CASE STUDYMyers & Chapman

CLIENT: MYERS & CHAPMAN CHALLENGE: Employees would not use older, more cumbersome project management software. SOLUTION: Procore’s usability has driven adoption to 200% of original estimated users.

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CASE STUDY MYERS & CHAPMAN

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CASE STUDY MYERS & CHAPMAN

A KEY FACTOR: EASE OF USE

In terms of what influenced Myers & Chapman to choose Procore, Handford says,

“Ease of use was probably number one. If nobody uses the software you buy,

pricing doesn’t matter in the end. Price, honestly, was number two. Procore is

reasonably priced and now we have twice as many users than we ever expected,

so the flat pricing model seems like an even better deal.”

Handford looked at other commercial construction companies, and she wasn’t

happy with the construction project management programs those firms were

using. “One in particular had an accounting part that was an absolute nightmare,

and they ended up dropping it,” she recalls.

So when the company began to implement Procore, Handford was nervous. “I

was just worried that it was going to be, potentially, one of those things that we

got, but then nobody used,” she explains, “because it’s so different from what

we’ve been doing.”

Based in Charlotte, N.C., Myers & Chapman builds and renovates everything from

retail and office buildings to healthcare centers and industrial facilities.

The growing company was looking for a way to streamline and modernize the way it

handled its project management information.

In particular, the company wanted a cloud-based solution that would enable its

superintendents and project managers in the field to have up-to-date information in

real time. Procore “enabled them to go on and check what they need to check—sub-

contracts or change orders or RFI’s—basically anything,” says Project Assistant Cheryl

McDermitt, “it’s been 100 percent successful in doing that.”

In fact, says McDermitt, “I think Procore met all our needs.”

Handford had looked at a number of construction project management software

options. The solution the company was ultimately going to choose had to be easy

to learn and user-friendly. Procore fit the bill—using Procore was “almost self-

explanatory,” she says.

“I was surprised at how easy Procore was to use,” says McDermitt. “I was wondering

how we were going to implement the legal language that we put on the back of our

contracts, and actually, that’s really worked out better. I think we’ve streamlined what

we want to say. There was some repetitiveness in the older version of our contracts,

and we’ve cut it down. I think Procore brought that forth.”

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Her fears turned out to be unfounded, however. People understood how to use

Procore right away.

“I think the only new users we had issues with were maybe a few superintendents

who weren’t very tech-savvy and had never really spent that much time on a

computer,” she recalls, “but other than that, I think everyone understood.”

Even those superintendents eventually became regular users of Procore—they

just called with a few extra questions after the initial training sessions.

“They have become computer-savvy, and a few of them have surprised us

because they’re using Procore a lot,” McDermitt explains.

There was an initial period of adjustment as employees got used to the new

workflow. Most of them had been doing all their work in the Microsoft suite of

office products and a few online sharing programs. But eventually, adoption

reached the point where the company was able to mandate that all new projects

had to be handled through Procore. No one complained, however—by then,

Procore use had already caught on.

EASY ACCESS, FROM ANYWHERE

While one of the company’s project managers was away for two weeks, he was

able to go in and check things on Procore that his colleagues had questions on.

“He wouldn’t have had the ability to do that if we didn’t have Procore, which is

cloudbased,” McDermitt says, “so that was really a great surprise for him.”

“I guess I knew that you had access from anywhere, anytime,” Handford explains,

“but one of our project managers was talking about how exciting it was. He

was on the job site, and somebody asked about an RFI. He just whipped out his

iPhone and pulled up the RFI and had it right there, instead of having to delay

and go back to his office or come back to our office and print the RFI and send

it out. I mean, he just had it right there on his phone!” It also frees McDermitt up

to do other things. “Procore makes my job a lot easier,” she explains. “We have

30 guys out in the field. If I had them calling and complaining excessively about

using Procore, it would be a problem.” One of the by-products of implementing

Procore is that the company has seen a significant reduction in the use of paper,

“which is great,” says McDermitt.

“I think one of the biggest benefits is that Procore increases our efficiency and

productivity,” Handford concludes.

CASE STUDY MYERS & CHAPMAN CASE STUDY MYERS & CHAPMAN

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CASE STUDY MYERS & CHAPMAN CASE STUDY MYERS & CHAPMAN

PROCORE ‘GOT US THE JOB’

“One of our larger clients has hands-on project managers,” McDermitt notes. “They

like to see exactly what contracts are being written, the amounts, and everything, and

we have six jobs going on with them right now.” The fact that they also has access to

Procore means less time commitment for McDermitt. “I don’t have to keep sending

them e-mails with attachments. They’re just going in and using Procore, so that has

really corrected one problem.”

It also helps impress clients. In fact, “Procore was the selling point” on one job the

firm landed recently, says Handford.

“It was during a meeting between the CEO (of the client company) and one of

our vice presidents,” she continues. The vice president said that Myers & Chapman

was now on Procore, explaining, “We keep all of our information where it’s readily

accessible to everyone that needs to see it—in the cloud—and you can access it

through your phone or through the Internet.” The client was impressed, and “it

obviously produced great benefits for us,” Handford says. “Procore was the big

difference that got us the job, ultimately.”

“The fact that our company uses Procore shows that we’re keeping up with

technology.”

Clients like the freedom of being able to go into Procore to check on things whenever

they want to basis. So depending on the complexity of these items, and as soon as

we’re able to assess the problem and make the necessary changes, we’re able to

handle them immediately.”

A BETTER WAY TO DO RFIs

Procore has enabled the company’s

superintendents to create RFIs quickly

and easily.

“Before, the superintendent used to have

to e-mail or call the project manager,”

McDermitt explains. “The project manager

would have to e-mail or call the architect,

and then they’d have to wait.” Now,

superintendents create RFIs themselves,

directly in Procore, from anywhere.

“Procore allows [project managers] to

keep better track of whether it’s due or

not,” and that has also helped shorten the

time to close RFIs considerably. Before,

she says, “it was a real long, drawn out

process, and it could take a couple of

days, whereas [now], sometimes they

have answers within hours or minutes.”

Project Administrator Bridges Handford

says the RFI tool has earned more praise

from the company’s project managers

than any other Procore feature. (But she

adds that they also like having access to

the directory at the touch of a button.)

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CASE STUDY MYERS & CHAPMAN CASE STUDY MYERS & CHAPMAN

Procore’s usability

has driven adoption

to 200% of original

estimated users.

“

”Bridges Handford

Project Administrator

PROCORE SIMPLIFIES REGULAR TASKSRegular chores like entering timesheets for hourly workers and daily logs used to

be done on paper, but Procore streamlined that process. Superintendents enter the

timecard data using the Procore app on their iPhones, iPads, or Android devices.

Similarly, Procore made it easy to record weather data. Some of the company’s clients

allow a certain number of rain dates in their contracts, and before Procore, figuring

out which delays were weather-related was a lot of work.

“Our accounting department used to have to call the project superintendents and

bug them to provide weather delay dates, and if they didn’t remember, it was really

hard. Superintendents had to keep going back and writing it on paper and rely

on their memory about what the weather was like,” McDermitt explains. Procore

simplified that process tremendously, because it picks up weather data by latitude

and longitude, providing a clear record of how many rain dates they have or haven’t

had at a particular job site—helping ensure the company doesn’t go over its rain-date

allowance. “So this one Procore feature alone has made several people’s jobs ten

times easier, if not a hundred times easier,” McDermitt says.

Another feature she really loves is how easy it is to write contracts in Procore—and

get them signed by project managers. “I can just virtually, with a click, put their

signature on as soon as they’ve approved it, and it can go out the door. So it’s making

processing time a lot quicker,” she says. “Contracts get out the door faster.”

One surprise was how well the project managers have embraced the Meeting Minutes

feature. “I honestly didn’t think that the PMs would be using the Meeting Minutes that

much,” Handford acknowledges. But they have been using it. “I’ve heard them saying

that they love it,” she says. “It’s been a big help.”

Both Handford and McDermitt say they would recommend Procore to others.

Procore Technologies, Inc.6309 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria, CA 93013

866-477-6267 // www.procore.com

FEATURESDrawing & Document Management

Accounting Integration

Contract & Change Management

Bidding

Daily Logs

RFIs

Submittals

Punch List

Meetings

Photos

BENEFITSImproved Communication

Mobile Access

Increased Productivity & Accountability

Flat Rate Pricing

Unlimited Users

Unlimited, Secure File Storage

Easy to Use

Superior Customer Support

Risk Prevention

WHO USES PROCORE?General Contractors // Owners // Engineering Firms

Specialty Contractors // Construction Management Firms