BLUEPRINT: RENCON

THE EFFICIENCY EQUATION
The Building Partner
Rencon

+ Surveying the Project
Rencon had grown into a full-service construction company, specializing in commercial, residential, and multi-family properties. They had an old DOS-based scheduling system which had an unreliable, inflexible custom integration with Quickbooks. Data between the two systems was not always in sync so a lot of effort was expended to review hard copy source documents.

+ Drafting the Blueprint
Rencon needed an integrated real-time system, a less cumbersome job scheduler, and the ability to produce financial reporting by department given the additional service offerings. They also needed more detailed invoicing to provide their customers with the necessary information to prevent payment delays. For comprehensive construction projects, budgets and costing by jobs were necessary to provide accurate tracking.

+The Architecture: Microsoft Building Blocks
After searching for a new business management system, Rencon selected Microsoft Navision on a SQL server for its ease of modification and flexibility to re-create the necessary job scheduling functionality. Data integration is real-time in Navision so data exports were no longer necessary.

+ The Rand Group Expertise
The Rand Group (TRG) designed a custom user-friendly job scheduling system with the ability to assign resources so any rework trends could be readily identified. Standard pricing for different services and materials were established for each customer so any manual mistakes would be avoided. An inventory system was also implemented to track materials and supplies used by employees and contractors, thus calculating the necessary amounts to be deducted from paychecks.

= Measurable Results
The previously redundant checking system between the DOS scheduling system and the financial system was eliminated. Additional detail for customer invoices was provided and gave not only their customers the needed information, but made internal review a much simpler task. Further, the wages paid to outside contractors was readily determined. TRG was able to accommodate the business requirements for both Rencon construction projects and daily jobs for resurfacing, refinishing, painting, and rehabs.