Gallagher Asphalt Corp.,Thornton, Illinois based heavy highway contractor and asphalt manufacturer, chose Dexter + Chaney’s Spectrum® Construction Software to put in place of their software that was obsolete. Dexter + Chaney, the forerunner in construction ERP software performed in the cloud, possesses a much better user interface and navigation than the competitive’s software packages, the company’s controller, Stuart Cairo, said.
The interactive Spectrum Dashboard was the composing aspect Cairo’s company was most impressed by. It lets users navigate through to specific areas of capabilities anywhere in the system, as well as the Info Bar, which follows users from multiple tasks, giving relevant information about the data. It also links the user with anything they need to access other areas in Spectrum that the data impacts. “We nicknamed it the ‘Martini Bar’ because it gave us the fields that most users would naturally click to, right from whatever screen they happened to be on. It was very easy and user friendly,” Cairo said.
Gallagher was told its now defunct StreetSmarts software would no longer be backed. Cairo stated that after looking at all the packages on the market, The parts that impressed the company were, Spectrum’s strong document imaging abilities, real time work, cost effective project forecasting and project management capability, all in one system. The deciding component for Cairo was how east Spectrum to use.
“We felt we would get better buy-in from our users on Spectrum’s platform, compared to the other main software provider we were looking at,” Cairo said. “The end users are king. If they like it and use it, the more data we can get and reporting can be done. The less buy-in you have, the more trouble you’re going to have getting that information to properly analyze. There’s no doubt that the look and feel made a difference.”
Gallagher Asphalt Corp. is a heavy highway contractor and asphalt provider that has been serving the south and southwest sides of the Chicago area since 1928. Gallagher Asphalt has paved or resurfaced thousands of miles of pavement over the years. Recent paving jobs have included the FedEx distribution center in Chicago, the Saddle Creek Logistics Park in Joliet, Ill. and a Walmart distribution center in Romeoville, Ill.
Gallagher has been a consistent winner of Diamond Paving Commendations with the National Asphalt Pavement Association.
Gallagher met with Dexter + Chaney during the 2015 Construction Financial Management Association’s national conference in Chicago. Gallagher was just starting to look for new construction management software. Cairo said that Dexter + Chaney more than helped them throughout the process. “The Dexter + Chaney folks listened to us, they were patient with us and met with us multiple times to make sure we got what we wanted and needed.”
“We are very happy to welcome Gallagher as a new client,” said Dexter + Chaney President and CEO Norbert Orth. “We know that making a software switch is not a decision that comes lightly, nor is it as easy as snapping your fingers. That’s why we sit down with and listen to folks, working directly with them to ensure they’re getting the software that’s right for them. Gallagher has built a solid reputation in the south Chicago market and we’re thrilled we can grow along with them as they take the next step.”