Software for Construction Management Beats Spreadsheets

Construction fleet management and field tracking are different, but two new B2W case studies show how the move from spreadsheets to specialized software pays off in both workflows.

B2W Maintain at GSI

Improved preventive maintenance and fleet management processes

Getting up and running with B2W Maintain added $5 million to the bottom line in the first year at GeoStabilization International, according to VP of fleet Jeffrey Bremer. His team manages more than 1,000 pieces of equipment used for geohazard mitigation projects throughout the U.S. and Canada. Bremer calls maintenance software a no brainer.
Geostabilization International

“You just can’t manage a fleet efficiently and stay on top of preventive maintenance schedules when you’re doing it by hand or relying on spreadsheets,” says Bremer. He attributes much of the financial impact to a dramatic drop in downtime through better adherence to preventive maintenance intervals. Documented PM processes and tasks as well as thorough data on maintenance history are among additional benefits of the software.

B2W Track at BARD Materials

Customized field tracking and analysis for aggregate operations

BARD worked with B2W to customize electronic field logs. The result was a vast improvement over the complex system of spreadsheets used previously to track performance at dozens of quarries and sand pits the company operates throughout Iowa and Wisconsin. Those operations are not exactly like heavy construction job sites, where field logs are standard tools. Companies managing them, however, gain similar advantages when they can record productivity, labor and equipment hours and report on that data effectively.
Bard Materials

“Logging into Excel on laptops to report quantities was cumbersome, and it was easy to make mistakes or delete formulas,” says Alex Gribben, Assistant Director of Aggregate Production. “We weren’t efficient or accurate, and we had trouble maintaining consistency across our sites.”

Customized B2W Track logs allow BARD to capture information while its fresh. The process is also systematic, simpler and more consistent. Purpose-built reporting based on the information captured in the logs gives the company powerful new capabilities for analyzing production and making data-driven adjustments quickly. Gribben says that level of reporting and analysis was nearly impossible with spreadsheets due to the manual effort and redundant data entry required.

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