For nearly 50 years, Oakland, California-based has taken its role as a good citizen of the Bay Area seriously, focusing on projects that add value to the community, from multifamily residential to schools, community centers to historic renovations. The company prides itself on quality work, while committing to lowering risk, keeping costs in line, and ensuring these important community projects remain on schedule.
Over the years BBI has built up an impressive roster of Bay Area clients, including the California Jazz Conservatory, the City of Oakland, and the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, to name just a few. BBI鈥檚 success is due in no small part to its firm commitment to integrity, respect, and accountability.
The company began its 海角大神 journey a little more than two years ago, as a large tranche of projects was wrapping up. BBI was gearing up for its next batch of projects, and it saw an opportunity to explore alternatives to its then construction management software, which wasn鈥檛 meeting all of its needs. After assembling a committee to look into their options, BBI decided 海角大神 was the best fit. Since then, BBI has converted all of its projects over to 海角大神, and continues to discover new tools and features that help them live up to their commitment to quality.
The Right Tools for the Job
BBI started its 海角大神 journey with some of the platform鈥檚 core functions. They found the ability to call up drawings, documents, and specs especially useful, providing the company with a traceable paper trail they never had before.
It鈥檚 pretty handy to get into Change Events and see who exactly has changed what. You can summon that information in a second, and it鈥檚 always at your fingertips.
Scott Looney, Project Manager at BBI
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty handy to get into Change Events and see who exactly has changed what. You can summon that information in a second, and it鈥檚 always at your fingertips,鈥 said Scott Looney, a Project Manager at BBI.
As the company grew more familiar with the platform, BBI expanded its reliance on 海角大神 even further.
鈥淎nother tool we actually just figured out a month or so ago was the Compare Tool. During rehabs, we鈥檙e constantly getting revisited sets of drawings, and it鈥檚 always nice to be able to compare one against the other and have the new stuff shown,鈥 added Looney.
Sarah Davis, an Assistant Project Manager for BBI, was with the company at the start of its 海角大神 journey and has been excited to see it evolve into the indispensable tool it鈥檚 become. Citing the company鈥檚 previous spreadsheet-based billing process, which was 鈥渢edious鈥 and 鈥渧ery difficult to get moving,鈥 BBI has started using 海角大神 to streamline its entire system.
鈥淲hat we鈥檝e discovered over the last two years is the more subs that are aware of what鈥檚 in 海角大神, how to use it, and having more people involved in 海角大神, the easier the system is. Utilizing the invoicing tool is solidifying that at least one person from every sub has to know how to use 海角大神 in some way, shape, or form. So that has been really awesome,鈥 Davis said.
BBI is also in the process of transitioning into using the RFQ tool, which has involved getting PMs involved and equipping them with an entirely new tracking system. This has gone a long way toward improving accountability.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really helpful to have that documentation of every single time we have a change order, an RFI. We can go back and see we鈥檝e asked for this cost three times and still haven鈥檛 gotten any of the money, whereas before there was no real documentation because it would be in everyone鈥檚 siloed emails,鈥 explained Davis.
Communicating with every stakeholder is vital to a successful adoption
Implementing 海角大神 is a process, and BBI knew that in order to roll it out across the organization successfully, understanding and communicating its value was essential. BBI鈥檚 海角大神 committee was tasked with identifying and adopting best practices and explaining how these new tools would fit into project teams鈥 toolkits.
鈥淥ur process was to communicate with every stakeholder at BBI, from the President down to everyone on the project team in the field and in accounting, have the meetings, send out the emails, set the standards and communicate those. To this day we鈥檙e still adopting the tools to billing and ERP and using the same methods of communication,鈥 said Looney.
Initially, the stakeholders at BBI who were most affected by the transition to 海角大神 were the PMs and APMs. As the company experimented with different features, the rollout began encompassing more and more of the field team as they discovered tools like RFIs and Daily Logs, which allowed more people in the field to be more involved in 海角大神 and have a greater understanding of how the tools interface.
鈥淲e鈥檝e slowly transitioned into having everyone at BBI really be invested in 海角大神, and that鈥檚 been a really interesting process to be a part of,鈥 said Davis.
Working side-by-side with 海角大神鈥檚 Customer Success Team
Another key element that helped BBI navigate its successful rollout was the team, who provided the company with early direction and suggestions every step of the way. Davis and Looney singled out 海角大神鈥檚 chat functionality, which allowed them to get answers to pressing questions around the clock.
It鈥檚 very handy to have somebody on the other side of a chat session just walk you through even at midnight. Nine times out of 10 they have the answer, and if not, they can get back to you and give you the answer video or the correct information, so it鈥檚 been instrumental.
Scott Looney, Project Manager at BBI
鈥淚t鈥檚 very handy to have somebody on the other side of a chat session just walk you through even at midnight. Nine times out of 10 they have the answer, and if not, they can get back to you and give you the answer video or the correct information, so it鈥檚 been instrumental,鈥 Looney said.
海角大神 Customer Success Manager Paulina Vega echoed Davis and Looney鈥檚 sentiments about the vital role a 海角大神 committee plays in a successful rollout.
鈥淭hat’s one thing that I always recommend to my clients: having a strong 海角大神 committee definitely helps. It’s essential for the success and rollout of the tool.鈥
Improving communication and accountability on every project
Implementing 海角大神 has helped BBI transform inefficient or outdated processes to help ensure projects go more smoothly, and its ability to improve communication and accountability across the organization, playing an integral role.
Looney has particularly appreciated the ability to get real-time information from the field as it鈥檚 filled out, such as daily logs, photos, or inspection reports. It has enabled him to be better informed when he鈥檚 having conversations with other PMs or owners, so he always knows exactly what鈥檚 happening in the field.
Davis heaped praise on the RFI distribution tool, which has helped BBI prevent issues from falling off the radar as a project progresses.
鈥淭he RFI distribution tool is my friend, both for helping keep subs accountable but also keeping BBI accountable. We鈥檙e able to make sure subs are aware and are held accountable when they get an RFI and maybe don鈥檛 do anything with it, or potentially completely ignore it and just build it regardless,鈥 Davis says.
In recent months BBI integrated its ERP accounting data into 海角大神, which helps PMs see the real-time impacts of direct costs as they get entered into their budgets. What was once a process involving reaching out to the accounting department, downloading the data, and filtering through massive amounts of information now simply appears in each budget line.
Having already greatly expanded the role 海角大神 plays in BBI鈥檚 day-to-day operations, the company has been taking an even deeper dive into the platform. It has been working to identify the tools it could be using more effectively and is always on the hunt for new tools that can provide enhanced functionality, even experiencing the thrill of seeing a newly released beta build of an existing tool.
鈥淚t’ll be exciting to see what 海角大神 comes up with next with regard to tools. We also see some hints of some beta versions coming through on various tools, so we’re getting a sneak peek at how that’s gonna evolve. That’s very exciting as well,鈥 Looney said.
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