Spence Construction reduced errors and rework by 50%

The Challenge

Spence Construction has experienced significant growth in residential and commercial construction projects over the past five years. However, its project management relied on siloed data systems and spreadsheets. Manual data entry was also increasing the risk of errors, and a lack of automation meant administration took time. This caused bottlenecks at month-end and a lack of visibility across the business.

The Solution

Spence Construction implemented Procore for Project Management and Quality & Safety. They run a second Procore database for their separate steel and joinery business. The firm is also incorporating Procore Analytics, Project Financials, as well as the Correspondence management tool, to enhance its productivity.

The Results

• 40% time savings in the purchase order process—moving, from manual to digital
• 50% fewer errors, reducing the amount of rework
• 50% efficiency increase for on-site project management

Growth inspires the search for better project management

As Spence Construction grew, it faced the challenge of integrating the separate divisions of the business. Business Manager, Tim Hassett, knew the company needed project management software to produce and manage better documentation, as well as provide access to data no matter where staff was located. 

In 2017, Tim reviewed available market options and completed a trial of Procore. The focus of the team was to improve its document management processes and create an easily accessible central document management system for current projects.

"A lot of project management elements were spreadsheet-based with single-use entries," said Tim. 

"Everything was located on a remote server and locked up in hundreds of templates and folders that were in the system. There was no automation, and it turned our site managers into administrators. Site safety walks involved photos, scans and emails back in the office, which was then filed into a directory. Procore allows us to capture all this data in real-time from a phone or tablet."

Re-defining project management in the cloud

Procore’s cloud-based platform has been the most significant change for Spence Construction. "We have refreshed our entire IT infrastructure with the focus on mobility. A new suite of laptops and the Procore app for mobile use has made life so much easier for our on-site teams," he said.

With this agile, cloud-based project management system and centralised documentation, Spence Constructions see their teams collaborating more rapidly and effectively than in the past.

"This transparent system allows us to share the progress of projects with architects and owners and gives us a competitive edge. We can accurately report on the project status, and real-time updates help us price a project accordingly and avoid major overruns."

Spence Construction is now integrating the Correspondence management tool. Items such as safety alerts and notifications will track, control and manage who is receiving information––leading to deeper levels of transferable learning across sites.

"The Correspondence management tool will also streamline where information sits within the business, and this level of transparency has been embraced. Architects and subcontractors love knowing the version of the document they are seeing is always up to date," he continued.

Data is the new oil

Analytics is expected to provide further valuable insights to support sustainable growth and deliver new productivity efficiencies.

"We need to find ways to support continued growth without stretching our internal resources, and we see Analytics as an enabler for process efficiency," Tim commented. "The Real-Time Labour Costing Tool will also help us analyse and understand our true cost of construction on every project. This will power informed decisions from a tendering and job management perspective."

Spence Constructions is confident working with the Procore team in the future will continue to pay off. "The Procore team is fantastic. We have weekly contact with them, and their online help support is great. There is always someone who will help us or come back to us with an answer."