For
three generations, Melfred Borzall’s focus has been on enabling better and
smarter ways of installing underground utilities.
The
company was handed down from Fred Melsheimer to his son Dick, and eventually to
Dick’s sons Peter and Eric, now respectively the vice president and president.
In this
third generation, the original mission has directed Peter Melsheimer toward
Equappment, an organization and productivity App currently targeted toward
smaller-to-medium-sized utility contractors. “The goal for both companies is
the same, really,” he said. “We’re just trying to make the utility contractors
more efficient and more productive.”
Throughout
his years of working for Melfred Borzall, Melsheimer spent time out in the
field, alongside contractors, where he witnessed inefficiencies halt production,
such as crews not having all of the necessary equipment to complete a job, or
not returning all equipment back from the site after the job was finished.
“All
this was simple to solve, but it was costing them hours of downtime,” he said.
“So that was kind of the first iteration [of Equappment] … a way for
contractors to manage their equipment and tools.”
Having a
database inventory of equipment and being able to schedule it out to a job
created a checklist that crew members could refer to, ensuring they would take
– and bring back – everything they needed, he said.
App
evolution
It’s
been a few years since the initial creation of Equappment, which is available
as an Apple iOS and a web-based App, with a native Android App coming. The app
can still create project checklists, but also offers features such as photo
documentation.
“It’s
pretty focused on utility construction because that’s my background and the
industry I’ve been involved in,” he said of Equappment. “I can see many of the App’s
features being applicable to other segments of construction, but right now the
focus is on utility construction.”
Melsheimer’s
first foray into App development has been a learning experience but entirely
positive, and Equappment has built out over time to become more of the construction
project management platform that it is now.
“The
overarching feature is that it gives you a consolidated location for all
operational information for field crews that they can pull up onsite,” he said.
Everything,
from equipment to crew members, can be scheduled out through Equappment for
different jobs. Tasks can be assigned and given estimates of how long they
should take so that crew members know what’s expected. Then, the project
manager can see later what was done and how much time it actually took compared
to the initial expectation.
“They
can build a history from that data and be more accurate in their bidding,” he
said.
The App
is securely cloud-based and syncs in real time, so those in the office can
potentially see, for example, a photo from a job site as soon as it’s added to
the App. As a job is finished, App users have the option to update the project
status from “in progress” to “closed.”
Pricing
Equappment
requires a two-user minimum for each of the subscription options and offers
three monthly pricing tiers: $15, $29 and $49 per user, per month. Users can be
added and removed as needed, and when users are removed, the monthly price is
prorated.
Contractors’
response thus far has been positive, Melsheimer said, and their feedback has
proven integral to further App development. For example, a locate ticket
management feature was developed to help circumvent one “pain point” for
contractors.
Locate
tickets are required by law; must be approved before contractors can start work,
which they must do by a certain date; and then the ticket can expire and
require resubmission – alt6ogether, it can be a lot to manage.
“Equappment
puts it all into the hands of everybody who needs to know, ‘This locate
ticket’s been submitted but not approved; this one’s been approved but it’s going
to expire in three days.’ And it gives them a visual reminder of when it’s
getting close to expiring,” Melsheimer said.
Forms
are another potential pain point that Equappment is designed to assist with.
“There
are so many forms to fill out on a daily basis or at the start and end of a
job,” Melsheimer said.
He’d
like to include an optional setting where, if the forms are not filled out
first thing in the morning, nothing else can be done in the App until those are
completed. “That was the recommendation of a contractor because they’re
required to do these, and it would be a good way to sort of force them to do
them.”
Another
feature born from contractor feedback is soil mapping.
“You
encounter cobblestones in a certain location, you can drop a pin on the map and
indicate that, so you know for the next time,” Melsheimer said. “If you so
choose, you can share it across the platform for anybody else on Equappment to
see; all that’s shared is the location and what the ground conditions were.”
Now that
the App has been built out and most of the features are already in place,
Melsheimer anticipates starting work on the native Android version this year.
“It’s
still needed,” he said. “Equappment is far enough along that I’m comfortable
starting on the Android side.” UI
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Equappment, or email Peter Melsheimer at petermelsh@equappment.com