Blackmon-Farrell Boosts Productivity and Slashes Data Plan Costs by Over 50% with Egnyte
Technology Category
- Networks & Connectivity - WiFi
- Robots - Wheeled Robots
Applicable Industries
- Construction & Infrastructure
- Telecommunications
Applicable Functions
- Procurement
Use Cases
- Time Sensitive Networking
- Track & Trace of Assets
Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Founded in 1981, Blackmon-Farrell is a commercial electrical contractor based in Rochester, New York. The company handles a range of industrial, municipal, and commercial construction and installation needs throughout New York State, with its core business in design-build and bid spec projects—90% of which are for state and local government. Some of its notable projects include the Blue Cross Arena, the Monroe County Hall of Justice, and the Rochester Institute of Technology. As a specialty contractor, labor efficiency is Blackmon-Farrell’s biggest concern, with productivity gains often measured in minutes. The company continually focuses on employee efficiency as a measurement of success.
The Challenge
Blackmon-Farrell, a commercial electrical contractor based in Rochester, New York, was grappling with the inefficiencies of paper-based processes. Bidding on public sector contracts required extensive documentation, which was managed manually, leading to workflow challenges and wasted manpower. Closing out a project required tracking down the status of over 100 open purchase orders, a time-consuming and tedious process. Change orders also impacted the schedule, requiring site visits or sifting through different versions of a drawing to put together an estimate. Field teams used mobile devices to access, view, and annotate Bluebeam files in real time, but connectivity issues made the process slow. Some teams used personal hotspots, but often exceeded their data capacity within weeks, leading to throttled bandwidth and high costs. The company was spending at least $80 per month per user on wireless data costs. The need to print multiple copies of plans and manually scan large drawings added to the inefficiencies and costs.
The Solution
Blackmon-Farrell turned to Egnyte to digitize, automate, and manage their processes. Egnyte’s simple file structure made file management easy, with standardized project folder templates and job numbers assigned to each folder. The change order process was streamlined with a dedicated 'return folder' for costs and supporting documentation from the field. As a cloud-based, centralized document solution, Egnyte allowed everyone to access project files from anywhere. Supervisors in the field could go directly to the designated folder in Egnyte rather than searching through old emails or paper files. Teams used links to files and folders instead of attaching large PDFs, enabling quick access to information even in low bandwidth locations. The ability to exchange files directly with clients and teams in the field by uploading to dedicated folders reduced the need to print multiple sets of plans and scan hundreds of individual documents.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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