agcXML Reboot Fuels Optimism for Software Interoperability

agcXML was designed to enable the reliable exchange of transactional data involved in a typical construction project including submittals, RFIs (requests for information), payment data, and addenda.

Penta Technologies has supported this initiative since it was launched in 2009. ConstrucTech provided an update on recent developments with agcXML.  Read the Article.

How One Company Found the Path to Paperless Operations

Ajax's Penta software keeps up with changes in the documentation and as construction progress is verified, helps with paying subs. 

"The advantage is that I can be anywhere and have access to those files, go in, work on them, save them, then at night it's backed up," Crow said. Turnaround times on document revisions are now a couple of hours instead of several days.

Ajax figures that it saved 1,000 pounds of paper during the Hough Hall project, which was completed in the summer of 2010. The paperless process was so successful that Ajax has used it on all projects since then in both Florida and Georgia. Jay Smith, Ajax vice president, hopes to implement it on the Public Safety Complex construction now starting.  Read the article.

All in One

Similarly, Penta Technologies takes an all-in-one approach with its solution set, which during the years has been consistently refined to include targeted business analysis and performance measurement tools that help contractors measure and manage more efficiently.

Penta Technologies is Featured on Honeywell Scanning & Mobility's ISVstore.com

Honeywell Scanning & Mobility's ISVstore.com matches companies looking for field mobility solutions with field productivity applications certified on Honeywell's rugged mobile devices, including Penta's mobile field service application.  Read more.

PENTA Features Software for Mechanical Contractors

PENTA helps ensure that mechanical contractors’ best practices are leveraged more consistently across their organizations proactively in order to help them do what they do even better, the company says.  Read the Article.

Software to Simplify Process Management

Beginning with the new year, Murphy Co., www.murphynet.com, St. Louis, Mo., decided to take its commitment to technology solutions to the next level by investing in a software suite for unified management of financial, project, and service operations.

The mechanical contracting firm was specifically looking to integrate and simplify business processes such as construction accounting, project management, enterprise-content management, service management, and mobile field service.  Read the Article.

Software Helps Mechanical Contractor Unify Financial Reporting

“Our rapid growth over the last five years exposed the need to consolidate operational information currently being managed in non-integrated systems,” said John Warrington, chief financial officer for Lorneville Mechanical. He stated that the new software would “bridge the gap between our project managers and the rest of our back office operations.”  Read the Article.

Service Software Leads Trends

Karl Koenig, president of Penta Technologies Inc., said the big field service software trends he’s noticed are those that help build long-term customer relationships with an emphasis on service work, which can become a stepping stone to more work.  Service and new construction “may not have the same view of the customer,” Koenig said.  It all created inefficiencies and lost opportunities. “They needed one system that would do new construction and service very well in one shared view,” he said.  Read the Article.

Improving Workflow for the Field

As the infrastructure segment of the construction market begins to bounce back, companies are starting to look for new construction technology—particularly to improve efficiencies and workflow from the office to the field.  Read the Article.

Penta Named a Hottest Construction ERP Software Vendor for the Third Consecutive Year

"Penta Technologies has been a big name in the industry for a number of years, and continues to add support and educational opportunities for its clients. With the growing use of mobile applications, the company also help contractors use systems at the jobsite with its line of mobile solutions for field service and reporting. Penta still has large penetration in the market and continues to add new clients." -Constructech Editors  Read the Article.

Efficient Document and Process Management

In the construction industry, projects can be somewhat unique; meaning the procedures for keeping track of processes and documents can vary from one project to the next. This is especially true as companies begin to grow and add new services. Read the Article.

Simplifying Operations in One Database

Do you still have disparate databases for various pieces of project information? These separate systems may require more time to enter data multiple times, more money to keep the system organized, and more effort to find a piece of information. Inevitably this can lead to a number of process inefficiencies. Read the Article.

Simplifying Construction Management through Integration

For construction companies like Lorneville Mechanical working on multiple projects simultaneously, it’s essential to be able to integrate various processes together so employees can access data on a specific project all from a single source, regardless of their location. Read the Article.

All in One Place

The service and construction modules have helped the company analyze work orders and identify areas where the company could improve profitability. Read the Article.

Software helps Contractors roll Processes into One System

Integrating processes through a single software package can help contractors organize for the spring building season, according to this piece. Penta Technologies offers a program that rolls payroll, project management and accounting processes into one system.

Penta Presents Mechanical 360°

Mechanical contractors will learn how they can speed capture costs and billable activity; accelerate service to cash cycle; reduce redundant work; and enhance management visibility of field activity. Read the Article.

Software Implementation Best Practices

Regardless of the economic climate, implementing new enterprise software is a rare event. Our observation is that the typical contractor changes systems every 10 years or so. Therefore, changing systems presents an unusual (and perhaps even unique) opportunity to really improve how your company operates. Read the Article.

Analyzing Business Performance

The business intelligence aspect of the deployment is one that continues to gain ground in the construction industry. Read the Article.

Tech to the Rescue

They can review the account history and enter all the work — time, labor and expenses — done at the jobsite on the mobile device. The customer then signs on the device to approve the work completed, eliminating billing discrepancies and speeding up the billing process. Read the Article.

Long Term Investment

The company needed a robust and intuitive mobile solution for crew management at job sites to replace a time-intensive paper process. Penta Technologies, a provider of enterprise software for the construction industry, worked with Intren to integrate its Penta Construction ERP software with a Mobile Field Reporting solution. Read the Article.

Addressing BI (Business Intelligence) Complexities

...as companies implement business intelligence technology they start to realize that this technology--designed to reduce the complexity in managing data from multiple sources--present their own set of challenges. Read the Article.

Spotlight on Penta Mobile

Question 3: What mobile solutions are you developing with Dexterra to solve customer challenges? Penta offers mobile solutions for two of the largest segments of the construction industry. The most recently released mobile application is PENTA Mobile Field Service, which was designed for contractors managing a fleet of field service technicians such as Mechanical/HVACR contractors, electrical contractors, roofing and other facility service contractors. Read the Article.

Mobile Communications for the Big Guys

The program is well suited to the needs of mechanical contractors running a union shop because it significantly reduces the time spent on daily paperwork necessary to satisfy union job site requirements, as well as daily payroll and other tasks related to management of equipment and materials at each job site, notes Penta Technologies. PENTA Mobile Field Service can run on any Windows Mobile 6.0-capable mobile device. Read the Article.

Penta Releases Mobile Service Management Software

PENTA Mobile Field Service software is designed for mechanical, electrical and specialty contractors. The software keeps field techs and office staff better connected during the work day. Dispatchers can view the status of jobs in real-time and send out new assignments as others are finished. Field technicians can log their time on a job, track how much inventory is left over and record customer equipment information. This information is directly tied to work orders, speeding up billing and payroll for the project. Read the Article.

Penta Collaborates with Catalyst Resources to Enhance ERP Software User Interface Design

Given the general slowdown in the construction industry, the relevance of the contractor's enterprise software becomes all the more important in the current scenario. Firms will now keenly monitor their software investments and personnel performance taking the economic turbulence into account according to Smith. Penta's solution is aimed at enhancing its product suite for increasing productivity at the customers end and also to manage costs effectively. Read the Article.

Penta Technologies Launches PENTA Mobile Field Service Software

PENTA Mobile Field Service software is designed to keep service management staff and service technicians connected throughout the work day. Dispatchers have real-time status visibility of all technicians, and can send prioritized assignments for work orders, jobs, or other non-billable activities, which are automatically received on the technician’s mobile device. Read the Article.

Innovations: New Standard Data System Could be Boost for Contractors

AGC is offering the agcXML technology free of charge to software companies that have programs for the engineering and construction industries. Penta is incorporating the new standard into its Penta Project Management Workbench. Koenig recently demonstrated the transfer of a request for information document using the agcXML data exchange standard at the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) building SMART alliance National Conference. Read the Article.

How can the Construction Firm Workforce Report from the Jobsite?

“Penta Mobile Field Reporting software helps the contractors’ field and the office teams to work in unison and more efficiently by removing costly, redundant administrative efforts from planning, scheduling, capturing, reviewing, approving and reporting on work performed in the field.” Read the Article.

Penta and e-Builder Make History using agcXML Data Exchange Standard

"The demonstration marks a significant milestone for the construction industry, as it greatly simplifies document exchange between separate construction management software systems." Read the Article.

Interoperability on Display

"A workflow gets executed, sent to the appropriate person for action, and then sent back to the general contractor’s project management system. The data is moved efficiently between the two systems because they are both working within the confines of a standard form of transmitting information." Read the Article.

On Purpose Profitability

"ERP: Past & Present - Over time, construction ERP systems have evolved as either 1) Third-party document management systems bolted on to construction ERP packages, or….." Read the Article.