Enhancing collaboration and efficiency in project delivery

The Challenge

Tyson’s poultry engineering team handles almost all aspects of project delivery in-house, and its various internal teams collaborate closely across the entire project lifecycle. We spoke to Katrenia Taweel, Program Manager at Tyson, about why they do this: "It’s simply so we can have better, faster project delivery from concept to completion, than if we outsourced everything."

Before Procore, Tyson was using manual processes including internal file servers, Microsoft SharePoint, and FTP sites to manage communication and documentation across their internal teams and with external contractors. According to Katrenia, "If we got hit by an audit - maybe we’d find the information we needed, and maybe we wouldn’t. Or contractors would claim that they hadn’t seen a portion of the scope, and hadn’t included the associated work in their bid, so they’d hit us with a change order. Ultimately, these issues weren’t just inconvenient - they presented an unacceptable risk to us."

The Solution

"We brought on Procore in 2019 because it offers a place to consolidate all of our project documentation and communication in a single source of the truth. It can be easily accessed from anywhere, including by teams out at our jobsites. And Procore has built in tracking and accountability features."

The Results

• Centralized information ensured all team members were informed and actively contributed to project success
• Enabled access to project data from anywhere, allowing sharing even at remote production facilities
• Established clear tracking and accountability, ensuring every team member understood their responsibilities

The key to a collaborative team

"Our teams partner all the way through the project lifecycle, and the Procore platform is what allows us to do that effectively. From Day 1 of our project lifecycle, we are already tracking information in Procore." Now that all project information is tracked and shared collaboratively, Tyson has a connected team working together to ensure job success. The design teams feel empowered to partner during construction, because Procore provides them tools for visibility and engagement. One unruly trade can’t derail the project budget with change orders, because Tyson tracks the complete project information provided during bidding. 

With Procore, Katrenia can rest assured that the project is supported by a collaborative team effort. "Now that we have Procore I tell people, ‘if you win the lottery tonight and you don’t come back to work tomorrow, that’s awesome for you. And we will be able to go on without you, because your work is saved in Procore.’"

Not just for PMs

When asked about how Tyson’s in-house drafting team feels about Procore, Katrenia says, "they love it." Tyson’s drafters and engineers leverage Procore for design review meetings, design issue resolution, and version control as they update drawings. Morgan W., a mechanical engineer at Tyson, says, "Procore allows me to be more efficient with my time, housing all documents, photos, and drawings in one tool. The ability to collaborate with RFIs and Submittals in the Procore platform makes Procore a one-stop shop." And Katrenia elaborates, "Even maintenance managers and plant managers have access to Procore....after all they are the ones who have to live with it when the project is over."

Unexpected benefits that go beyond construction

Now that project information is consolidated in Procore, Tyson’s team finds themselves relying on their collaborative system of record even in unanticipated circumstances. For example, when a small fire threatened an out building at one of Tyson’s facilities, the team already had all of the design information they needed by the time they had boots on the ground. And, the PM in charge of mitigation was able to quickly stream photos from the site to the many interested stakeholders who wanted updates - "our PM could just focus on getting the plant back up and running. None of this would have been possible without the collaborative Procore platform."

While you probably already know that Procore can help you streamline and improve your construction process, Katrenia’s story tells us that Procore can offer benefits well beyond the course of construction - "Don’t be afraid to get creative with it. This is a platform that will streamline your collaboration no matter the job’s phase, location, or nature."