What’s the story behind Planyard and what is the unique selling point?
Andres: “Early on, while on the previous job, I realized that most of the main contractors are not really using any project management tools to efficiently do their job. More so, many of them are still using Excel files which consume a lot of time and are prone to human error. I also realized that there are not any procurement tools available in the market. This is when Planyard was born. A project management tool that helps companies get rid of Excel, save companies a lot of time, provide a real time overview of their portfolio and produce profitability forecasts.
We believe the project manager is the key person in every project. This is why the Planyard journey starts with interviewing the project manager where we try to understand what they do, how they do it and what are the accessories they need. After that is done, we move to management. With regards to our future plans, Planyard has always been focused on developing tools for main contractors, project managers and project owners, this is why for the time being we are aiming at expanding our geographical reach”.
Any future expansions?
Andres: “So geographically, we have been on boarding customers from Chile, Spain and France. The whole tool is built with infrastructure that it’s quite easy to do and quick to translate. So, with the combination of quick and easy, you can get started with the project. So now we have the option to do the good translations and be available for different markets, different prices and stakeholders in different geographic locations.
In addition to that, it is important to emphasize that our platform integrates itself with difficult accounting tools. What is meant, companies want to improve the processes of invoicing, avoid data duplications and process duplications. Therefore, the platform helps the contractor through the whole procure-to-pay system in a way that it’s not the secondary information; hence, eliminating all these pains and updates everything”.
How easy, agile and mobile is the tool?
Andres: “The truth is for every feature we do, we do have a set of evangelists, real Planyard faces who are happily using the tool or recommending it and who are also participating in the development of the tool. So, the project managers themselves, they are the designers and planners, and they want to make the job easy for them. Therefore, it’s quite easy and intuitive for new project managers to get started. There’s no lengthy weeks and long implementation processes. I’d say about 50% of our customers get along without training at all.
That’s a good question! If this platform is implemented, procurement managers, subcontractors, managers, project managers as well as project owners can have access to centralized information whenever and wherever they want. The platform will help in visualizing day-to-day tasks, budget revision, reduce delays and monitor the whole process.
Actors can always work on the platform via the tablet, laptop, and mobile apps. They can also take photos of paper receipts and scan paper invoices. We have AutoCAD inserted, there’s a number of ways and a number of tools that people can use in order to get their job done when and where it needs to be done.
Putting it very straightforward, Planyard is a project management budget management platform that helps in centralized communication and work efficiency. It improves collaboration, makes it easy to understand what’s going on in the project, and facilitates the use of data.
What’s next?
Our mission is simple, we want to help project managers get out of Excel, spreadsheets and emails; however, provide them with tools that automate all these parts of the day-to-day work in order to let them focus on their value adding activities, so they can work and focus on stuff that really matters. As this is our core, we will always improve, develop and help create stronger tools for our growing customer base.
Project Manager