Procore set out to find the companies, projects and individuals that stood out for their bold achievements in construction. Among the 27 outstanding finalists selected, nine were named winners of the 2022 Groundbreaker Awards. This article is the eighth in a nine-part series spotlighting each winner.
“Courageously, make ideas reality.”
This is a core value of Truebeck Constructionand is evident on every one of their innovative projects. From commercial and healthcare to multi-family and education, the San Mateo, CA- based general contractor has been “pioneering ideas and raising the bar” since 2007. The company refuses to work with status quo processes and is always seeking to improve, try new technologies, and stay ahead of industry and technological changes. Truebeck, the 2022 Groundbreaker Awards winner for Excellence in Innovation, champions a culture of connection through clean data.
A critical part of Truebeck’s commitment to go above and beyond is spearheaded by the Construction Technology and Innovation (CTI) team. Justin Porter, CTI director, is responsible for overseeing the two departments that make up this team. From data engineering to field technology, drones, BIM and more, the CTI team is constantly leveraging the brightest minds and latest software.
Using data to fuel innovation
Connected data is the future of construction, and it’s already heartily accepted at Truebeck. Porter and his team have devoted countless hours to improving functionality in the field and office. Since joining Truebeck 12 years ago, Porter and his fellow problem solvers have been identifying and resolving company challenges through innovative solutions.
“We knew that we wanted to improve a lot of our processes and in order to do that, we knew we had to understand the current processes and how to improve them,” explains Porter. “We started our data journey and are big believers in APIs. We’re constantly building dashboards and integrations between applications.”
A younger company with an eager workforce, Truebeck isn’t satisfied with traditional industry methods of the past and encourages other organizations to do the same. Many of Truebeck’s customers are tech clients who are looking for the latest software and delivery methods, so the team is motivated to always go above and beyond. Truebeck has unlocked numerous efficiencies by leveraging clean data—it provides the answers they need to work quicker, solve challenges, automate processes and improve performance. Having immediate answers with data at their fingertips has been a huge bonus for the team—no more time-consuming compiling of reports.
“Data can be perceived as ‘big brother,’ but that’s not necessarily the case and it’s not the culture that we drive at Truebeck,” says Porter. “We use data to make us better and more efficient. It can support training, identifying under-resourced projects and helping new employees get up to speed.”
Truebeck’s innovation has also been the catalyst for new employees to join the organization.
“I chose to join Truebeck not only for their distinguished company culture, but to be a part of an organization that was setting the path for innovation within the construction industry,” shares Jarred Hall, Data Engineer. “With Truebeck, I’ve learned how valuable leveraging data engineering tools can be for communicating analytical information. Using this information to improve operational workflows for numerous team members within Truebeck has been nothing short of an amazing journey.”
Meeting people where they are
Recognizing the need for a birds-eye view into project health, risk and safety, Truebeck focuses on keeping teams connected, providing real-time analytics and ensuring ROI of software investments is evident to decision-makers.
“You need to show the value in leveraging your data and improving your processes,” says Porter. “We’ve got a lot of leadership dashboards that allow our leadership team to holistically see how all projects are performing.”
If a needed tool is not available in their search for new tech, the team often tries to build one in-house. They seek out scalable, user-friendly software that integrates with their current tech stack. Data connection is a top priority as the IT Steering Committee evaluates current technology as well as prospects.
“We don’t want to accept the status quo—we want our data—so we do a deep dive into software investments,” says Porter. “Showing value to decision-makers and getting buy-in from leadership is essential. We meet people where they are and take incremental steps when introducing new technologies—starting small and finding small wins.”
A single source of truth for success
Feeding in and out of every Truebeck project is the data produced from Procureand since implementation, the team has seen improvements in communication, organization and accountability. They utilize Project Management, Project Financials, Design Coordination, Quality & Safety and more. Truebeck relies heavily on Procore’s API and Webhook services to retrieve real-time data from the platform and are big fans of the Sage CRE300 integration for connection between accounting and operations.
The partnership between Procore and Truebeck’s data management team allows Truebeck to consolidate, analyze and identify issues more effectively and efficiently.
“Our innovative use of Procore data and SageCRE300 data has allowed our Project and Leadership teams to identify gaps in our processes and quickly develop solutions and responses without having to search out new third party software options,” explains Kay Kim, Systems Integration Manager. “Our internal data team has allowed the Truebeck Leadership to consider and develop more innovative ideas than ever before. This helps us to continue Raising the Bar for Truebeck.”
Porter and his team are passionate about the data they gain from Procore being always accessible. “When we are checking out a new application, the first two questions we ask are: ‘Can we get access to the API? And does it integrate with Procore?’”
Truebeck is keen to synchronize data and Procore has been the source of it all. In turn, Truebeck developed their real-time Data Warehouse to provide their own transactional database of all relevant Procore information. As a result, they’re able to create actionable business intelligence and project management insight.
“Procore has helped support our innovation and excellence as it gives us access to our data,” says Porter. “It’s a tool that’s easy for people to onboard, learn and it’s become ubiquitous—an industry standard.”
Armed with a passion to courageously innovate, Truebeck continues to reach new heights.