B2W Software has launched a new scheduling solution that allows contractors to collaboratively place employees and heavy equipment.
B2W Schedule centralizes resource planning, scheduling and dispatching processes and moves the tasks online to allow real-time collaboration.
“Success in every construction sector hinges on people, material and equipment. The fourth asset that is often overlooked is data,” said Greg Norris, B2W’s marketing director. “The interconnectivity of these assets is key to operating successfully.”
B2W Schedule allows users across workflows to assign and view crews, labour, equipment and material resources on desktop or mobile devices.
The schedule is customizable with single-day, multi-day or multi-week views.
“In designing this element, we knew we needed to bring in a multi-day view so that you can see and plan your resources assignments,” said Mark Hooks, senior solutions engineer at B2W.
“A single day on the screen can be limiting. You can see your schedules for a day or up to two weeks, at a glance.”
As well, individual users are able to manage scheduling based on their areas of responsibility — from scheduling crews and setting daily production targets, to placing equipment at its required jobsite.
“As you create these different schedules, there’s a lot of security parameters in the backend,” Hooks said.
“These limits who creates, views and uses each schedule. You can have as many different schedules or schedule views as you want.”
B2W Schedule is designed to replace the mix of whiteboards, spreadsheets, phone calls and other offline tools commonly used by heavy construction contractors for resource scheduling and dispatching.
“When you’re relying on white boards or phone calls its difficult to get accurate up to date information,” Norris said.
The new tool enhances B2W’s ONE Platform, which also includes unified elements for estimating, field tracking, equipment maintenance and data capture and analysis.
“Coordinating so many moving pieces over time, across job sites and in dynamic conditions, may be the most critical challenge heavy construction contractors face in keeping projects on budget and on schedule,” said Paul McKeon, CEO and founder of B2W Software.
“The unique advantage with B2W Schedule is that it connects stakeholders throughout an enterprise, including field users, in real time and empowers them to optimize resources by seeing and managing the schedule collaboratively.”
B2W Software also includes:
- Quick navigation between past, current and future dates.
- A map view that incorporates GPS and telematics data to validate location.
- The ability to identify resource needs and conflicts.
- A move planner view to efficiently manage equipment moves and notify internal and external resources via text message or email.