Not many businesses can say they’ve been around for over a century. Teichert, one of the oldest and most respected companies in California, has thrived as a family-owned and operated construction contractor since 1887, and much of its success can be credited to its early adoption of technology to streamline their operations.
Over the years, Teichert has partnered with HCSS to implement six different software solutions to manage each aspect of its business. Three Teichert employees–David Barnett, Director of IT, Robert Lucchesi, Director of Safety and Development, and Terrence McNamara, Equipment Superintendent–share how the easy-to-use software has empowered employees in the field, office, and shop to improve efficiency, safety, and decision-making.
Operations management software that “helps our foremen make money”
“HCSS HeavyJob gives our foremen visibility into real-time costing,” Barnett says. “They have visibility into what they and/or other foremen have done on a particular part of a job. You know exactly where you are and what needs to be done. HCSS gives our foremen visibility into projects that helps them make money. And making money is essential. At the end of the day, you need to be profitable to continue to employ people, to continue to do work.”
Safety software for building a “Zero-Injury Culture”
“HCSS Safety is very user-friendly,” Lucchesi says. “Out in the field, our people have it on their iPads. The application puts everything they need for their safety efforts and trainings at the fingertips of the guys that are at the tip of the spear–our foremen and superintendents in the field.”
“If there’s an incident, or if a potential danger to crews is identified, we want to get the information out to everybody as soon as possible,” McNamara says. “We use HCSS Safety to broadcast what we call a workforce alert to make sure everybody’s aware of the issue and how to prevent it.”
“When it comes to safety, we want to stay ahead of the curve,” McNamara continues. “HCSS Safety is a tool that helps our employees be more proactive than reactive.”
Dispatching software that lowers cost through greater visibility
“The ability to easily see where your resources are is definitely key to lowering the cost, including the amount of money you spend on rental equipment,” Barnett says. “You want to get high utilization of your own equipment. The visibility we get through HCSS Dispatcher into what we have in use and where it is, has proven key to helping us maximize the efficiency of how we use the equipment we own, as well as what we rent.”
Equipment maintenance software for improving efficiency and reporting
“Before deploying Equipment360, we had a work order system, but it only ran on our computer, which meant our mechanics didn’t have remote access to our order system. This made it inconvenient for our mechanics who had to come into the shop at the beginning and end of the day, even if it meant driving past their job site,” McNamara says. “We are getting better reports–documented, detailed information–because they are doing them in the field instead of at the end of the day.”
“One big advantage of Equipment360 is that the mechanic in the field now has warranty information at their fingertips,” says McNamara. “This means when they are out in the field and start working on something that’s potentially a warranty issue, they can immediately see the complete warranty information for that piece of equipment, which is something they might not have known in the past. Knowing something is covered by a warranty saves us the cost of repairing it ourselves.”
Fuel monitoring software that’s integrated with a suite and always at the ready
“We used to have a fuel monitoring tool that looked like a scanning gun you might see in a grocery store,” McNamara says. “This meant our people had to carry along a separate piece of equipment, and the devices were expensive. With FuelerPlus, we just throw it on an iPhone, so it is always there.
Estimating software that integrates well beyond the bid
“When we started looking for a new estimating software, we evaluated a number of products and HCSS was the overwhelming choice,” Barnett says. “We chose it not only because it was a great estimating software, but we also liked the connectivity that it provided to the field software. We valued the way HeavyBid made it easy to get estimator notes, crew builds, things of that nature out into the field, so our people could understand what the estimator was thinking when he put the estimate together. That was a big deal for us.”
Teichert continues to expand its partnership with HCSS, and is currently assessing HCSS Trucking, a mobile and web app that can help eliminate paper truck tickets, tedious reconciliation, and remove fraud from the trucking process. The HCSS tools in their toolbox continue to adapt and improve over time to better ensure their success.
“What HCSS brings to the table is they’ve got good leadership, good management, and they want to support people in this industry. It’s important to them. They believe in it. HCSS is more than just a vendor,” David Barnett, Director of IT at Teichert, says. “They’re a partner.”
