Rascor, a leader in the construction industry, uses Procore to streamline its operations and go beyond the expected. Dan Connolly, Managing Director UK & Ireland, Rascor, offers detailed insight into how the company collaborated with Procore to achieve its business goals and the overall benefits this provided.
Founded in the 1950s, Rascor is a global operation with offices in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Germany, the UK and Ireland. It has developed a strong reputation as an expert in the development and production of structural waterproofing systems that has seen the company work with an enviable and varied client list that includes everyone from Claridge’s to Dublin’s New Children’s Hospital.
Coinciding with the 2020 purchase and development of its Ireland and UK Headquarters in Co. Wexford, the Rascor team wanted to go even further and scale up the level of customer experience it delivers.
Rascor’s Managing Director UK & Ireland, Dan Connolly, commented: “We asked how can we make ourselves stand out from our competitors. We knew we needed to invest in our staff, structures, technology and processes. We’ve had a really strong brand since the ‘50s, but now it was the time to really focus on how we could further improve site operations and service delivery.”
For Rascor, reputation is key. “Construction in Ireland is a small world,” said Connolly. “Everything we do has to work to reach its utmost potential. This means optimising information management to bring accurate data and quality performance into the complex, compliance-heavy world of waterproofing.”
To bring its processes and standards in line with these ambitions, Rascor used Procore as a touchstone for everyone in the business to ensure that project information remained sacrosanct.
“Before Procore, we used a very basic custom-built app. It was originally intended for a courier firm and so it meant projects were either open or closed,” Connolly said. “We knew that in the business of waterproofing, there’s plenty in-between and Procore understood this nuance of our business. Our processes were then able to find a serious home to be housed.”
A subcontractor with a main contractor mentality
“For us, we always focus on the end-user of the final product,” Connolly said. “If we only look to our clients – the contractors, then we’re under-serving our work on each project. We knew that if we could change this mindset and bring more of a ‘main contractor’ mentality to Rascor, we would serve to boost our reputation and our profile.”
Procore held the key to this transformation. Rascor would need to produce quality reporting and ensure projects were visible to stakeholders and all in one place.
The challenge
Rascor is a renowned waterproofing subcontractor with offices worldwide. With a specialism in the development and production of structural waterproofing systems, its Irish and UK team has completed some ambitious projects.
Rascor has big ambitions for its future and wants to move beyond its reputation as subcontractors. Rascor wanted to embody the professionalism contractors exhibited and not just think of its clients, but its clients’ clients. This meant always striving to deliver the best customer experience and project performance to the end-user of the final product.
To make this happen Rascor needed to modernise paper-based processes and overhaul its project management system to encourage the visibility and accuracy it needed.
The solution
Procore was able to bring all of Rascor’s processes online and break down data silos that had formed on disparate devices. Everything Rascor worked on became housed in one place, accessible by everyone and tethered to projects.
Rascor described its clients’ reaction to a system based in Procore as ‘a comfort blanket’, giving the organisation confidence in its abilities, and in the words of Connolly: “putting us on their preferred subcontractors list.”
The results
- Improved functionality across projects
Project information sharing at the click of a button.
- Housing everything in one, accessible place
One secure hub for all project information.
- Hiring from a deeper talent pool
Easy-to-use solution boosts talent pipeline.
“Procore has been the fulcrum we needed,” said Connolly. “Our level of reporting, such as having one version of drawings across all sites, has only gone up with a single hub for project information. The quality of our reporting and our service delivery has greatly improved. Procore has set us apart from where we came from and is moving us ever closer to where we want to go.”
Aside from the benefits this brought to information management, Procore’s ability to house all project data from multiple sources has the added benefit of helping Rascor build its own profile.
Connolly explained: “Subcontractors don’t traditionally do much marketing, but we knew we only stood to benefit from a good-looking website and detailed case studies. Because we have all the information and photos in one place, we’re able to produce these resources easily and professionally. Before Procore, it would have been a very manual task of extracting data from a number of devices and in the busyness of the day creating case studies for marketing became a task that we overlooked.”
Rascor is moving its responsibility beyond installation into a much broader, nuanced profile that attracts a new raft of prospects. “In terms of quality reporting, our industry has become a lot more professional in recent years and there is a far higher expectation from clients. With Procore we have been able to fulfil these expectations and it has led to new opportunities,” Connolly said.
Ensuring the door is always open
For Rascor, an outsider perspective is important. The current skills shortage in the industry sometimes means hiring individuals who wouldn’t normally choose a career in construction. But it is becoming a necessity to broaden horizons to ensure the industry can continue to attract quality candidates. According to Connolly, where others see drawbacks in hiring candidates from different backgrounds, the Rascor team sees benefits.
“We’ve seen people join us from outside of construction and they bring invaluable perspectives. On the face of it sometimes certain careers don’t seem like a natural fit for construction, however, when we focus on skillsets such as attention to detail, teamwork and being process-driven, we can find some really strong people who may not have an opportunity in our industry in years gone by.
“We don’t create ceilings, we want to provide our employees with a career path that satisfies the need for progression and reward. If you have the work ethic and are a strong team player – you’ll do well here. Procore has been vital at embodying this philosophy because its useability levels the playing field for construction pros and those new to the industry. We’ve found Procore to play a huge part in investing our newest team members with confidence and ensuring we can steward them through fresh challenges.”
Whether it’s team members in need of training or upskilling current ones, Procore’s ease of use means processes are quickly learned and everyone remains connected and visible of project information. Employees don’t feel siloed and benefit from collaboration. It also gives them assurance in their performance with feedback on the quality of their work and improvements easily given via the platform.
Procore offers a diverse array of possibilities for Rascor. It helps Rascor’s processes but also its ambitions as it moves towards a promising future. “We’re only scratching the surface of what Procore can do,” Connolly concluded.
