Clark Wilson Homes' builders oversee construction of approximately 15 homes at one time. It's their job to coordinate the work of construction team members—contractors, subs, construction crews and suppliers—and produce a quality result. On time. On budget.

Builders are the front line of contact between their companies and their home owners, prospective buyers, subcontractors and inspectors. Virtually every brief meeting during the day results in one or several issues being handled, generally by assigning tasks to people. The constant flow of information is more than anyone can remember, so builders carried around pads or stacks of sticky notes covered with notes and messages. With mornings spent on construction sites, they'd typically return to their offices for a long afternoon of making telephone contact with dozens of subcontractors to relay assignments and scheduling requirements. This inefficient method of communication was time-intensive and error-prone—it was easy for details to slip through the cracks.

Missed deadlines result in higher costs, longer projects, overly complex schedules and, ultimately, unhappy customers. Clark Wilson decided builders needed a faster, more accurate way to track the projects and communicate instructions to crews, contractors and suppliers. After reviewing alternative solutions, Clark Wilson chose Palm Computing® platform devices with Punch List software from Strata Systems.

Created specifically for the construction industry, the solution lets field personnel collect and review issues in the field, then transfer them to the desktop for faxing task lists to project participants.

At the work site or on the road, builders can now enter to do lists, outline details of work in progress, update project timelines, even collect notes and sketches pertaining to an issue. The shirt pocket portability of the Palm Computing device is crucial—builders are always on the move between construction sites, supplier locations and office. Back at their desktop PCs, one touch of the HotSync® button synchronizes all their data and attaches it to WinFax. Faxes with the day's instructions are then sent to the dozens of people who may be involved in a project at any given time.

Builders have discovered that the Palm Computing® handheld with Punch List software is not only easy to use, it's made the job of overseeing contractors, construction crews and suppliers easier to manage. The devices are allowing them to communicate information faster and more accurately, make it easier to keep track of the myriad details, and helped them to keep projects on time and on budget. Communications are not only more efficient, builders are saving hours every day collecting, sorting and disseminating project information. It's freed them up to spend more time on other aspects of the job.

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