Item: Procore
Rating: 9
Author: Joan Schleinkofer

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Procore is used by JMB once a project moves out of the estimating phase and into the construction phase. We have not yet used Procure during the bid process, although we did purchase the bidding module and plan to utilize it in the near future.

The ability of our on-site staff to easily view electronic plans and specifications has so far been the biggest business problem Procore has addressed.

Pros and Cons

Viewing and management of plans and specifications.
Financial tools.
Tracking of outstanding insurance and subcontracts/purchase orders.
Daily manpower reports.

Text entered in PCO's needs to populate/move over when moving from PCO to CCO.
Could improve on the need to remove a contact and re-enter when they change their email address.
Problems arise when a contact company shares one email address with all staff.
There's a problem when a contact company has multiple company entity names with the same staff/email. For instance, Smith Construction and Jones Construction are owned by the same people with the same staff. If Joe Smith is already entered in the directory with email jsmith@smithconstruction.com, I am unable to enter him as a contact under Jones Construction with the same name/email.

Collaboration Benefits

We have started to allow access externally but on a very limited basis. Full access is provided to our internal staff whether they be in the office or field-based. However, we are taking baby steps in implementing access to owners, architects, and subcontractors/suppliers. We need to be 100% comfortable with the Procore system and its use to ensure will do not allow external users access to items we feel should remain internal. We understand that until we fully implement the external collaboration of a project, we will not see the full benefit of the Procore system.

Return on Investment

Increased efficiency, in particular with the field-staff.
Increased cost.

Goals with Procore

Gain visibility into projects
Ensure information is accessible and up to date
Document job site conditions
Report on incidents and inspections
Identify job site risks
Streamline financial reporting
Improve forecast accuracy

The budget module makes it easy to change the forecast from auto to manual.
Daily reports provide areas to report on specific job site conditions and report incidents, inspections, visitors, etc.
Our ERP integration between Procore and Sage allows streamlined financial reporting.

Ease of Integration

We had a hard time when first utilizing Procore. There was miscommunication as to what information could be brought over from our old system (Contract Manager) and what could not, which created problems. Training was not sufficient, as we were relying on videos and articles rather than real people familiar with the system. No one took enough time to get to know our company and our processes in order to mold the system to meet our needs. Early stages of phone customer support left much to be desired. Each time we called with a question or concern, we were put on hold for extended periods while the rep researched the question and then the answer--there were no end users of the product, which lead to wasted time on both ends. That has tremendously improved in the last year, and customer service is now very knowledgeable and it is obvious they are familiar with the product they represent.

Likelihood to Recommend

Procore is an excellent tool for field staff who can now view, enlarge, and/or mark-up plans and specifications easily in the field. They also now have the ability to view approved product data and/or shop drawings via Procore. Weather auto-populating in manpower reports is also a plus. It's a great tool for field staff all around.

Project Management Software at its Finest!

Modules Used

Overall Satisfaction with Procore