Tool Users Love Procore -- How to Build Operational Excellence
February 09, 2019
Tool Users Love Procore -- How to Build Operational Excellence
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Modules Used
- Project Management
- Quality & Safety
- Construction Financials
- Field Productivity
Overall Satisfaction with Procore
My organization uses Procore to record all aspects of a project throughout its lifecycle across all departments. Collecting all the paperwork, conversations, and details of a construction project can turn into a tornado of information. How do you find one piece of paper or one conversation thread later? Once you find it, who was involved and how can you contact them? Having organized information with strong search capabilities cuts down the time it takes to find a time-critical answer.
- Photos Log. The photo galleries are easy to document progress, incidents, and a continuous before and after sequence. It is like a yearbook for the project and it is gratifying to see all the progress.
- Directory. The directory is the who's who for all our projects. It helps update information once and have it right on all the projects. Since people can look up the numbers themselves in the field, I spend less time reciting phone numbers.
- Drawings. I can upload all the drawings in a batch and keep track of revisions for easy admin. In the field, zooming in on a backlit tablet takes care of "can't see it" complaints in poor light conditions and lost reading glasses.
- Change Orders. Finally, the whole workflow ends up in one place. Email and attachments are in Procore tied to one change order instead of stuck in a remote laptop's email.
- Locations and QR codes. Existing signage hardly ever matches the original drawings. Creating temporary door signs to match the drawings seemed to help communication and reduce confusion. I couldn't help but add the Procore Location QR codes to the signs since the tech was so cool. Scanning the code with your phone/tablet automatically picks the location to make entering new items into a punch list easier.
- Updates. Procore has a feature wish list. They are really good about rolling out new features. They also roll out features so service isn't interrupted for a long time or in prime work time. This is why I like cloud-based apps. My software is always current with the newest features for the same price.
- Financials. This one has a bit of room for improvement. If you are really good at clicking on things and like layers of detail, you would enjoy this. I set it up for a minimum amount of detail but still needed to keep a bullet journal to stay in the flow. If you need to reverse a transaction or fix a mistake, you need to unravel all the way back to the error and recreate it to current. Once you have your flow figured out, it is worth considering a customization project to avoid some of the chaos.
- Email notifications. This feature works almost too well. When you are setting up your workflow notifications, use email notification sparingly or aggregate it. The system will flood people's email if all the workflow is flagged to email updates in real time. This isn't obvious if you haven't used Procore before.
- Mobile app for admin users. The mobile app is designed for field work but if you need to administer the Procore system, you need to use the browser version. This is a hard one to work around in poor internet/cellular service locations since you need connectivity to admin the system. (Sounds like a wish list item.)
We looked at Sage 100 Contractor but it was still developing the features and integrations we needed. Procore had them in production already.
Having an unlimited number of users allows us to have everyone involved in a workflow participate in Procore. I can invite a person, have them log in, test their permissions by seeing the right items, and then make any adjustments to their access in about 15 minutes. They can get right to the job at hand and submit pricing or a submittal immediately.
The workflow handoffs are great for knowing who to call to get any stuck process moving again. At the start of a project, one of our architects was "ball-in-court" for a number of items lagging behind. When I called, I found out that they were new to Procore and needed some one-on-one training. After about 5 to 10 minutes of Q&A, all the items were back on track. This is huge because spending 5 to 10 minutes right away keeps delays from escalating to days or weeks.
The workflow handoffs are great for knowing who to call to get any stuck process moving again. At the start of a project, one of our architects was "ball-in-court" for a number of items lagging behind. When I called, I found out that they were new to Procore and needed some one-on-one training. After about 5 to 10 minutes of Q&A, all the items were back on track. This is huge because spending 5 to 10 minutes right away keeps delays from escalating to days or weeks.
- We are still implementing Procore and integrating into our processes. With even a partial implementation, we have saved time with the change order management system, and increased efficiency with the mobile app with daily logs, photos and drawings.
- Gain visibility into projects
- Ensure information is accessible and up to date
- Document job site conditions
- Track cost impacts from the field
- Project Management. RFIs, Submittals, Specifications, Drawings, and Emails, help keep our project documentation and communications up to date
- Quality & Safety. Daily logs and punch lists document the ad hoc information and status of tasks.
- Construction Financials. The Change Events and Change Orders were the most helpful to collect information and attachments throughout the approval process