Above: Simon Weeks is leading the Jonas Metals Software expansion into North America with an eye on leveraging artificial intelligence.
October, 2025- It was one year ago, October 2024, when Simon Weeks assumed the reins of UK-based Jonas Metals Software (JMS). As its new CEO, Weeks has set his sights on growing the metals-specific enterprise management software provider’s presence in North America while helping customers bring their businesses online and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI).
“The North American market represents the biggest growth opportunity for JMS. We anticipate doubling our customer base there in the next five to 10 years,” says Weeks. After serving small-to-medium-sized service centers in the United States, Jonas Metals Software is preparing an ERP system rollout at “two of the top 20 service center companies in North America,” Weeks reports. These launches are expected to go live before the end of the year.
CROSSING THE POND
JMS is owned by Jonas Software UK, a global collective of so ware solutions companies that serve businesses in specific vertical markets for industries as diverse as payment processing, events ticketing, hospital catering and metals service centers. Collectively, the Jonas companies generate $1 billion in annual revenues.
In the United Kingdom, JMS enjoys a 40-percent share of the metals service center market, says Weeks. Admittedly, the size of the UK market pales in comparison to North America.
“The United States has 4,000 to 5,000 metals service centers. JMS has only a small portion of this market, and we aim to change that,” Weeks states. He estimates that about 90 percent of this market consists of small- to medium-sized service centers running on business systems implemented 25 years ago.
Weeks sees the U.S. market as ripe for a new generation of leadership and ERP systems. “Many of the small and midsized metals businesses in North America are family owned and going through a generational shift, with the newer generation recognizing the need to modernize,” explains Weeks.
With JMS software, service center employees can use a mobile device for vehicle loading details.
With hubs of employees in California and Toronto, as well as representatives strategically located across the continent, JMS leaders believe the company is well positioned to make inroads. Weeks is leading by example, attending industry events and hitting the road to meet with potential customers. His journeys have included trips to California, Toronto, Texas and Pennsylvania.
Weeks finds these visits a bit like coming home. He grew up in a small town outside of Sheffield, England, and spent more than 15 years in the manufacturing sector (where he was implementing software) before jumping to the distribution and communications sectors. “I relish the opportunity to get closer to distributors and manufacturers. It was one reason I was drawn to the JMS position,” he says.
DIGITAL TOOLS
A new website and series of customer case studies are supporting the JMS brand in North America. But there’s no better way to build a brand than building a can-do technology. “We are creating systems that will allow employees to use a mobile device to track inventory movement and pick and receive product in the warehouse. This will help increase accuracy of transactions while lowering the time and labor cost of collecting data,” explains Weeks.
Another product in the JMS arsenal is designed specifically for the newer generation of service center leadership and their peers. “We’ve got the capabilities to take a service center into the e-commerce world. I see e-commerce as an area for real growth in metals software,” notes Weeks.
He cites the new generation of ERP users who are comfortable ordering clothes, cars and bitcoins from their couches. “This generation is asking how they can connect to their metals supplier in the same way,” Weeks says.
Smart picking is one of many features on the JMS suite of solutions.
AI AND THE NEXT INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Such connections will be enhanced through artificial intelligence. “AI is the biggest new technology shift since the invention of the internet,” Weeks says. While the internet gives people access to information, “AI will give everybody access to intelligence,” says Weeks.
“For the metals industry, AI will provide much better analytical and decision-assisting capabilities,” he predicts. “Our customers have a ton of ERP data collected over several years. This data feeds into the AI world and gives the user relevant information to shape decisions.”
Weeks gives the examples of AI suggesting proactive equipment maintenance schedules, projecting inventory levels and forecasting material orders. Looking into the near future, Weeks anticipates that interaction with the ERP system of the future will be less like siffing in front of a computer screen and more like a conversation.
“Imagine an AI agent prompting someone in the purchasing department that an order is about to be placed with a mill. The purchasing manager can ask AI questions like, ‘what are our inventory levels now?’ or ‘which customer project is necessitating the mill order?’ All of this is happening as a voice conversation instead of on a keyboard.
“It might sound like science fiction,” he continues, “but this is being done in other industries now. Supporting these AI conversations requires a robust ERP system. The metals industry is a short trip away from being able to leverage AI to this extreme. A company like JMS can get you there,” Weeks suggests.
Today’s JMS ERP solutions will be able to support this future reality for service centers, he believes. “We’ve anticipated this future and are designing these capabilities into our products. But the core ERP technology stays the same.”
Promoting the JMS core technology is Weeks’ mission for the year ahead. Expect to see him at upcoming industry gatherings and on the road, visiting customers. “The service centers I have visited are smart places, with polished floors and neatly stacked and barcoded product in warehouse racks. In terms of attracting the best talents to the sector, these businesses are ready for an ERP system to put them on par with any other modern, appealing business,” Weeks says.
“JMS is positioning itself at the intersection of tradition and transformation. For an industry facing generational turnover, labor pressures and supply chain volatility, the timing may be just right. The metals industry is on the cusp of a huge generational shift driven by AI—it’s the new industrial revolution,” Weeks says. Now that’s an exciting future for both sides of the pond.
Jonas Metals Software, 714/522-8300, jonasmetals.com.
