The Challenge
As Pomerleau began a P3 project that involved two separate cycles with shop drawings and submittals, it became apparent that their old data management system just didn’t cut it. Having already considered a change for some time, it became a priority to migrate onto a system that could handle everything. The company wanted a collaborative platform that would allow all stakeholders access to the most current information.
The Solution
After sifting through many solutions available on the market, Pomerleau realized that Procore had a strong showing in many of the project areas, making it the best choice for a centralized global system. Procore’s intuitive interface, which facilitates quick adoption, sealed the deal.
“One thing we really like about Procore is that it covers a lot of dimensions of the projects.”
Daniel Gagne
It Development Coordinator
Over 50 years old, and always looking to the future
Pomerleau is a leader in Canada’s construction history, with projects in civil, institutional, and multi-dwelling residential building. As a company, it knows how to take complex projects and distill them down to bite-sized chunks to get stuff done right.
It has never shied away from the technological revolution, either. In fact, it’s been a heavy adopter of software products for everything from drawings to communications. So when the company realized it was crossing wires, dealing with platform after platform after platform, it knew it could do better.
"There were a lot of follow-ups to do," said Daniel Gagné, IT development coordinator at Pomerleau. "We had to give paper reports, we had to send emails for reminders, we had a lot of questions coming up from different parties asking, ‘where was this thing’ or, ‘what was happening with that.’ A large part of a few roles was just entering the information and ensuring everyone had the right information on the job site. It was time consuming."
Jeremie Poirier, a project manager at Pomerleau, said that it was a puzzle to manage all login information, since RFIs progress pictures, documents, drawings, and even the project contact information had been all stored on separate software systems
Time to Consolidate and Collaborate
That’s when Gagné knew it was time to make large-scale digital transformation. The company was looking for a solution to centralize the data or minimize the number of platforms it had been using, he explained. All in all, the company wished to increase collaboration.
While other solutions had their strengths, Procore outshone all of them as it could bring all different departments into a single system.
"When we evaluated our options for having a centralized global platform, it was the one on the market that filled our needs” Gagné said.
Still, switching software wasn’t going to be easy. That’s why Pomerleau began a gradual implementation plan, moving projects to Procore one after another so that knowledge of the system would spread throughout the team naturally. The goal is to have 90–95 percent of all jobs on Procore by the end of 2021.
The Best is Yet to Come
Even though implementation is an ongoing process, Pomerleau is already reaping the benefits of the switch.
"A lot of time has been saved. We’re able to work faster and more productively," Gagné said. He’s confident as the entire company is taking a digital turn and the team learns all of the features Procore has, the benefits, as well as the ROI, will be even greater.
"My only complaint is that we didn’t evolve to Procore sooner for project management!" said Sharon Moulton, senior project administrative assistant at Pomerleau. "There was double-saving of files and attaching files in a specific software and the project tree, which was into a second software, which was not an optimal use of my time." She’s encouraging team members to send attachments through Procore’s documents tool, so that everyone can see who has sent, received, and read each one. Submitting RFIs and submittals in the project tree is no longer necessary, since distribution lists and workflow templates make it easy to ensure all stakeholders can see the ball in court at any time.
Increased collaboration has also been a game-changer at Pomerleau. "One thing we really like about Procore is that it covers a lot of dimensions of the projects," explained Gagné. "While we’re mostly using it for project management, it can be used for quality, safety, environment, and financials as well."
Poirier said Procore had simplified some of the most basic daily tasks like distributing meeting minutes.
"The process we were using for meeting minutes was so strenuous and time consuming," he said. It began with handwritten notes and continued with multiple drafts of the minutes passing back and forth between him and his administrative assistant. "Now, I’m doing the meeting minutes live during the meeting, and I click ‘distribute’ at the end of the meeting. Just that one thing, when you have three or four meetings every week, saves a lot of time."
