Bast brings productivity and profitability gains to home builders
Over the past 10 years, he’s worked for five different construction companies, drawing on a powerful blend of industry expertise and experience to deliver impressive productivity and profitability gains for each one.
Bast has been at his present company for about two years. During that time, he has operated as a one-man management department, handling the entire construction process—purchasing, selections, permits administration, change orders, accounting, and the rest through to warranties—on upwards of 80 homes!
BuildTools integrates all facets of the construction process
It’s an impressive workload by any measure, but Bast is the first to admit he didn’t do it all on his own. Critical to his success in the home building business, he says, is the BuildTools construction management program from ECI Software Solutions, a leader in cloud-based business management software solutions for small and medium-sized companies.
“My knowledge of construction and all the experience I’ve picked up over the years is all well and good, but unless I’m producing for the people I work for, none of that means a whole lot,” he says bluntly. “Putting it simply, there’s no way I could have done what I have over the past 10 years without BuildTools.”
BuildTools is easy-to-use software hat provides real-time visibility into projects.
Bast’s move to BuildTools was driven primarily by the meltdown of the construction industry back in 2010. Up until then, he had been using a combination of software supplemented by proprietary programs developed in-house to handle industry-specific applications.
It may have gotten the job done but getting the various programs to talk to each other was never easy, and none of it was cheap. Business being in the tank forced Bast to go looking for a solution that would be more cost-effective and integrate all the different software features and functionality involved in the construction process.
BuildTools supports full collaboration
After spending three months evaluating dozens of systems, Bast discovered BuildTools. “I liked the low monthly fee, of course, but it really wasn’t about the cost,” he recalls. “BuildTools was a lot easier to use and navigate, it supported collaboration with trades and other key business partners well, and it gave real-time visibility into where things stood on projects. In addition, importing or exporting data was very simple in BuildTools, and it provided seamless integration of all the various construction modules.”
For Bast, BuildTools stood out as the software of choice for the construction industry, and once he started putting it to work, it didn’t take long to show why.
“At the first company I worked for, the accountants would spend at least two hours trying to figure out where they were on any given project,” he remembers. “With BuildTools, I could tell them literally within 20 seconds!”
A lean, productivity driven organization is vital to compete
And that was just for starters! Even though the recovery was in full swing and business was booming again, Bast reduced headcount at the company from 12 people to 9, improved its cash flow, and grew the bottom line by more than 30 percent. He was able to repeat this pattern several times during the next 10 years.
“I’ve built over 400 homes in BuildTools over the past 10 years and helped make the companies I worked for more productive and profitable along the way,” he says proudly.
“BuildTools helps the people in the business work better together and gives everyone involved visibility into the status of the build,” says Bast. “And it does it all in real-time and in a way that creates real accountability within the company. If you’re not doing your job properly or failing to meet your deadlines, BuildTools won’t let you hide!”
Carl Bast used BuildTools to help companies grow their bottom line by more than 30 percent.
But even with all the program’s features and functionality, BuildTools doesn’t require a computer science degree to operate. “Most homebuilders aren’t IT guys,” says Bast. “They want an easy-to-use system that will allow them to get their data quickly and get to work without having to spend a whole lot of time in front of a computer screen. BuildTools does all that for them and more,” he contends.
“BuildTools is a comprehensive system specifically designed for home builders that will change the way they operate and make them more efficient and more profitable. It’s that simple!”
Company Contact Information
ECI Software Solutions
https://www.ecisolutions.com/campaign/buildtools-pro-builder-product-showcase/
877-693-2171
buildtoolsinfo@ecisolutions.com