Entries by Greg Norris

Insights from Construction IT Pros

Six industry experts share perspectives on implementing, integrating and supporting technology in recorded B2W webcasts From heavy construction estimating to operational workflows, software is playing a larger and larger role. To help contractors take on challenges and opportunities presented by technology, including how they can move from point solutions to cohesive, connected systems, B2W Software […]

New Alerts and Notifications Capabilities Headline First 2023 B2W Platform Update

Immediate, event-triggered communication gets information to people that need it, when they need it

Extensive new alerts and notifications capabilities lead the list of enhancements in the first 2023 update to the B2W platform. The features spanning resource scheduling, field performance tracking, and equipment maintenance workflows create opportunities for contractors to communicate automatically and in real time (see list below).

Four Contractors Earn 2023 B2W Innovation Awards

Four construction companies bested the largest field of applicants to date and took home this year’s B2W Customer Innovation Awards in March. B2W began presenting the awards in three categories in 2017. Judges select winners from applications submitted by contractors throughout North America.

B2W Earns Construction Software Awards from Two Magazines

B2W Software and the company’s newest application were recognized for 2022 technology awards presented by two leading trade magazines. Established estimating and fleet management solutions placed B2W among the top technology firms listed by Construction Executive. A new application for tracking time and performance of employees working independent of crews was cited by Construction Equipment.

Actionable Insight: B2W CEO on Success with Technology

What areas of technology advancement/deployment are you focused and why?

We focus on the core workflows where profits are won and lost: estimating, resource scheduling and dispatching, performance tracking, and equipment maintenance. We provide differentiating opportunities to manage them, not only more efficiently, but also more cohesively and collaboratively through a true software platform.

High Stakes Demand High Performance: Why Priestly Switched to the Cloud

Priestly Demolition is a family-owned company incorporated in 1993 that utilizes innovation, technology, and experience to service the construction industry throughout Canada and the United States. Priestly provides various services, including excavation, hazardous material abatement and demolition. Before discovering LoadSpring, Priestly faced a choice between upgrading their on-premise equipment or migrating their entire network of applications to the Cloud. Their dilemma was two-fold: they needed a new on-premise solution or cloud service provider.

What Matters and What’s Working in the Challenging Construction Labor Market

One of the most popular thought-leadership sessions at this year’s B2W Software User Conference validated one of construction’s top challenges and presented creative solutions.

Close to 50 contractors shared experiences and ideas in the interactive roundtable session titled Strategies for Attracting and Retaining Talent. Herb Brownett, a former construction company CFO and industry veteran who consults on financial and operational topics, facilitated the discussion.

Software for Equipment Maintenance at D.A. Collins/Kubricky

“We need to come into the future, not go back into the past,” says Jeremy Teneyck in summarizing the role of B2W Maintain at D.A. Collins/Kubricky Construction.

The company has 15 mechanics in two shop locations. Six more are on the road. That team services more than 600 assets used for bridge construction, paving, site development, marine and utility jobs across the northeastern US.

Teneyck says the maintenance program was in a “stone age” prior to adopting B2W software to automate preventive maintenance, streamline processes and access real-time information. “We were running off of spreadsheets, and it was all paper work orders,” he elaborates.

New Video: B2W Estimate at Palmer Paving

Not many users top Jim Madden in experience and expertise with B2W software for estimating, and he shared his thoughts in a recent video on how B2W Estimate has helped his team generate thousands of winning bids.

Auto-generating Equipment Repair Requests from Inspection Forms

Early adopters are praising a new ONE Platform capability that allows them to generate equipment repair requests automatically from inspection forms.

Danielle Ehler at Zutphen Contractors and Jon Ewart at GW-EX are among users confirming that the new workflow helps them to identify and complete equipment repair work more efficiently. A new video from B2W illustrates the process.

Industry veteran sticks with B2W Estimate for new company

When Don Pearson struck out on his own to start Tenex Contractors in early 2021, he brought along a trusted partner: B2W Estimate. The estimating and operations veteran has used the B2W construction estimating software for close to two decades. Most recently, it helped him turn out up to 1,200 bids a year as chief […]

NBA Hall of Famer to Deliver 2021 B2W User Conference Keynote

Claiming with only slight hyperbole that “the fate of the heavy construction world hangs in the balance,” Bill Walton is all in as keynote speaker for the 2021 B2W User Conference. The basketball legend is preparing to share insights into big challenges, world-class performance, great teams and winning and relate them to the construction sector in his presentation on March 2.

B2W Software for Construction Pays Off for Payroll Processing

Paying construction employees properly isn’t easy but doesn’t have to be as hard as some contractors make it. Two recent trade media articles explain the advantages of electronic field logs over processes built around paper timecards, spreadsheets and manual data transfer. An article in Building Profits magazine focuses on using technology to eliminate payroll errors and inefficiencies.

“When you’re using paper, there are a lot of data issues that arise,” says Eric Sellman, a vice president and general manager at M.A. Mortenson. “Handwriting can be an issue. People can put hours against task codes that maybe they shouldn’t be assigning those hours to.” Patrick Holland, vice president at A.J. Coleman & Son describes the payroll information transfer prior to adopting B2W Track as time-consuming, slow and not very accurate or reliable. “Information was submitted weekly, and there were weekly disputes, depending on the diligence of the supervisor’s input,” he adds.