Unifying workflows for better efficiency

The Challenge

Bulley & Andrews (B&A) was seeking a digital project management solution to improve efficiency and overcome lags in data entry and visibility. Siloed workflows between project and accounting teams were costing the company time, and an unstructured, disconnected data environment was robbing them of opportunities to gain better data insights and increase team collaboration.

Their criteria while searching for such a solution were quite specific. For starters, it had to be something that was standardized across the industry to help ensure adoption. The solution also had to provide robust support services that required minimal resources on the part of B&A, and be able to seamlessly integrate with CMiC, which the firm had recently deployed for its ERP needs.

“Big picture wise, my focus is people and strategy. We’re looking at what is our current business practice, what processes are we currently using, and what else is out there that we can use to help improve the product,” says Dana Erdman, Bulley & Andrews’ Director of Technology & Innovation.

The Solution

Bulley & Andrews integrated Procore into their workflows, and came to rely on it as a single source of truth, both for current projects and legacy data. Procore became their center of collaboration, and immediately boosted project transparency. Critically, Procore Financials seamlessly integrated with B&A’s existing ERP software, CMiC.

This integration gave the financial team a higher degree of control, allowing them to review all financial data in CMiC. Additionally, Procore Financials enabled B&A to maintain up-to-date project and cost data to make more informed decisions, helping them easily generate timelines and accurate reports to project stakeholders. Project visibility drastically improved with the ability to generate portfolio-wide insights through the data analytics of the platform.

The Results

• Saved one hour per payout by breaking down information silos in contract writing and invoicing to boost efficiency
• Eliminated double data entry by better aligning accounting and project management teams, enhancing productivity
• Improved real-time visibility, giving leaders up-to-date project and cost data for more informed decision-making

The Execution

Bulley & Andrews took a highly deliberate approach to this project to minimize disruption to the workforce. To help ensure its successful integration into project workflows, B&A held company-wide training for groups and individuals. This approach also included a gradual ramp-up, beta testing, and a phased roll-out starting with smaller business units. The official rollout was held once Procore Financials was up and running.

B&A also committed to the necessary cultural shifts to minimize the impact of the change. For instance, they engaged Professional Services from Procore to help think through how to optimize workflows using Procore, including how to automate parts of their business. This engagement was one of the heaviest lifts of the whole project, and also where one that yielded some of the greatest benefits. To further support this effort, B&A also cultivated a core group of subject matter experts from their pilot projects to help accelerate rollout on other teams.

Process Improvements

The Procore workflow integration project led to business process improvements up and down the value chain. Bulley & Andrews was able to take a closer look at which roles should be involved in which workflows, helping the team  streamline and automate processes, eliminate double entry, and allow every team member to focus on their own core area of expertise.

Data quality control measures like gatekeeping allowed the firm to catch data entry errors before they made their way into the financial system. The integration helped the firm break down information silos in key areas such as contract writing and invoicing to prevent errors and generally boost efficiency. All-in-all, B&A now saves an average of one hour per payout, a tangible time-saver, making the entire company more efficient.

Making Better Use of People

The workflow integration helped Bulley & Andrews better manage their most essential resource: their people. The process improvements immediately transformed how people work across teams at the firm, while enhancing the relationship between project management and accounting. The integration created a feedback loop in which the two teams became more able to freely share ideas, fostering additional efficiencies.

Additionally, the workflow integration changed how teams approach project ownership, empowering the accounting team to take on additional tasks so the project management team can stay focused on building tasks. This was made possible in part because accounting was now getting the data they needed, how they needed it, for improved reporting accuracy.

By streamlining and automating workflows, B&A freed its people to spend more of their time on strategy-oriented work and less time on data entry.

“The business as a whole has seen just a time savings on a number of different things that we don't have to hand-key anymore because of the CMiC integration work that we've done,” says Erdman.

Protecting Profits

The visibility accompanying improved data and reporting gave senior leaders such as the CFO a whole new view into project financials. Being able to see project data in an entirely new way – sourced or sliced by departments, projects or across the portfolio –  presented leaders with novel opportunities to home in on certain metrics to improve the business.

By tightening processes, breaking down silos, and improving communication across teams, Bulley & Andrews made themselves a more effective firm, better able to serve their customers. Critically, the seamlessness of the Procore integration, and its ability to integrate with CMiC, gave Bulley & Andrews a best-of-both-worlds solution that helped the firm save time, improve data quality, and build more efficient processes.