Reimagining project management

By Jesse Sanchez. 

All-in-one tools can help roofing companies streamline jobs from bid to final punch list. 

In the middle of a fast-moving episode of Roofing Road Trips®, host Heidi J. Ellsworth talked with Brian Cook, senior vice president of Dataforma, about a  critical tool for roofing contractors today: effective project management. For years, Brian and his team have listened closely to roofing professionals and evolved Dataforma's platform accordingly to meet their day-to-day operational needs. One key takeaway from their efforts? The roofing industry has long lacked a truly integrated, contractor-friendly project management system. 

“Contractors are using a hodgepodge of software or their own Excel files to do this,” Cook said. “We came out with a [project management tool], the first was the mobile timecard.” From there, innovation snowballed. What started as a request from customers for a simple way to track employee hours in the field has turned into a comprehensive project management suite built into the Dataforma platform. Contractors can now log production progress, customize safety and field reports and assign job tasks with automated reminders, all within one system. 

As more roofing companies asked for deeper insight into real-time job progress, not just hours worked, Dataforma responded with production tracking. “It'd be cool, I have my hours. What if I could see how much done we  on the actual roof?” Brian said. “So we built production tracking.” That means foremen can report on-site progress like how many squares were installed each day and project managers can instantly see whether a job is running ahead or behind schedule, without waiting for end-of-week updates. Dataforma also developed a feature called “Task Manager,” which lets project managers assign duties, notify team members via text or email and track completions in real time. As Brian put it, “Now it's like the way the world is, we're connected, but we're always apart.” 

This functionality is especially critical as remote work and job site mobility have become more standard across the construction industry. Yet beyond just building tools, Brian expressed the company’s contractor-first mindset: “We don't outsource our customer service. We don't outsource our tech people.”That tight-knit, hands-on culture extends to how the team rolls out new tools. Rather than requiring clients to assemble a tech stack from different platforms, Brian said, “Now that we've developed this new functionality for project management, we're noticing companies are signing up with 15 or so users right off the bat because, ‘Hey, I don't have to use this other stuff that I cobbled together.’” It’s clear Dataforma is pushing project management to be more than just a spreadsheet replacement; it’s aiming to reshape how roofing contractors operate day to day. 

Read the transcript or Listen to the podcast to learn more about exactly how Dataforma is doing it and what’s next for project tracking, mobile tools and even artificial intelligence in roofing software!