How ProEst helped a tech-savvy contractor boost efficiency and collaboration.
As early champions of off-site construction, Vantis is betting that their cost-effective approach will continue to gain traction with their general contractor partners and end-user clientele. But with just 28 employees and ongoing projects in different locations, they also recognized the need for a better way to collaborate and connect with multi-trade subcontractors and each other. Wallace Perkins, Director of Operations since 2017, was convinced that technology was a vital part of the solution, and knew that their existing estimating process— Excel spreadsheets and manual calculations—wasn’t a fit for their needs.
By adding robust ProEst capabilities and hon- ing the skills of Vantis estimators through the ProEst training program, Vantis saw a sizable jump in the number of estimates the company was able to complete – as much, says Perkins, as 30-40%. Equally important, says Perkins, ProEst has boosted productivity, giving Vantis the ability to have more than one estimator work on each of their estimates. “By using ProEst,” he said, “we are able to expand our reach and get more people involved. Now, we can produce more estimates and get bids out quicker, instead of having a bottleneck with just one or two customers.”
Perkins also cites a new ability to collaborate in real time and get live status updates from virtually anywhere—a significant advantage for a company whose employees are spread out across the state and often work remotely. With ProEst,” he said “you can work from anywhere. You don’t have to be on the company network.” That’s the kind of flexibility Vantis employees didn’t have before—and aren’t willing to give up. When asked if the company could make the switch back to doing estimates manually, Per- kins put it this way: “No way. No chance.”
One of the biggest advantages of using ProEst is access to real-time data; that and the flexibility it gives our team."
With the implementation of ProEst, Vantis plans to more than double their annual revenue—from a current level of $15 million to over $40 million in the next 3-5 years. To a large degree, says Perkins, that will be possible because of their new ability to create and submit more estimates, all with the kind of accuracy that will help eliminate costly estimating errors. For Perkins and the rest of the Vantis team, ProEst has been a pre-construction game-changer. “Compared to what we have today with ProEst, I never want to go back.”
