ANDRES Construction Services was founded in Dallas in 1991 by the Andres family. The tiny three-person family business has since grown to 183 employees and is in the midst of a growth spurt. Despite the growth, Andres retains family-like elements, including care for its employees and the desire to see everyone succeed.
In 2017, Andres Construction Services became 100% employee-owned. “The transition is about the long term,” says Stephen Miller, Vice President of Operations at Andres. “It drives accountability and helps us draw like-minded employees.” It also makes the company more family-like as there is an increased focus on relationships.
A focus on relationships extends to clients as well. Andres’ many repeat clients are clearly a testament to Andres’ approach.
THE CHALLENGE
Some problems are good problems.
“We have to be careful and not take on too much work,” says Miller, who describes the market as “hot.” Andres’s market niche is multi-unit housing – senior, student, and apartments- in Dallas, Austin, and Houston.
That caution comes from Andres’s desire to meet the needs of their clients. To take on more clients and continue to deliver the same quality of work, Andres is striving to increase capacity. They aim to develop processes that enable them to be more efficient and consistent.
One specific area where Andres is trying to improve is workforce management. Miller describes the construction business as “dynamic” when it comes to allocating resources. “We’re managing a number of projects, and the bulk of the people are out on projects,” said Miller. Workforce management happens daily as staffing needs are constantly changing.
Potential new projects and work in the pipeline must also be taken into consideration when it comes to workforce planning.
“We want to be confident in staffing those jobs, so, we only want to take on work we can staff appropriately and provide the best service to our clients.”
Stephen Miller, VP of Operations at Andres Construction
THE SOLUTION
For Andres, resource planning went from Microsoft Excel to Microsoft Project. The company uses both programs for other aspects of its business but found the software to be labor-intensive and a source of frustration when it came to resource planning.
With Excel, Miller says,
“We had to save multiple versions of a file, and different people would see different versions of the file. It was a struggle.”
Stephen Miller, VP of Operations at Andres Construction
So, they began looking for a different workforce planning tool. One of their criteria was a program that was easy to implement.
Andres found what they were looking for in a resource management tool in Bridgit Bench.
“Others we demoed were not construction focused and were based on short-term projects. Bridgit Bench is designed for what we do in our construction service and caters to businesses like ours.”
Stephen Miller, VP of Operations at Andres Construction
It also is continually improving and adding new functionality, which Miller and the company as a whole appreciate.
Time formerly spent on workforce management is now spent on planning. Because Bridgit Bench is more intuitive, Andres can get the most out of it.
“We’re not necessarily spending less time on workforce planning,” says Miller. “However, our time is being spent more effectively and efficiently.”
The use of the resource management tool is helping Andres reach its end goal of increasing its capacity to serve clients. However, Andres is methodical in their quest to grow capacity. While some companies may say yes to every opportunity that arises and over-commit, Andres is focused on growing in a thoughtful strategic manner.
Andres views their people as their greatest asset and is careful in how they allocate staff. Therefore, Miller says, “We need to be mindful of how we allocate our employees across the projects we have.” Bridgit Bench helps Andres better visualize and understand the location of each staff member if they are available, and if they are overcommitted.
“Bridgit Bench enables us to be much more organized and systematic in how we plan our resources. It’s an integral tool that helps us be smart in our growth.”
Stephen Miller, VP of Operations at Andres Construction
Client perceptions are also integral to Andres. The company has a reputation as a problem solver and good collaborator. “We want everyone on the team and all the stakeholders to be successful,” says Miller.
And, there’s the family-like quality again. Having a workforce management tool geared toward construction companies allows Andres Construction Services to look out for its clients while ensuring employees are used to their fullest capacity.
Sounds like a recipe for more growth.
