Designer Group Boosts Efficiency with Streamlined Document Management and Analytics

The Challenge

Founded in 1992, Designer Group has expanded from a local contractor to an international engineering contractor providing electrical and mechanical solutions. As the company grew, it found its varied tools for document control and quality management were creating data silos and hindering collaboration across teams and the supply chain. Without unified data, informed decision making was difficult. For a company with over €310m turnover, operations in 9 countries across 3 continents, and 1,250 employees, the old tools no longer met its needs.

The company’s group quality manager Andrew Gove was tasked with finding a connected tool to resolve these issues.

The Solution

Following a review of the market, Designer Group chose Procore. Using Procore, Designer Group has saved days of work, with analytics data available in real time and time-sensitive reports created for the board automatically. “The main benefits of Procore are efficiency and the value of reporting,” says Gove. “One of the biggest things for us was to get everything in one place. Now if I want the information, I know I can just get it.”

The Results

• 1 day saved every week per project on report creation
• Hourly updates of analytics data for informed decision making
• Board of directors receives early indicators of issues based on real-time data

Collaboration and Support for Document Control 

Gove’s team was assigned a dedicated Procore team with deep knowledge of the platform. The technical lead helped Designer Group’s teams set up their workflows and showed how Procore could support their ways of working.

Designer Group employees have responded positively to Procore, finding it much easier to use than the multiple systems previously needed for filling out forms, sharing data and carrying out inspections.

Procore Document Management (PDM) has improved how Designer Group manages its project information. It now has a centralised platform with easy access to all files and documents. When Designer Group’s document team first adopted PDM, it was still in beta mode. Procore’s openness to feedback and commitment to product improvements were clear. “Procore didn’t just make promises — they delivered,” says Gove. “Procore’s focus on ease of use and their ability to respond to our requests for improvements have made PDM a key part of our project delivery.”

Using Procore, the company can make all the latest documentation available to the whole project team: from the management team, to workers on site, to subcontractors and other stakeholders in the supply chain. All of Designer Group’s critical project information is available on a computer in the office or on mobile devices on site. “Procore is brilliant in that sense,” says Lesley Gannon, document control manager for Designer Group. “Whether you’re on the mobile app, the laptop or the iPad, it works consistently for everybody. It’s a one-stop shop for our site workers and subcontractors.”

Inspection and Test Plans Made Simple

Procore’s inspection and action plan functionality was another key feature for Gove. “The field inspections and action plans are far superior to what the team had worked with previously,” he says. “The workflow of the Action Plans and Inspections is exactly what we needed. It wasn’t a workaround, it was purpose-built for the task — it’s just easy.”

Procore’s inspection and action plans are set up to the near exact same format as Designer Group’s process. “It’s much more efficient,” says Gove. “We can set Procore up so that completing one section completes multiple, duplicate sections in the ITP automatically. It saves so much time.”

Powerful Analytics for Informed Decision Making

Procore’s native advanced analytics reporting, and its ability to integrate with Power BI, is another key function for Designer Group. Data needed to flow through all parts of the system. The Project 360 Reporting tool lets the company easily create reports based on data that updates every hour to give a real-time view. “We have to give the board weekly progress updates,” says Gove. “We can build all our quality document control reports directly in Procore.”

Designer Group uses Procore Analytics to create reports for weekly Building Regulations inspections. Previously, two members of the mechanical and electrical teams had to make a dedicated site visit to inspect and take photos of progress. Now, existing on-site photos can be uploaded centrally and a report can be automatically generated by Procore and sent to the relevant inboxes, which saves time for Designer Group’s mechanical and electrical quality engineers on every project. With an average number of 10 projects ongoing at any one time, this gives them back crucial time to add value in their areas of expertise.

The analytics tool also helps with the audit reports that Gove’s team needs to run and create twice a week to share with the company’s board of directors. These reports highlight key areas of concern to ensure the safety, timeliness and compliance of projects. “The analytics is great for seeing what’s been done, but it’s also great for highlighting what’s not been done,” says Gove. “These early indicators can be used to create project targets to address any risks.” Procore helps to automate report creation and flags the top five deficiencies to improve the traceability of projects.

Using Procore has allowed the Designer Group to transform its operations. The data silos that were starting to hold it back have been broken down and reports are created and shared automatically. Designer Group now has the platform it needs to help it build to even greater heights.