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Getting in Sync with Software
“In today’s market, the right technologies are essential,” says Michael Lause, senior estimator at Gulf Paving Inc. in Fort Myers, Florida. “We no longer bid five jobs and get five jobs. Today, we bid 10 and win one.”
According to Lause, upgrading technology is his company’s answer to maintaining success in tighter times. “Technology is helping us move faster and bid more in this down economy as well as monitor and control our profitability better.”
The Need for Speed and Accuracy
Since Gulf Paving Company Inc. was founded in 1964, it has experienced steady growth, from its original 12 employees to its now 80-plus workers performing site development, underground utilities, and concrete and asphalt paving. A full-service contractor, Gulf Paving owns a large, well-maintained fleet and also operates an asphalt plant with state-of-the art control upgrades for multiple mix designs.
As the company has grown, so too has its need to operate more efficiently and implement new technologies to improve its processes from the first takeoff to the completion of a project. The company was developing all of its estimates using a time-intensive manual process, which was not only slow, but had a high probability for human error.
“We essentially did pad to paper to Excel and knew our processes needed to change,” Lause says. “Excel was close, but not exact. We need exact.”
He continues, “We also had always used historical pricing information to develop our estimates. However, with the economic downturn, these prices would no longer fly. Our estimates would be so far out of whack as prices continually fluctuated.”
For its accounting operations, Gulf Paving was using a software package that was becoming obsolete and would have been very expensive to maintain. Ethylene Leitoff, Gulf Paving’s controller, says, “Our previous accounting system was old and cumbersome and provided no flexibility. I couldn’t access information once I had posted it. We needed more flexibility and the ability to drill down to information once it is posted. This is a critical element for the owner of our company who wants to see the details.”
Lause adds, “We wanted an end-to-end solution that would allow our estimates to easily become a job in our accounting system without double or triple data entry. Lack of integration between systems can cause human error, and in today’s market this is not a risk we are willing to take.”
A Comprehensive Solution
After evaluating a number of solutions, Gulf Paving selected Maxwell Systems’ QuestMX Estimator and American Contractor to provide the needed integration between its estimating and accounting operations.
Lause explains how easy the estimation process has become using QuestMX Estimator. “When a potential project comes in, we evaluate the drawing, put it on the digitizer board and are easily able to start to draw in Estimator. We double-check our quantities and then move right into the estimate. We easily build the estimate from the database of cost items and pricing information in Estimator; and then start critiquing the time, equipment and manpower we expect to use on the job. Once the estimate is approved by the appropriate people, we then use American Contractor to write the proposal. If we win the job, it goes right into American Contractor for accounting purposes,” he says.
Lause continues, “QuestMX Estimator provides us with ease in putting a project on the board and getting the estimate started. Basically, we point, point, scale and draw. It is very quick.”
He also appreciates the spot elevation feature in QuestMX Estimator: “It is really cool. Our drawings come out much more accurate and we have fewer headaches trying to figure out the contours and elevations of the land.”
Leitoff explains that, using their old process, the accounting department only received written estimating information and all data had to be manually entered into the system again. Now, with the seamless flow of information between QuestMX Estimator and American Contractor, she sets up a job, pulls down the proposal and all the details are there. “There are less steps and more accuracy now that we don’t have to re-enter data into the system.”
Gulf Paving books all of its expenses, labor and equipment to American Contractor and leverages the tool to manage its accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger and payroll. Not only does the solution provide streamlined transaction entry, warnings for questionable entries and automated bank reconciliation, its reporting capabilities also enable Gulf Paving’s project managers to see where they are at on a job at any time and to drill down to the details.
Gaining Clarity
The two key benefits of these Maxwell Systems solutions are speed and accuracy. In today’s competitive market, Gulf Paving needs to be able to produce estimates much quicker and to accurately crunch numbers.
“With the automation and streamlining of our processes, we have less human error and have more visibility into our business. We are able to fine-tune our operations, find where we are making mistakes and see everything with much more clarity,” Lause explains.
“Accuracy is key,” Leitoff says. “The best thing about American Contractor is that you can’t be out of balance. Our previous system was never in balance. With American Contractor I never have to worry about it. It always confirms if I am not in balance. It is much easier and faster and provides more detailed information.”
She adds, “My boss loves it, too. He can drill down to the person who performed the specific labor hours that might be in question. We couldn’t do this before. We also had to run separate reports from each system. Now the information is combined into one report and we can drill down to the details.”
SIDEBAR: Training for Maximum Return
After using the Maxwell Systems solutions for about one year, Gulf Paving decided to take advantage of the software company’s private training. “It was a really worthwhile exercise,” Lause says. “We had been using the system for a year and had mastered the basics. The trainer came on-site and watched how we did a job. At the end of the day, the trainer provided insight into our operations that showed a critical correction to make, which resulted in significant cost savings on our bids moving forward.”
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