With the coronavirus pandemic, the Lagassé Group (TLG), a boutique residential builder, faced serious challenges while trying to keep the business running and workers safe. Daily health surveys became a requirement to help mitigate the spread of the disease, but these were cumbersome, taking superintendents about two hours per day per site. That extra time was vital for keeping workers healthy, but it was a logistical burden.
Changing needs in a pandemic
"...we would require either additional field staff or new efficiency and streamlining tools."
The pandemic’s effects on administration went beyond extra on-site paperwork. Before the pandemic, workers on a job would sign in and out on paper, sharing a pen, a practice that was no longer worth the risk of COVID-19. “Considerable time and effort went into our standard documentation practices pre-COVID,” says Andrew Cote, a superintendent at the Lagassé Group. “When it became clear that the additional COVID-19 processes, controls, and documentation were going to result in a substantial increase of administrative and data-entry workload for our field staff, that's when it became evident that we would require either additional field staff or new efficiency and streamlining tools.”
The Lagassé Group needed a solution that would relieve the burden on superintendents while also integrating easily with the company’s existing Procore instance. “We researched for a solution and found some,” Cote said, “but they weren't integrated with Procore and therefore required additional steps. We wanted to use add-ons to the platform we already use to maximize our investments. The most streamlined option seemed to be to use Nyfty.ai and have all data stored in Procore.”
Like having an extra skilled worker
“Automation of certain administrative and data-entry requirements utilizing various Nyfty bots has resulted in the efficiency required in order to avoid needing additional field personnel.”
Nyfty.ai automates safety and productivity tasks with intelligent bots. This innovative artificial-intelligence technology can conduct daily health screenings and other functions automatically via text messages directly with workers. Deploying a Nyfty bot is like adding an extra skilled worker to a job site. Since the bot does the work on its own, site teams can focus on more productive tasks.
Cote says, “Automation of certain administrative and data-entry requirements utilizing various Nyfty bots has resulted in the efficiency required in order to avoid needing additional field personnel.” Cote also says that subcontractors have been pleased with how well Nyfty bots work: “On multiple occasions, we have received positive feedback from our subcontractors indicating that the Nyfty bot solutions we have incorporated are more efficient and easier to use then what they've seen other contractors roll out to accomplish similar functions.” The end result is that Nyfty bots massively reduce the logistical burden on site teams compared to paper or even other technologies like Web-based forms.
Paul Lagassé, marketing director at the Lagassé Group, says that “TLG has really enjoyed working with Nyfty. Not only is the product fantastic and tailored to our needs, but [Nyfty cofounder] Matt [Edwards] has been exceeding our expectations and has been extremely accommodating. Thank you!”