Integration key to lean construction
By Amanda J. Lamela
North Carolina Construction News
special feature
During the Great Recession of
the late 2000s and early 2010s, con-
struction companies realized in
order to survive, they would have to
get lean. Not as well-known as lean
manufacturing, lean construction
also involves managing and improv-
ing processes with minimum cost
and maximum value by focusing on
customer needs and sustained prof-
itability. The digital revolution has helped
the construction industry catch up
with other industries in producing a
lean workflow. But as with any new
business concept, adoption can be
slow while some people remain
married to their longtime business
processes. “For many family-run construc-
tion companies, changing business
processes doesn’t happen
overnight,” said Tim Lambert, the
director of specialized industries at
Practical Software Solutions. “Multi-
generational companies sometimes
have a hard time of letting go of
‘the way Grandma kept the books’
because for the longest time, it
worked.” While the concept of industry-fo-
cused software is not new, the idea
of having an integrated, construc-
tion-specific software suite is new
to the industry.

“When trying to get lean, integra-
tion is the key,” Lambert said.

“While software itself can help with
calculations, measurements, and
collecting data, automation truly
comes when programs directly con-
nect with each other.”
While many software products
will be advertised as “integrated
with” construction software, Lam-
bert said it often means the two
products may work together, but
there’s no formal connection.

“‘Works with’ and ‘integrated
with’ are not the same thing,” he
6 — JAN/FEB 2020 — The North Carolina Construction News
said. “Integration almost always
means the source code is shared
between the parties so a true con-
nection is bridged between two
products. If you’re uploading or
rekeying in data from one program
to another, that’s not an integra-
tion.” According to Lambert, any time a
person interacts with the software,
it increases the chance that errors
will join the equation.

“It’s not just the points where
there’s data entry, which obviously
opens the door for everything from
spelling errors to transposed dig-
its,” he said. “Every point where a
person needs to download data
from one program and re-upload it
into another adds another touch-
point for errors to creep in. This is
why a true integration is so impor-
tant.” Season West, the CFO at Harker
in Charlotte, said switching to Sage
100 Contractor “tremendously”
helped their company get lean. She
first noticed the difference during
the first check run she made after
the implementation.

“It saved as 4 1/2, 5 hours a
week or more to be able to run our
lien waivers through the system in-
stead of check runs,” she said. “It
only takes us 30 minutes to an hour
now.” West said payroll is “a piece of
cake” now she doesn’t have to dou-
ble-enter data. With an Atrix e-file
connection, she had the company’s
W-2s distributed on Jan. 2. “It’s so
easy because everything’s in Sage
and all I have to do is click a but-
ton.” Having a reliable software part-
ner helped Harker become more
self-sufficient, she said, which also
lent to a leaner workflow.

“Tim Lambert taught me how to
create my own reports to make the
software run to our advantage,”
West said. “Now the CEO and
Owner change orders run through
Sage. This helped the construction
side get in to Sage and out of
Excel.” Mobile workforce
needs integration too
In the past few years, mobile
technology for the construction in-
dustry has evolved from just being
able to receive calls, texts and e-
mails while on the job site. But just
like any other program mobile tech-
nology must integrate with the soft-
ware back in the office in order to
provide a lean workflow.

Lambert said it wasn’t long ago
when construction-specific mobile
applications were available to use in
the field, but they required to be
brought back to the office and up-
loaded into the system.

“If there’s any extra steps in-
volved, there’s the chance of some-
thing happening,” he said. “What if
the mobile phone is lost, crushed,
or dropped in water before return-
ing back to the office?”
While some apps and mobile
products still rely on a manual con-
nection, products like Sage Con-
struction Project Center are directly
integrated with Sage 100 Contractor
and Sage 300 Construction and
Real Estate, Lambert said. These
mobile solutions allow service tech-
nicians, field technicians, superin-
tendents, project managers, office
staff and even customers to have
instantaneous access to data from
the main construction software
suite. “To put it another way, you get a
single source of truth,” he said.

“Apps and mobile solutions like
these are leading the way when it
comes to lean construction. Nightly
data syncs or administrative post-
ings are a thing of the past. They
also highlight the two of the most
important attributes of lean con-
struction: improved customer serv-
ice and sustainable profitability.”



Poettker Construction achieves
record-breaking revenue in 2019
Company makes impact in Midwest and Southeast
regions heading into 40 th anniversary year
North Carolina Construction News special feature
Poettker Construction Company
has much to celebrate heading into
the new decade. The second-gener-
ation family-owned construction
company says it has surpassed
2019 projections and increased its
revenue by a record-breaking 30
percent over the prior year.

“What a tremendous way to end
the year for our company,” presi-
dent Keith Poettker said in a state-
ment.“We’re very proud of our
culture, along with our talented pro-
fessionals and the strong relation-
ships we have with both our clients,
business partners and trade con-
tractors. The celebration of Poet-
tker’s 40th year in business this year
is truly arriving at the perfect time.”
Several company milestones and
a diverse portfolio of projects from
both recurring and new clients pro-
pelled Poettker to achieve this rev-
enue milestone in 2019. The
company enhanced its team, hiring
more than 30 employees in the
fields of construction management,
site supervision and support roles.

Poettker also saw a 40 percent in-
crease in manhours this past year
alone, earning the company a safety
award for outstanding performance
in the 300,000+ manhour category.

Left to Right: Tom Albers, Vice President Field Operations; Jon Carroll, Vice President Project Management; Keith
Poettker, President; Charles (Chuck) Poettker, Chairman & CEO; Kimberly Luitjohan, Vice President Finance; Ryan
Poettker, Executive Vice President & Chief Operations Officer; Kevin Poettker, Director of Business Development.

Last year, to better serve its
clients nationally and help support
the growth of its team, Poettker
opened its new 40,000-sq. ft. head-
quarters in Breese, IL. and a South-
east regional office in Charlotte.

Along with the expansion in the
Midwest and Southeast came sev-
eral strategic promotions for the
multi-generation construction firm,
including the appointments of Ryan
Poettker to executive vice-president
and chief operations officer, and Jon
Carroll to vice-president project
management. Named a U.S. Top 25 Best Ware-
house Construction Contractor and
ENR Midwest/Southeast Regional
AFRC Consolidated Mission Complex project that wrapped up in Robins AFB, Georgia last year.

Top Contractor, Poettker is currently
working on projects across the
United States for returning clients
including Ameren; Planet Fitness;
the University of Illinois; Depart-
ment of Defense agencies; and vari-
ous national commercial retailers.

The addition of new hospitality pro-
jects in St. Louis, Mo. and $50 mil-
lion in education projects in Illinois,
as well as regional market growth in
the commercial, distribution, fed-
eral, retail and mixed-use sectors in
2019, positioned Poettker for contin-
ued success as the company will
celebrate its 40th year in business in
2020. The North Carolina Construction News — JAN/FEB 2020 — 7