. “We had something in the past where I had to remember everything and re-submit it, where as now I set it up once and it’s not even a thought.”

A Typical Day

For Courtney, most days start out with her going into ML Work Orders and closing out all of the work orders that were completed the previous day. She then will prioritize all of the work orders that have been submitted in the last day or two. “We look at the ones marked urgent- it’s very visually easy to do that with all of the different colors for the different priority levels.” After prioritizing they will go ahead and submit them. “There are a lot of shortcuts in ML Work Orders so it makes it quick and easy,” exclaims Courtney.

The other challenge for this school year has been dealing with the pandemic. ML Work Orders was a key tool for the maintenance department in a very taxing school year. “The fact that ML Work Orders allowed our workers to submit what they needed electronically has been really helpful,” explains Courtney, “That way they don’t have to seek us out face to face. It has been very helpful with all of the sanitizing and cleaning protocols this past year.”

Overall, the switch to ML Work Orders has been a decision that Jacksonville School District 117 is glad they made. “ML Work Orders has definitely smoothed out our process,” remarks Courtney, “I’m very grateful for that.”