How custom software can benefit construction business?

Customer

Alpha Milling Company is a technologically advanced, specialized heavy civil
contractor that provides premier asphalt recycling, soil stabilization, and heavy haul trucking
services throughout the United States. Alpha Milling, together with its sister companies,
Midstate Reclamation & Trucking and Coughlin, delivers
full-service road and reclamation work using the most up-to-date equipment and
construction technology the industry has to offer.

Challenge

This heavy civil group comprises three construction companies using two different accounting
systems—Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate (Sage 300 CRE) and
ComputerEase—while working on multiple projects and remote sites across several
states. They needed a single, reliable way to capture field labor and equipment usage and feed
that data into both accounting platforms.

Each company had to track time with different overtime rules by company and state, then calculate
payroll with minimal user effort. Their workflow required that management approve overtime before
importing it into the accounting system. Employee work time, with various overtime rule
combinations, and equipment usage all needed to be imported into two separate accounting systems.

Previously, all data related to work hours and equipment was recorded on paper. This paper-based
method was slow and error-prone. Accounting personnel spent hours re-keying handwritten timecards
and equipment logs, and even small mistakes could have a large impact on payroll and job-cost
reporting.

The companies wanted a construction time tracking software integration—an
application used by field workers that would accurately capture labor and equipment data, apply
the right overtime rules, and aggregate everything for accounting purposes, ready to send into
Sage 300 CRE and ComputerEase with as little manual entry as
possible.

Pixis Software was chosen over other software development vendors to help the customer overcome
these challenges by developing a fully integrated solution for field employees, managers,
accountants, and administrators. The customer selected Pixis because of our expertise with
Sage 300, accounting integrations, and
web application development for construction.

Solution

The Pixis app development team—consisting of one project manager, three full-stack developers,
and one QA engineer—kicked off a project to design and implement a role-based
time tracking system for heavy civil construction. The goal was to streamline
workflows end-to-end, from the jobsite to the accounting department.

The solution was built as a mobile-responsive web application that integrates
directly with Sage 300 CRE and ComputerEase. Pixis used a two-week sprint development cycle,
committing working functionality at the end of every iteration. This agile approach allowed the
client to test features early, provide feedback, and shape the system into a customized solution
that met the needs of all three companies.

The application provides users with the appropriate access, interface, and functions based on
role:

• Field workers from each company can track their daily hours, overtime,
  equipment usage, and job information in a mobile-friendly web app—no more paper timecards.
• Supervisors and managers can review and approve aggregated time and equipment
  data, including overtime exceptions, before it is sent to accounting.
• Accounting staff can import approved data into Sage 300 CRE and ComputerEase
  in the exact formats those systems expect, keeping payroll and job-cost records accurate and
  up to date.

Behind the scenes, the application enforces the correct overtime rules by company and state,
ensuring that payroll calculations are consistent and compliant. The entire workflow is driven by
a time tracking integration with Sage 300 and ComputerEase so that what happens
in the field is reflected quickly and accurately in the books.

Results

With the new system in place, these companies—already leaders in the heavy construction industry—now
have a technological advantage that lets them focus on performance and business goals instead of
manual paperwork. Field time and equipment usage are captured once, reviewed once, and then flow
directly into their accounting systems.

Operational excellence provided by a modern, integrated construction time tracking
solution helps these companies:

• Reduce manual data entry and the risk of human error.
• Speed up payroll processing and job-cost reporting.
• Gain real-time visibility into labor and equipment across multiple states and companies.
• Standardize workflows while still respecting different overtime rules by company and state.

Technologies and Tools

• Frameworks & libraries: .NET Core 3.1, Angular 9.1, PrimeNG
• Build and deployment: Jenkins
• Database: Microsoft SQL Server
• Integrations: Synchronization with Sage 300 Construction and ComputerEase

Learn more about our

custom software development for construction and field service

and our

payroll & time integrations for Sage 300 and other construction ERPs
.