Maximize efficiency with seamless project management

The Challenge

Jonathan Baczewski and the team at Construction Pros NJ noticed a gap in the workflows and communication between the field and office teams. Motivated to find a solution that would combine multiple storage systems and eliminate the need for paper documents and drawings, the team discovered Procore.

The Solution

Construction Pros NJ was able to implement Procore company-wide in just two months. No longer relying on file sharing solutions or printed drawings, Construction Pros now has the capacity to take on more work without sacrificing quality or schedule.

Centralized Information

When Jonathan Baczewski was hired as a project manager for Construction Pros NJ, there was not a single uniform system in place that would allow team members to communicate and collaborate on project information.

Jon adds, "We didn't have a centralized server. As a subcontractor experiencing rapid growth, our workload expanded faster than our ability to implement a project document system. Every employee had their own project documents, their own laptop, and all their information was stored on their hard drive and shared through different methods. There was no defined method or procedure to store and share all that information uniformly throughout the company." Without a centralized system in place, vital project information was slipping through the cracks.

Jon and the team started a test project in Procore and found that it was not only a useful organizational tool, but it allowed the company to take on more work. "There's a cutoff point that any construction business can handle, and whatever that cutoff point is, our company was definitely past it. We had so many projects, so many people, and so much going on that we definitely needed something. There was no way to keep going the way we were going." After a speedy implementation of only two months and some training sessions with each team, both the office and field teams were successfully using Procore.

Document Disaster

As Construction Pros NJ continued to take on more work, they started to notice that sharing documents was a tedious process for all team members. "One team member would have a document saved on their laptop and they'd have to put it in Dropbox and share the link. Others preferred Google Drive to share documents. So information was scattered and documents were really difficult to find." Jon, knowing what a hassle it was to get documents to the appropriate person, has already seen an improvement in the document workflows. "I've worked in other offices that have had central servers to manage files, and Procore is even better than that. It's way better."

"We had some site supers who kept a detailed written log, which is great, but that information cannot be shared easily. Others would just email or text me any information that stood out for that day. I would receive the text, take note, and send an email to the GC or keep a record of it in my calendar." Without an accurate record of weather and working conditions, Construction Pros NJ was liable for weather-related delays. With Procore, Jon and the superintendents now use the Daily Log Tool to keep a detailed log of the weather, work that was completed each day, and team members who were on the jobsite. With a detailed daily log, GC's and owners working with Construction Pros NJ can easily track the progress of any project.

Ditch Your Paper Drawings

While Construction Pros NJ has seen an improvement in collaboration and workflows across all tools, the Drawing Tool stands out as a major time-saver. Jon notes, "Right now, I have one window open with the current set of drawings and one with the drawing comparison tool. That way I can go through and compare what has changed in this revision, based on what we priced last revision." Jon has found that the comparison overlay of previous and current drawings completely eliminates the need for paper drawings. The team is able to search and find drawing sets within seconds and easily see the changes without searching through stacks of paper.

Prior to using Procore's Drawings Tool, the team was printing multiple copies of drawings and had no central storage system or process for storing digital copies. It was up to the project manager to decide if they needed to retain digital drawings—leaving room for error and rework. Jon says, "It's nice to be able to upload a drawing and see the complete set. Now we don't have to sort through files to figure out which is the most current set, take the time to collate updates and sketches, or jump around from different sets of drawings to make sure I have all the information. Everything we need is in Procore."

The Drawings Tool keeps the team working off the most current set and, most importantly, helps keep the budget on track. Jon notes, "We're able to compare our pricing drawings directly in the field, giving us the data we need to be able to make financial decisions. So, for example, we can check what we priced with the previous version very quickly to evaluate if a change order is necessary or if the work is in our scope.

"These days every GC and every customer wants an instant answer. With cell phones and email, everybody wants an answer now. Saving that time looking for the information you need is a game-changer. If you're a subcontractor with multiple projects, Procore will save you an insane amount of time. Because the one thing we don't have in this business is more time."