Heavy-construction-management software provider, B2W Software, has added new capabilities within its B2W Schedule application to assist contractors in managing trucking orders and assignments with online visibility and real-time agility. B2W introduced Schedule in 2018 as a specialized alternative to spreadsheets, whiteboards and phone calls for scheduling and dispatching employees, equipment and materials. Now schedulers and dispatchers can assign, view and modify truck requirements and deliveries being fulfilled by their own fleets and by outside, third-party contractors.
“Continuously changing resource and trucking requirements are the nature of the business in heavy construction,” says B2W Software CEO and Founder Paul McKeon. “The essential benefit with B2W Schedule is the ability for stakeholders throughout an organization – including those in the field – to collaborate in real time to manage resources at maximum efficiency.”
B2W Schedule provides a centralized view of resource needs and assignments, equipment moves, material orders and trucking requirements. Users access the system from desktop, laptop or mobile tablet devices and customize one-day, multi-day or multi-week views according to their roles. Specific users can create and modify assignments with drag-and-drop simplicity, based on permission levels.
Move Planner and Mass Haul Planner modules within B2W Schedule are used to manage equipment moves and mass haul schedules efficiently. Notifications about these trucking assignments, including revisions to a schedule, can be communicated automatically to drivers via text message or email.
B2W Schedule also assists in identifying and resolving scheduling conflicts and includes a Map View that uses GPS and telematics data to validate the location of resources.
The scheduling and dispatching application is part of B2W Software’s ONE Platform, which also includes unified capabilities for heavy construction field tracking and analysis and equipment maintenance as well as estimating, safety, e-forms and reporting. “With our platform, data can move across the applications and their associated workflows in real time,” McKeon explains. This enhances efficiency and collaboration between the office, the field and the shop for contractors using multiple B2W applications.
Contractors that use B2W Track for field tracking and analysis in combination with B2W Schedule, for example, can create or modify daily field logs directly from information provided by the B2W scheduling and dispatching application, including crew production targets. Resource needs created from the field are also visible and actionable in B2W Schedule.
Similarly, information on the status and availability of assets from the B2W Maintain application for equipment maintenance can be accessed in real time in B2W Schedule. This information assists schedulers and dispatchers in maximizing efficiency and equipment utilization.
