The Technology to Compete

The right software applications and infrastructure helps one medium-sized construction firm compete on the same field as its larger competitors.

One of the difficulties in operating a medium-sized construction firm is not having the tools available to compete with one’s larger counterparts in the marketplace. As margins continually tighten, and costs remain on an upswing in the industry, a company needs to tap into its unique resources in order to survive.

For commercial contractor Merkury Development,  www.merkurydevelopment.com, Miami, Fla., this unique resource is IT (information technology). The company performs both general contracting and construction management services and operates in a wide range of formats from competitive bid to design/build. It competes for work in the highly competitive South Florida market, often pitting its services against firms five and six times its size.

The company has long prided itself on its ability to operate on a “team” concept of solid and regular communication combined with a high level of quality control and monitoring, using the latest in technology. It didn’t take long for senior management to realize this “team” of technology would be its key in helping level the playing field in the market.

Piece-By-Piece
Technology is a constantly moving target. In order to successfully embrace the capabilities of these tools, companies need a dedicated staff or individual to steer the organization in the right direction.

Merkury, under its senior staff of Paul Tolles, president, and Ruben Alen, vice president, brought Roosevelt Lanier on as IT manager in 2004. Planning a careful and methodical growth strategy for identifying what software would be needed, how many people would need to be supported, and the ROI (return on investment) expected, Lanier began by installing a small server from Dell, www.dell.com, Round Rock, Texas, to house files for several PCs in offices previously held by Merkury.

Upon moving into new offices in Miami, Lanier contracted local firm A.S. Wiring Solutions to wire the office with Category 6 and telephone cabling. This wiring infrastructure would support gigabit speed internally, and future proof the office should the company wish to implement video conferencing off of the dedicated T-1 lines.

It was from this point Lanier dedicated himself to applying the proper IT software packages that would help Merkury run at a more efficient pace, both at the jobsite and in the backoffice. Starting with the simple task of automating mundane bookkeeping procedures, the company turned to QuickBooks (QB2006) from Intuit, www.intuit.com, Mountain View, Calif., and Microsoft Excel. These basic applications would help monitor, pay, and maintain cost analysis of resources used for man-hours expended.

Yet Lanier knew the biggest advantage would be bringing automation out to where it matters the most—the jobsite. With the need to connect to the main office location for emails, updates, and changes in the building plans, Merkury began to install a DSL (digital subscriber line), along with a VPN (virtual private network) to allow a secure connection from the construction site, enabling files and payroll data to be sent securely to the office.

Over the course of time, software programs like Primavera Contractor and Expedition from Primavera,  www.primavera.com, Bala Cynwyd, Pa., were purchased to track project management. Requiring a dedicated server to operate these programs, the company implemented a Dell 1850 server to allow desktops to access and contribute information in a collaborative way, followed by a mail server housing a Microsoft Exchange Server.

The software provides users with the status of not only what they are doing on a project, but allows the company to also monitor what others are doing, once they receive the usual updates at the scheduled meetings with the subcontractors. From the “ball in court” to the scheduled transitions of subcontractors on the project, a project manager gets a detailed view of how the job is progressing and can draw on the reporting capabilities found in the companion software to provide this information to the project manager overseeing the job.

The overall goal of using the software is to allow construction foremen, safety managers, and project managers alike, to communicate through a common medium that produces a project timeline compared to the current status on the job.

Time Sensitive
Supporting an initial staff of 10 and a construction workforce of 75, including subcontractors, one of the concerns for senior staff at Merkury is cost control and profit analysis based on man-hour expenditure. In order to reduce, and virtually eliminate, employees clocking-in for each other on a job, Merkury installed an electronic time clock at all construction site locations.

One important factor regarding the solution was that it supported not only the LAN (local-area network) of the company, but also the WAN (wide-area network). The solution, from Automated Business Solutions, www.abmmiami.com, Miami, Fla., helps connect offsite locations to the main office server, which records who clocks in and clocks out and at what jobsite.

Because Tolles wanted to make the information recorded from the job clocks a seamless connection to payroll, he chose QuickBooks 2006 Contractor version to integrate into the system. When a worker clocks in, his magnetic card will also identify the department or site location, which QB2006 can map to the appropriate location in its ledger. The workers entire payment history, work hours, and hours until overtime can be monitored, managed, and utilized to the benefit of the project.

Most job clocks and the accompanying software come with generic white plastic cards that do not identify the workmen, their certifications, or their photos. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, locations like Miami Intl. Airport require background checks on all workers at the terminals as well as photo IDs to be worn at all times. Because workers will be representing Merkury, they will also carry an identification card from the company, which includes additional controls encompassing inventory and job clock data.

Tolles wanted a card that could be magnetically swiped to track the worker with his job clock system, and he also wanted it to include a barcode to monitor and control the location and transfers of expensive equipment from a hand tool to high-end electronics used for surveys and measurements.

Hardware from IDI, www.idius.com, Port Washington, N.Y., was used to encode and print the magnetic cards, while a management system from Get-Data, www.get-data.com, Memphis, Tenn., helps design and produce the desired look and functionality of the magnetically encoded information.

This technology was also critical in formatting the barcode to work with the inventory tracking software and hardware, from eTeklogics LLC, www.eteklogics.com, Mentor, Ohio. This software allows the user to track equipment with bar-coded labels as small as your fingernail. Using an MC-50 Symbol Scanner, the item can be logged and transferred to a location, or a person, using the barcode identified on their ID card.

The goal of bringing these vendors together in the symbiotic relationship that successfully connected all of the components was truly one based on good fortune; as well as necessity with security and cost control leading the way. Once an employee has his/her ID card, they are expected to utilize the card every day.

Competitive Bid
Accurate pricing is perhaps most important for Merkury when competing with larger firms in the space. Pricing out to the inch what costs and overhead will be is imperative to its success.

This information is generated using estimating software from MC2, www.mc2-ice.com, Memphis, Tenn. The data fed into the software allows estimators at Merkury to provide accurate bids that are not only competitive, but profitable for the company.

Courtney Layton, senior estimator with Merkury, receives regular training on the application. This consistent product education helps her refine bids and recommendations on whether to proceed on a particular project. Even borderline projects are more likely to be identified through a cost-project analysis if one understands the results obtained through the technology.

Deciding on whether to bid for larger and more complex projects is now based on the software’s ability to manage them. By properly using this tool, the company can control costs, maximize delivery estimates, and factor in contingency expenses for each project.

Simply purchasing hardware and software is not very complicated and can be a pretty easy process. Knowing how to integrate the systems, create team buy-in, and consistently training users is what truly enables a company to gain a competitive advantage.

Small to midsized companies can effectively compete with larger contractors using the right technology and the appropriate investment in infrastructure.  •

Robert Seitz is a Microsoft MCP and external systems engineer and systems analyst that travels the country for clients when design and implementation of the systems needed is requested. He worked as an independent contractor for Merkury Development, Miami, Fla., from July to Dec. of 2006. He can be reached at Robert.Seitz@gmail.com for more information.