Allied delivers $100M facility on time and under budget.
The Challenge
Allied Construction Management Inc. was undertaking more projects in the private sector following years of predominantly public tender work since its inception in 1995. It began work on a $100-million St. John’s manufacturing facility, the largest project it had ever undertaken, which required complex mechanical and electrical work.
Like many other companies their size and in the same field, Allied relied on spreadsheets and hard copy drawings. At the time of winning the job, quantity take off was done by hand. “We realized the way we were doing things wasn’t going to be as efficient for such a large project,” says John Sheppard, Project Manager for Allied Construction Management.
Allied once thought they were too small to need a construction management platform, but now found the need for one was urgent. They began a search for a solution that would help them scale their workflows and deliver the kind of high-quality project they’re known for. Most importantly, they needed something they could implement right away.
The Solution
Allied started using Procore during the second month of the project. Procore provided the Allied team with better document and drawing control and improved processes for timesheets and invoicing.
“It was about finding something quickly that would help us manage the information, because we’d already started the project,” explains Sheppard. “So as the design phase was ongoing we got into Procore and we were up and fully running when the project kicked off.”
The Results
24/7 Support Keeps the Team Focused on Building
With Procore’s round-the-clock customer support, Allied could focus on managing the project rather than answering questions from trades and suppliers about the platform.
On Time and Under Budget
The $100 million facility was completed in 15 months.
A Happy Client
The client, experienced with large projects, was impressed with Allied’s efficiency and speed.
“All of our clients that have interacted with Procore love it and are really happy we’re using it.”
John Sheppard
Project Manager
More Time To Be Proactive Rather Than Reactive
While the project was a great win, Allied witnessed other benefits post implementation. For example, Sheppard used to send out requests for quotes via fax––sometimes as many as 250 faxes a day. Procore quickly gave him back that time, and more.
“Instead of tracking RFIs or submittals in a third-party program or a spreadsheet, Procore allowed me to manage the information in one piece of software. I was able to have time to look at the big picture of the project and be proactive, rather than reactive.”
Information flowed easily and logically to the right people. “All of our superintendents are really good about doing detailed notes every day in Procore’s Daily Log. And then I have an automatic report that comes to all the managers on Monday morning. You can see each superintendent and filter by their job and their notes, so it gives everybody the ability to go in and see what’s going on.”
At every stage, Allied had a comprehensive view of project activity––and a clear record they can cite years later.
Support that’s Always Available
While Sheppard led the implementation of Procore at Allied, he was able to direct subcontractors and suppliers with questions about the platform to Procore directly for support. He was still the point of contact, but many issues were resolved before they reached him.
“It’s been great. Instead of coworkers or subcontractors coming to me with every technical question, they were able to jump on with the Procore support team to get the help they needed.”
With support available 24/7, Procore saved Sheppard an immense amount of time and enabled him and the team to focus on the most important tasks––their work.
Updates Help the Team Continually Improve Processes
Recently, Allied has started incorporating Procore’s Action Plans Tool into their work. Action Plans formalizes sequential work, helping ensure each step is completed properly before a process can proceed.
“For example, building occupancy is a very hectic time,” says Sheppard. “We’re on deadline and our clients are ready to move in, but we need to get the city’s approval. There are so many different jurisdictions involved––provincial, city, fire department–––and so many specific documents they’re looking for. The Action Plans Tool works well for managing the complexity of that process.”
Next, Sheppard plans on rolling out the Correspondence Tool as Allied continues to digitize its workflows.
“Smaller Companies are Missing Out”
After the success of the manufacturing facility project, Allied has found their use of Procore is a selling point for potential clients.
“We can show a client that they can see the budget in real-time, jump on their phone and see photos and track the RFIs and be as involved as they want to be on a project. We couldn’t do that without Procore.”
Now that he’s seen what Allied can accomplish––and the scale of project they can take on––Sheppard believes many similar-sized companies should consider making the jump to a project management platform. “Some smaller companies, and companies that haven’t started using technology, are missing out on what’s available to make their lives a lot easier.”
