As an award-winning contractor, Kuepers Architects & Builders know exactly what it takes to manage and implement a successful project. That’s why they chose Marco as the single source provider for their new facility’s office furnishings, Voice over IP communications, data networking, video systems, and copier/printer solutions.

In 2006 Kuepers expanded an existing building in Baxter to create10,000 sq. ft. of space for their new office. The building allows them room for additional growth which they have already needed to use. In June of 2007 they added on another 4,000 sq. ft. for 19 more offices. Over the past four years, Kuepers’ payroll has grown from 70 to 180 employees. As more employees were being hired and more construction bids were being won, the company needed to improve the flow of information and communication between its clients and its rapidly growing workforce.

Like Marco, the company prides itself on being a single source provider for their clients. Kuepers liked the fact that they can work with one team of experts at Marco to effectively implement their furniture and technology solutions from planning and design to installation and support. Steve Kuepers, Executive Vice President, explains, “From a coordination standpoint, having just one partner to work with was key to the success of our project. They did a good job of recognizing that we had multiple issues. The nice part was there was a lead person from Marco in charge for each area and they would communicate with each other to get the job done.

They worked well as a team.” Mike Patrick, Controller for Kueper’s, also liked the team approach Marco could offer. He says, “Marco was the only company that could provide every solution. They have people that are specialized and really know the components of each area. Their project manager communicated with each division to pull it all together. One phone call to one person got what we needed done. They exceeded our expectations.”

Vince Mohs, Marco Workplace Interiors’ sales manager, worked with Bruce Weaver from Kuepers to find out their workplace needs and make recommendations for their office furnishings. They had visited with a couple of other companies as well. Accordingly to Weaver, “There was definitely a difference in working with the different companies. Marco was far superior and did a great job in educating us on the furniture available. Vince and the team at Marco concentrated on the product to meet our needs and the image we wanted to portray. Their design staff was very informative and answered my many questions. They showed me photos and sent me Web site examples of solutions to address my questions which really helped us in our decision making process. This helped us make some decisions early in the process rather than waiting until the end.”

Marco provided a variety of office furnishings for Kuepers’ new facility including panel systems and workstations, desks and credenzas for their private offices, conference room tables, and seating. Marco also implemented an audio/video system for their Conference areas unlike their previous location which had minimal meeting spaces, Kuepers wanted to make sure they had an ample amount of space to visit with their clients at their new facility. They originally planned for two multimedia conference rooms, but quickly added a third after six months because of the many benefits the rooms gave their clients. 

Marco equipped all of the rooms with custom conference tables and chairs and installed projectors and automatic projection screens so Kuepers’ architects can view their clients’ plans right on the screen. Kuepers explains, “We go through the different design phases of our clients’ projects in the rooms with the architects. The clients’ design changes can be made instantly in the meeting and shown on the screen and in two to three hours, we’re done.

The technology has been so nice.” Patrick adds, “It is so nice for the customers to be able to see the designs right away and have the changes made while they’re in the room. We no longer have that week lag time in going back and making the changes and then sending them to the client. It saves us time.”

Workstations and Private Offices
Kuepers’ new facility consists of a mixture of movable panel systems for their 50+ workstations and private offices. Planning the office furnishings was a collaboration between Kuepers and Marco. “We felt Marco provided value in the engineering phases of the construction project,” said Kuepers. “They recommended changing the sizes of the private offices to accommodate a standard size for the workstations.”

“The furniture layout has been really good,” he said. “The workstations are a nice size that work for just about everyone. Because the cubicles were designed right, we don’t need as many private offices. Some of the nicest areas in our office don’t have a door.”

They felt the implementation of their furniture solution went smoothly. Weaver said, “Marco’s people were very good at explaining what was going on and they were working the entire time – there was no wasted time. Marco is a far superior company professionally and technology-wise than any other company I have worked with. It was well worth the investment to hire them to take care of the project for us.
 

When Mike Patrick, Controller, and Devante Vargas, IT Manager, planned for the technology for their new facility, they felt the time was right to implement state-of-the-art technologies to increase efficiencies and improve the company’s communication flow. 

They counted on the network engineers from Marco to help upgrade their communication system from planning and design to installation and support.

Kuepers’ goal was to build a new and different communications system – one that would allow it to more rapidly respond to client needs and speed up the flow of information within the rapidly growing company. Four years ago when employees would leave the office to go to a construction site, visit a customer, or get materials, they would move a peg on the sign-in/sign-out board located near the receptionist’s desk indicating they were “out.” Managers did not know where they were or what project they were working on. Furthermore, customers needing to speak to a project manager or foreman often had to wait until the employee returned to the office.

Additionally as new employees were hired and as employees changed offices, the company had to log a service call to its telephony provider for each move, add, or change. Every time the service provider came on-site to make a change, it cost between $70 and $110 in addition to the productivity delay while waiting for the provider to arrive. 

Marco helped the business roll out a new communications solution based on the Mitel 3300 ICP IP PBX system and Microsoft Live Communications Server. The Mitel PBX integrates with Live Communications Server to give Kuepers’ employees capabilities such as:

• Telephony presence to show availability
• Click-to-dial from the computer
• Escalate an instant message to a phone call
• Call control from the PC interface (transfer, hold, conference, etc.)
• Inbound caller popup notifications
• Missed call notification via email
• Alerts to know when someone becomes available
• Mitel Mobile extension (incoming calls ring the user’s mobile pone)
• Calendar integration
• Unified Messaging (email, voice mail, and fax messages all appear in the Outlook box)

All of Kuepers’ office workers have Mitel IP phones and approximately 50 of their employees are using Live Communications Server. Kuepers executives now know what projects their employees are working and where they are if they’re out of the office because Live Communications Server integrates with the Outlook calendar which contains scheduling information.

In the past, contacting employees could sometimes be difficult for the company when a client urgently needed to speak to an employee or job foreman who was out of the office. Now, when an employee leaves the office, the communications systems automatically forwards calls to the employee’s mobile phone. 

Moves, adds, and changes occur rapidly because the system is IP based. Not only are outside service costs eliminated, but new employees or employees changing offices can be immediately productive because their communications tools plug in and play.

Patrick and Vargas were extremely pleased with the implementation of their voice and data network. Patrick says, “It’s been 15 months and not once have I gone to my phone to get a voice mail. It is great that Marco had the vision we had in integrating our phone system. Marco has people that are specialized and really know the components of each of the product areas. Their team approach covers all aspects needed to implement our voice and data network.”

Vargas adds, “As far as functionality, I believe our new network is one of the largest in the area. Having worked with a lot of consultants in the past, many say they can implement a project such as this but are not always able to demonstrate the skills. Marco’s engineers have a solid knowledge of the Cisco setup – they do a fantastic job of keeping up on the technologies. 

Marco helped me expand the vision I had for this company. They were very helpful in offering advice — there is definitely a comfort level there.”

“From a coordination standpoint, having one partner to work with was key to the success of our project. The nice part was there was a lead person from Marco in charge of each area. They worked well as a team.”
 
Steve Kuepers,
Executive Vice President
 

Founded in 1974, Kuepers Inc. is a family-owned and operated company, located in the heart of the Brainerd Lakes area.  Kuepers provides custom design and quality construction services to clients throughout Minnesota and surrounding areas. The company has built many award-winning residential and commercial structures. It’s business is fueled on building lasting client relationships that provide continued growth and a reputation for responsiveness and outstanding quality.

“Marco has people that are specialized and really know the components of each  area. One phone call to one person got what we needed done. Marco exceeded our expectations.”

Mike Patrick, Controller

“Marco helped me expand the vision I had for this company. They were very helpful in offering advice - there is definitely a comfort level there.”

Devante Vargas, IT Manager