Technology Background

With connected and disconnected tools, contractors that build or service and maintain large construction projects can use Singletouch to gain complete visibility into their projects and the variables that determine productivity and profitability. Control over these variables reduces the contractors’ price risk, increases transparency to the customer and offers radical improvements over the clumsy estimating, budgeting and reporting methods on which the industry has traditionally relied.

Unlike accounting software that much of the construction industry still uses to try to control operational issues, Singletouch software for contractors recognizes that data flows from the field into the office. Managing information in this direction reduces errors, improves productivity and eliminates time-consuming manual processes.

Designed by contractors for contractors, Singletouch is a Windows-based project database. By electronically capturing data where and when the activity takes place, business processes are streamlined and time-consuming manual reporting processes are eliminated. Singletouch construction management tools provide control over project variables and accelerates reporting and invoicing. In an instant, whether working offline at a remote job site or online at the central office, Singletouch provides complete visibility into project completion against budget. Using an online mode, details collected in the field are instantly accessible at head office and seamlessly integrated into backend systems, expediting payroll, accounting, project reporting and invoicing. Recognizing the disconnected nature of field operations, Singletouch also offers tools that work offline and synchronize with the central database when connectivity is re-established.

Singletouch’s technology consists of four components. A Windows-based platform called Singletouch Office forms the core of the platform. A touchscreen application called Singletouch Terminal enables workforces to quickly and easily capture time and attendance on the jobsite. Singletouch Flex is a disconnected time-entry system for construction sites in remote areas that have poor or non-existent Internet connection. Singletouch Mobile was specifically designed for service and maintenance personnel who enter information on ruggedized handhelds or HP Slate tablets.

The home office, the jobsite and the remote worker can all take advantage of the software tools simultaneously, making real-time, up-to-date data available both on-site and at the office. Customized views show only the data that is pertinent to the party accessing it, and allow manipulation of data only by an authorized user.

Anyone who needs to use the system to log transactions is called a transaction maker, and this can include a site foreman clocking labor on or off the job, a project manager calculating cost and schedule status for a project, or an accounting clerk who needs to issue invoices or reconcile purchase orders. Regardless of the task, each transaction maker has access to the data relevant to that task, and nothing else.

Singletouch easily integrates and shares data with traditional accounting, payroll and other reporting software, in addition to generating its own standard or custom reports. Once data has been entered, project managers and office administrators can use the data for invoicing and reporting, even before the team has returned from the site. In an industry where cash flow is critical, and timely and accurate billing essential, this back-office integration eliminates paperwork bottlenecks.

Information is electronically captured, by scanning, inputting or swiping, at the time and place where transactions occur, whether it’s a remote worker clocking in or out for the day, inventory being checked and ordered, or project management of a specific job. When online, this data is delivered instantaneously to all stakeholders, eliminating the log jams and errors traditionally associated with the filing of paperwork and subsequent re-entering of details to create invoices and reports.

At any time, built-in reports provide an up-to-the-second view of project completion status, with all work and materials accurately accounted for, and actual performance against budgets and schedules easily reported to the customer.

The hierarchical dashboard of Singletouch Office displays all five critical components of industrial contracting — labor, materials, subsistence, direct job expenses and services — in their own distinct modules, with menus that drill down into detailed information about each. Some fields contain hard-set data, entered by the proper gatekeeper, and interact seamlessly with new data entered on the jobsite, while other fields are more variable and rely on remotely entered data from the jobsite. Project controls and budgets, materials and purchase orders, inventory management, work orders and invoicing and real-time reporting are all easily managed using the system.

The core platform can be complemented by another tool from Singletouch, but the Office platform is required to lever the benefits of Singletouch Mobile, Singletouch Flex or Singletouch Terminal.

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