Krane

Jack Thompson is a seasoned construction superintendent, known for his unwavering commitment to his projects. He had spent years climbing the ranks in the construction industry, earning respect for his meticulous planning and ability to handle any crisis that arose on-site. However, this dedication often came at a personal cost, one he had come to accept but never truly embraced. As the morning sun broke through the clouds, Jack felt a mix of excitement and anxiety. Today was not just another day on the job; it was his son's baseball championship. He had worked tirelessly for this moment, and Jack promised that he would be there to celebrate his achievement. The day began smoothly. The crew was on schedule, and everything seemed to be falling into place. He felt confident that he could make it back in time for the big game. However, as fate would have it, just as Jack was about to leave, he received an unexpected call from the supplier. The delivery of critical materials—steel beams essential for completing a major phase of the project—was arriving earlier than scheduled. The truck was already en route, and Jack knew that if he didn’t oversee the delivery personally, there could be costly mistakes or delays. The weight of responsibility pressed heavily on his shoulders. “Just this once,” he muttered to himself, trying to rationalize his decision. “I’ll call Timmy after the delivery and explain.” The delivery took longer than expected due to complications with unloading equipment. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the last beam was secured and signed off. But when he checked his phone, there were multiple missed calls from Timmy. “Dad! Where are you?” his voice trembled through the speaker when he finally called back. “I’m so sorry, son,” Jack said, his heart sinking. “I got caught up with an unexpected delivery at work.” “I know; I’ll make it up to you,” Jack promised, but deep down, he knew that words couldn’t replace his absence. This is a story that superintendents face on a weekly basis. Unexpected and untimely deliveries affect the reliable flow of their projects and people's personal commitments. This leads to mental health issues and family problems. As an industry we have come to expect this and place the burden on the superintendents. But just because something is common doesn't mean that it should be accepted or is the best way of doing things. Nowadays we have better technology and one of the areas that would move the needle in terms of jobsite efficiency and user satisfaction is to have transparency on deliveries and the supply chain. You don't need to guess when a delivery will come. And you have realtime information on what is coming, when, and in what quantity. And best of all there is a free version for you to try. With Krane’s Free Delivery Board, you can book, manage, and track deliveries all in one place. Try it for FREE yourself here: https://lnkd.in/gVXRMXqC #leanconstruction

Earlier this year, I did a post on the technology for IPD and PDB projects. And most people rolled their eyes because 99.9% of people will never work on a IPD or PDB project. Very few people will ever work on projects that range from 100M to 50B and that is okay. I think that the construction technology adoption will be driven by the middle market general contractors and specialty trades. Here is a rough definition of a middle market company. There are more than 10,000 middle market companies in the US that have between 50 and 500 employees. These companies sit below the ENR400 list. These GCs have less than 500M in revenue they typically do projects in the 50k to 30M range. These are regional companies that value their close nit culture and retain employees for years or decades. Projects at this range are simpler in nature. Most projects will be DBB or a negotiated GMP. 2D drawing still dominate this space and there are few 3D BIM models used. Some notable examples are O'Shea Builders, ANDRES Construction Services, and Shelco, LLC. These companies will be the main adopters of contech because they are at a scale where they need efficient software, want simplicity, and want a standard across all their projects. Some of the notable software categories that will be up for grabs are. 1. Estimating - Ediphi ZEBEL - Napkins To Numbers 2. Planning - Planera, Inc Outbuild Nialli Inc. Hoylu Touchplan inTakt lcmd Bosch RefinemySite Smartapp.com VisiLean Ltd Teamoty Touchplan 3. Supply chain - Krane 4. Work force management - Genda 5. Low code SOP - Quickbase 6. Reality Capture - Cupix FARO Technologies OpenSpace StructionSite (acquired by DroneDeploy) 7. White Boarding - Miro Mural 8. Project Management - Procore Technologies Fieldwire by Hilti Trello 9. AI meeting minutes - Cogram Otter.ai 10. Co-pilot AI - ChatGPT Perplexity Grok 11. 2D Coordination - Current Sets A company in the mid-market is seeking consistency, simplicity, and reliability. They do not have time to waste on fancy tech with an unclear ROI. They do not necessarily have a team technologically advanced enough for 3D or 4D modeling. The reason why this market will drive adoption and start-up growth is the sheer number of companies in this segment, over 10,000 scattered all across the US. I am very bullish on the "planning" market because I believe that there is enough meat for all of the companies listed above to do well. MS projects and P6 need to be replaced in this market and at this scale it is typically the superintendents that are ones doing the planning and running the project. Supply chain is especially critical in this market because the slim margins means that every delivery matters. Software tools for project management, estimating, workforce management, whiteboarding, reality capture, and AI all add a lot of value to this customer. #contech #innovation #leanconstruction

4 years ago, I watched a semi dump $200,000 in casework in the middle of my jobsite. 🤯 🫢 No one was there to receive it. No one knew where to put it. "This is just construction," my boss told me. "Deal with it." That's when I realized our industry's approach to material management was broken... The outdated of managing material deliveries: - Sticky notes falling off whiteboards - Blurry photos sent to the back office - Frantic texts asking "Where's my delivery?" All that hard work for materials showing up at the wrong place, wrong time? Here's the new path: - See all deliveries in one place - Track every delivery in real-time - Instant updates to all stakeholders - Get materials to the right spot at the right time Here's how to get started: 1. Replace your whiteboard chaos with Krane's free Digital Material Delivery Board 2. Get your whole team using one system 3. Use this delivery checklist to prevent mistakes (link below) Building without delays is hard, but worth it. Stop accepting delivery chaos as 'just part of construction.' Start treating your material logistics like the million-dollar operation it is. Get the checklist and playbook here: https://lnkd.in/guR-rfSu ✍️ What are your thoughts? ♻️ Reshare if I got this right.

🏗️It’s Been a Month: Lessons from Startup World 🏗️ Lesson #01 It’s been a month since I fully stepped into the startup world by joining Krane, and I’ve decided to occasionally share what I’m learning along the way. Here’s one: process gets you started, but culture keeps you growing. At Krane, I’ve worked hard to set up the right OKRs, team structure, and workflows to drive growth, but I’ve realized one thing: culture sustains it all. What I’m doing now: creating a team culture where people feel valued, inspired, and supported to tackle the big challenges. At Krane We’re not waiting to become a billion-dollar company to act like one. We’re acting like one today. #StartupLessons #BuildingCulture #Krane