HCSS vs. WorkflowMax

Our operation uses several pieces of what we call specialty equipment (not used every day on every job). The foreman when finished will give a location of where this equipment is left, this many times can be very vague and lead to a lowboy driver trying to block around to find the piece or driving down a street he cannot get turned around in. With the GPS devices, the driver can pinpoint exactly where the unit is and if he has room to turn around at that location.

Incentivized

WorkflowMax is a good solution for the architecture and design profession in that it allows for multiple ways to track a project, apply time to a project, and invoice against a project. The ability to do staffing forecasting and future planning fills a need that most firms in this profession require.

Incentivized

• #1 is support! HCSS is by far the best software support of any product we have ever used. Unlike most software companies HCSS utilizes their support calls to help upgrade their software. When you here them tell you that they will write down a particular issue you come across during a support call if they can't help you then and there they will research and get an answer to you extremely fast. If the software will not do it, you can bet there is a good chance it will be on the list of enhancements you will see come out in the near future.
• Estimating software is very extensive. Their software is capable of handling the smallest estimate all the way to the largest joint venture estimate. It has advanced features that make it extremely useful for analyzing job materials, subcontractors etc.
• HeavyJob is an extremely useful tool for the field to keep the office up to date with job costs. Everything is at the Foreman's fingertips on Tablets to allow the information from the field to get uploaded to HeavyJob manager which then can export to accounting. We are also able to give our Foreman the ability to deal with the Daily and weekly safety needs (Tailgate Meetings, incident Investigation, observations etc.) right on the Tablets thru HeavyJob.

• Great for managing teams which are not in one spot. Awesome for small or growing businesses with employees who might work from home.
• Really good for teams to keep up with where a project is at against the time left to achieve the goal
• Great for keeping all the information for each project in one spot.

Incentivized

• All their apps are on mobile devices. Although there is not a clear company policy on Android versus iPhone. Updates for features lag behind on Android. Some apps are exclusive to one platform making it hard to fully interconnect all programs.

• Integration with inventory - there are a lot of companies out there which provide a service which includes selling items either purchased or held in stock or "kitted"
• User permission levels need to be more flexible and ideally closely tied to Xero
• Two way integration with Xero - ability to import invoices to specific jobs
• Ability to save pdfs to purchase orders, invoices (like Xero)

Incentivized

Because we can't imagine being without it!

Incentivized

As mentioned, user interface appears messy and complicated at initial onset. Training is necessary but becomes easy to maneuver through after solid daily use.

Incentivized

It's easy to use and provides me with instant online access to the management of my business whether I am at my desk or overseas

Incentivized

The people at HCSS who I interact with, whether it is a support technician, product manager, or the HCSS President, Mike Rydin, are as passionate at making construction management for heavy civil contractors a valuable experience as I am. They want to get us emphatic, project management addicted people in to tell them why their product is not working, and work with us to design the software to work for us. HCSS is good for the heavy civil contractor; it is going to help us to manage our projects with precision, accuracy, and accountability.

We have had very few issues with Max

Incentivized

It is critical to select the right team to take to HCSS for implementation. They take very good care of you and your team and listen to all of your concerns. During implantation we often discuss wants and needs with VPs and Officers as they pass through to check on our progress.

Decide how to breakdown your ongoing jobs - are they monthly recurring or annual broken into chunks? What are you going to give clients i.e. how will your proposals and invoices look?

Incentivized

We researched other software companies but none provided the depth of support and knowledge that HCSS brought to the table. HCSS is also always growing and listening to its customers. Customer support seems to remain the backbone of the company that is always striving to grow with the industry.

I'm not sure if it was by Ascentis or not, and it may have been an old version, but we used a program called Timekeeper. It was very outdated, difficult to use, and didn't provide easily producible reports. WorkflowMax is infinitely better to use for our business.

Incentivized

• Because of the codebooks (bid item codebook for DOT's specifically), we're able to carve off significant time in "stick-building" estimates
• It's very easy to train newer estimators with HeavyBid due to the abundance of resources available on HCSS Academy and elsewhere (i.e. Arthur Nix's material)
• The KPI's and Insights that Pre-Con offers helps us to make better decisions on Bid Day.

Incentivized

• The time the company saves by using employees efficiently on each project makes the purchase of this software worthwhile. You can clearly verify how much time the staff spends on each project, with each client, and you can compare whether it is profitable or not the hours invested, thus increasing your profits.

Incentivized