Beckcon is a leading provider of concrete placement and construction solutions for developers, residential construction and high volume builders in Victoria. They set themselves apart from their competition through their project management system that provides real-time status updates and job tracking. This keeps their clients informed throughout the project from start to finish.
Beckcon also has a comprehensive work safety system including SWMS for high-risk tasks, individualised work safety plans for each commercial project and comprehensive staff training and induction programs. Paired with their agile team of project managers, tradesmen, estimators and administration staff, they are able to service clients with high-quality workmanship and maintain a safe work environment. Notable projects include Probuild’s Malt District Project in Cremorne.
Point solutions vs one platform
As a leader in their industry, Beckcon had realised early on that digital solutions were the way to propel their business forward. Understanding that paper-based systems were inefficient and time-consuming in both collection and processing, they adopted multiple point solutions to assist the operations of their business. Beckcon had a piece of software for scheduling and timesheets, another for project management and a third for safety checks which they also tried to use for digital dockets.
Despite being early adopters of technology, the team at Beckcon became increasingly frustrated with using three different pieces of software to manage their business. Cory Becker, the Finance and Operations Manager at Beckcon reflected back on the trigger event leading to Assignar, “using three different pieces of software for the business was frustrating. Our team not only in the office but also in the field had to have three different apps which made it hard to keep track of what was needed to be documented and submitted for each job. We needed an integrated system as we were suffering from the inefficiencies of multiple point solutions. We also know that moving to one integrated system would dramatically improve our relationship with our clients by providing comprehensive data, centrally located and received in real-time”.
Benefits of an integrated system
Beckcon is currently using Assignar to schedule out their crews, digital timesheets and dockets as well as safety forms. By utilising one platform for all of their operational tasks, Beckcon were able to vastly improve their quality assurance processes. Cory highlighted that “because we were using different systems, it was difficult to get employees to fill out their pre-pour and post-pour check forms or to fill our important documents. Now with Assignar, since it’s all on one app, the team can check through the site, take photos of each step and the operations team back in the office can review these documents for any issues in real-time. Also, we have been able to implement a new range of WHS initiatives and improve our communication and messaging with contractors and employees through Assignar’s SMS module.”
In addition to improving it’s quality assurance and safety processes, Beckcon has reaped operational efficiencies in the business. Cory further states that “from an operations point of view, we can easily see our resources in an easy manner, and the system is much more user friendly for our employees, than our old legacy systems. We can see when our workers have confirmed a shift straight away and bulk send a text if they are yet to confirm once the allocation goes out. There is no more double entry into different functions and we are able to explore more reporting capabilities with Assignar as our legacy system had next to no reporting capabilities.”
Protecting our business from claims and reducing rework
Time management is crucial in the concrete business, as delays have a domino effect. With lots of stakeholders onsite, decisions can be made in a hurry to meet project deadlines and without a proper platform to support documentation of changes, disputes over variation work can arise. Cory shared an incident on a job prior to utilising Assignar. “We lost a significant sum on a job because our foreman was instructed by the principal contractor to change the pour level on the job. Our foreman did what was asked, but unfortunately, once the construction manager found out post-pour, he questioned the changes and we couldn’t prove that we were instructed to execute this variation work. A centralised system that keeps everyone onsite accountable is crucial in protecting our business from claims. As a business, data is key to protecting our interests.”
Furthermore, Cory shared about the ROI they have reaped by using Assignar in the business:
Our subscription is easily recovered through the efficiencies we have seen in the business. The biggest efficiency we got from streamlining our operations was the reduced likelihood of re-charges and maintenance work, due to the comprehensive data we have been collecting.
Easy onboarding and implementation
Beckcon has been using Assignar for over 12 months now and Cory was a part of the key team that rolled out the system. Cory noted that “we learnt Assignar ourselves, It was quite easy. We just called our staff and told them they would be receiving a text message to download this app that would replace all our old point solutions. We just rolled it out and learnt by doing. It was an easy transition for the team as they were used to digital systems before Assignar and nowadays everyone uses apps on their phone. For the older staff, we caught up with them one on one, but that really only took 5 minutes of sitting down with them and running through it all.”
Finally, Cory speaks of the overall experience with Assignar over the last 12 months:
“it’s been a pleasure to see the uptake and of ease of use for our employees and contractors. Across the Group we are delivering our clients significantly better data and increased confidence in our Quality Management Processes that are delivering great results.”
