Case Studies —

Driving Growth Through Data-Driven Field Reporting

Bernward Mechanical Construction Solutions, a premier provider of general and mechanical contracting services, was experiencing rapid growth in the number and scale of its projects and needed a time and resource tool to properly manage, track, and document these highly complex projects.

90%

Reduction in Processing Time Bernward has reduced overall processing time for timekeeping by over 90% with Rhumbix Timekeeping.

4x

Time Cards Submissions Time card submissions quadrupled since implementing Rhumbix while overall processing time has steadily reduced.

10%+

Additional T&M Value Captured With better documentation via Rhumbix T&M, Bernward has increased their average compensation returns on T&M by over 10%.

“We wanted to be ready to handle 100 people on a job when we only had 10. We wanted to be able to handle a 1000 people on a project when we were at 100. We knew we needed to implement a reporting system that would enable us to grow to new levels.”

Man in hard hat

CARL NEIMEYER

President

About Bernward Construction

Founded in 2016 as a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOSB), Bernward has quickly transformed from a small contracting team into a highly-skilled mechanical and interiors business capable of delivering multi-million dollar projects for large-scale federal, hospital, and pharmaceutical clients.

The Challenge

As the size and project count continued to increase for Bernward, the company’s initial systems for critical project reporting quickly became inefficient and ineffective. Much of the field reporting was still being captured on the “back of envelopes,” requiring project managers to assemble spreadsheets from random slips of papers, text messages, and emails in order to gain visibility into project hours and change order work. The Bernward team realized their ability to deliver successful, profitable projects was being threatened by reporting delays, errors, and omissions.

One significant problem facing Bernward was the increasingly strict contract requirements that came with these new large-scale projects. Many general contractors required time and material (T&M) tickets to be submitted within 48 hours of work completion. Documenting this work on paper meant that valuable tickets were in reporting limbo, often sitting in a foreman’s vehicle waiting to be handed off during this critical time. Even when timecards or T&M tickets were submitted, many required significant back-and-forth in order to discern the information and its accuracy. With no easy way to track the hours and work being done on a project in a timely manner, Bernward was faced with either increasing their personnel and overhead costs or implementing a more innovative field reporting solution.

Early in our contracting business, we realized we had been shorted somewhere around $100,000 on easily traceable and identifiable change orders. We were a young company, and didn’t realize just how critical properly tracking that type of out-of-scope work would be. It was a $100,000 hit to the bottom line. We obviously learned the importance of properly tracking T&M work very quickly.

The Solution

Bernward knew that accurate, real time data was a critical part of solving their field reporting and processing issues. Both Timekeeping and Time & Materials Tracking were requiring significant administrative time from the field and home office. Streamlining these workflows meant simplifying how they captured, managed, and processed their field reports. While the Bernward team was determined to digitize these workflows, they knew ease-of-use was a critical component for a successful implementation. Bernward had faced an uphill battle with an ERP system and had no interest in a long, drawn-out implementation.

After a detailed evaluation process, Rhumbix was selected as the clear solution for both Bernward’s Timekeeping and Time & Material Tracking. The Rhumbix Field Data Platform delivered on crucial business needs—rapid implementation, intuitive design, cloud-based submissions, centralized reporting, and scalable workflows.

Implementation

Bernward knew that strong adoption in the field was critical for success, and a simple, easy-to-use tool was essential to ensuring usage by their foremen. Bernward quickly saw how easy the Rhumbix training process was even for seasoned construction veterans who were typically resistant to new technology.

We knew it would be a game changer. I’m looking at a ticket right now that was for a floor hatch install to an underground tunnel that was not in the drawings. It’s 24 hours of straight time work for my guys. Sure it’s just a few grand of work that was submitted today, but that adds up on projects like these. The fact that I can see it right now, know it’s accounted for, and know it won’t get lost anywhere in the process is huge for us.

The Results

For Bernward, the time savings and increased visibility from the Rhumbix Timekeeping and Time & Material Tracking have been game-changing. Multi-day report assembling and timekeeping processing are completed start-to-finish in the same morning with a nearly 90% reduction in the total time it takes to complete payroll. Even as the amount of Timekeeping for Bernward has grown by nearly 400% in the last year, the amount of time required continues to decrease.

As for Time & Materials Tracking, Bernward has seen massive gains in their real time visibility. The team no longer is concerned about lost tickets or cost exposures surprises that could drastically affect the bottom line. The better documentation means Bernward is seeing stronger compensation numbers and fewer omissions for its out-of-scope work.

We know that we at Bernward are moving on to other bigger projects with our clients because we have proven we have the systems that can handle bigger, smaller, same size, you-name-it projects without question. Rhumbix has been a huge part of making that happen.

Get Started with Rhumbix

Simplify even the most complex field reporting and approval processes to save your team critical work hours every week. With our industry-leading mobile app, field and project teams effortlessly capture, share, and connect all their reporting in one place. Rhumbix delivers the features and flexibility needed to streamline your field workflows and enable real-time data insights from time tracking to out-of-scope reporting.

The Rhumbix T&M tool has allowed us to not worry about the overhead required to track the out-of-scope hours. We are able to gather and submit bills quickly. For us to be able to say we worked 7000 hours this week, to have documented the exact details of the work, and easily provide report back to the client with a bill in three days clearly showing the hours and materials— that’s the game-changer. That process right there was a week’s worth of overhead that we can do in about two days with Rhumbix.

Get started with Rhumbix today.

Spend less time reporting and more time delivering better projects. From time-savings to real-time production insights, see why leading construction teams build on Rhumbix