Terra Engineering & Construction - a Madison, Wisconsin-based heavy civil contractor - uses IVO Systems to simplify scheduling, improve equipment visibility, stay ahead of maintenance, and keep information moving between the office, shop, and field.
Terra Engineering & Construction - Quick Facts
- Location: Madison, WI
- Industry: Heavy Civil Construction
- Founded: 1965
- Employees: 85-100
- Specialty Work: Earth Retention, Deep Foundation Drilling, Ground Improvement
- IVO Modules Used: ScheduleVO, TrackVO, MaintainVO, DispatchVO, EqInspectVO
The Challenge: Outgrowing Manual Processes
Terra Engineering & Construction has been serving the Madison area since 1965. Over the years, the company has grown into what Vice President of Operations Seth Zimmerman describes as a one stop shop for general excavation, utility work, earth retention, deep foundation drilling, and ground improvement.
As the company grew, so did the number of people, pieces of equipment, jobs, and daily changes that had to be coordinated. For years, Terra managed that complexity with the tools that had worked for them in the past: spreadsheets, emails, paper cards, and conversations in the office.
Those systems were familiar, but they were also starting to slow things down.
Scheduling was done via Excel spreadsheets and emails
Terra’s scheduling process had progressed from paper to Excel, but it still depended on manual updates and daily emails. Schedules had to be built, adjusted, formatted, saved, and sent out. When the work changed, the schedule had to change with it.
For Chris Steinke, Operations Manager at Terra, that meant keeping up with constant changes in an industry where plans rarely stay still. Before using IVO Systems, he was working from spreadsheets, sending emails, copying information forward, and updating schedules as jobs, crews, and equipment needs changed.
“I was basically using an Excel spreadsheet and sending emails... it was just kind of a rigmarole, because obviously things change in our industry.”
— Chris Steinke, Operations Manager
That manual process did not stop once the schedule was sent. Foremen still had to relay information to their crews, and if someone new was added to a job or the next day’s work changed, that meant more phone calls after hours.
My name is Seth Zimmerman. I am the Construction Operations Manager here at Terra. So I oversee a lot of the day-to-day operations from the facilities to personnel, and then our entire fleet, both vehicles and equipment. So early on at the beginning of the role that I'm in now about five years ago, we were doing all of our scheduling through Excel. Prior to that, we were doing it all, you know, by paper essentially and then emailing the schedule out. So the progression was pencil/paper, Excel for probably fifteen years. Chris Steinke, Operations Manager here at Terra Engineering. Before I was just using an Excel spreadsheet. I'd have to copy and paste each day, keep updating as it went on in just kind of a rigmarole of things because obviously things change in our industry. Cory Hermanson. I'm an Operator Foreman. It used to just go to the foreman, not everybody. So the foreman would have to call everybody, at the end of the day if they had a new guy, and let them know they were coming here or whatever. Just having that direct line of communication to your field workers was, I guess something we didn't realize we needed until we knew that was something that was out there. I mean, honestly it's just the progression of technology is ever evolving and so are we, and we just wanted to kinda be up with the times and found you guys.
Maintenance tracking was all done on paper, causing delays
Scheduling was not the only process Terra wanted to improve. Equipment maintenance was also tracked through a paper-based system.
Before IVO, equipment maintenance cards, repair cards, and service cards were filled out by hand. Those cards had to make their way back to the office, where the information was entered into another system. From there, reports were created to show what maintenance was coming due or already needed attention.
By the time the information was collected, entered, reviewed, and turned into a report, the maintenance picture was already behind.
Seth described the process as a cycle that restarted every month. Cards came in one week. Data management followed. Questions had to be answered: Did all the cards come in? Were they timely? Were they legible? Were they correct? Then reports were created, maintenance work began, and the whole process started again.
For Ryan Baumann, Terra’s Heavy Equipment Manager, that delay created real challenges. Equipment could be approaching a service interval, but by the time the paperwork was submitted and reviewed, the service was already overdue. Repair needs could also get relayed manually, adding another layer of memory and follow-up to an already busy day.
“You feel like you got all this work that's sitting out there, and you're not getting anything done because it just keeps compounding.”
— Ryan Baumann, Heavy Equipment Manager
The issue was not that Terra lacked a process, but instead that their process was too cumbersome and time-consuming to support proactive maintenance. Too many steps stood between the field, the shop, the office, and the people who needed the information.
Ryan Baumann, Equipment and Shop Manager for down in the main shop, Heavy Equipment Manager I guess, if you wanna be technical. Should've grabbed my card... I'm in charge of dispatching mechanics out to the field, responding to foremen with any repair inquiries, day-to-day repair on the equipment, managing oil changes, or anything like that. It was a lot of memory and paper-based, I would say. It was a pain. Big time. Before, everything was on a little card. Right? It would be, you'd have an equipment maintenance card. Fill that out every day. You'd have an equipment repair card. Fill that out as needed when a repair was needed. Then you had service cards for once they did get serviced in the shop, you'd have to fill that out. If you think about it, by the time we fill out all the cards, they get submitted that week. You got one week of cards now coming in. Now you got another week of probably data management. Did all the cards come in? Were they timely? Were they legible? Were they correct? So now you got another week. You're on week two of maintenance and repairs being reported. And then week three comes around. Here's the report. Week three and four, you're working through some of the maintenances, and then it starts all back over on week five as a new month. So there would be a lot of times where a piece of equipment would be coming close to due and once that paperwork was resubmitted we found out that a lot of the equipment was overdue for services by the time it was actually due. You know? The other thing that was a real problem was that if there was anything that needed to be repaired, it got relayed onto me. And we kinda put it in a punching order. You try to remember because you have a million things going on in one day. I mean, it's not nearly that bad, but it can get pretty chaotic. So, yeah there was just a lot of lost time. It really compounded on a guy because you feel like you got all this work that's sitting out there, and you're not getting anything done because it just keeps on getting— it keeps building and keeps compounding on top of that, you know? I mean, there was times when we actually did knock it down quite a bit, but it never went away by any means.
Why Terra Chose IVO Systems Over Competitors
Terra did not need software that forced them into a completely unfamiliar way of working, or a system that was overly complex. They needed a system that fit the way they already thought about scheduling, equipment, and maintenance - but made that process faster, cleaner, and easier to manage.
That was part of what stood out about IVO Systems.
When Seth first saw the platform, the scheduling layout felt familiar. Terra had already built a scheduling process in Excel that reflected how their team planned work. IVO gave them a cleaner, more connected way to do the same kind of work without moving cells around, reformatting schedules, and sending out updated spreadsheets every day.
“[IVO] was so similar to what we were already doing in Excel, but it allowed us to do everything more efficiently.”
— Seth Zimmerman, Vice President of Operations
Terra’s original priorities were straightforward: make scheduling more efficient and fix maintenance tracking. Other systems they reviewed tended to lean more heavily toward one side or the other. IVO gave them scheduling and maintenance together, with additional tools that could support the rest of their operation as their use expanded.
Adoption was another concern. Like many contractors, Terra had people in the field who were not necessarily looking for more technology in their day. Seth was bought in early, but he was more concerned about how the everyday users in the field would respond.
That concern faded once people started using it.
Cory Hermanson, an operator foreman at Terra, described himself plainly: not a tech person. Even so, after a short learning curve, the using the system felt natural and made his day-to-day work easier, not harder.
Implementation was also more straightforward than expected. Terra already had much of its information organized in spreadsheets, which made the initial setup process easier to work through. Once the team committed to the switch, Seth said the process was not nearly as difficult as he expected.
Just conversations in the office of like, "How do we start progressing forward with different things, whether it's technology or— and that be equipment or the schedule. And then just kinda doing a general search of who was out. IVO was new at the time. I got in front of your team and just really talked about what you guys were all about and quite frankly just the setup of the program, and it was so similar to what we were already doing in Excel, but it allowed us to do everything more efficiently. I mean— if you looked at our setup before, it was literally identical to what you see on ScheduleVO. So, you know, our two things we wanted from the get-go was just how do we fix scheduling or not fix, but make it more efficient, and how do we actually fix maintenance. Looked at a small handful, I wouldn't say there's a bunch out there that are really what our industry is looking for from full schedule to maintenance tracking. Others were: "We do more maintenance," or, "We do more schedule." So that made it really easy to obviously keep leaning in and seeing what else you guys had. Honestly, the decision was easy for us because you guys, again, just had everything that we wanted. All the other things that came with it were just perks. I'm honestly not the most tech-savvy person. I always joke that I'm a dumb smartphone user. So you're kinda making this big jump hoping someone's gonna catch you, and I had really no idea what to expect on— it looked good on paper. Looks good on the computer, I should say. And I was bought in pretty quickly, but I was more nervous about the actual users every day. I'm not a tech person. You know, they gave us a cheat sheet at the beginning just to run through it so you knew how to do it, but after you do it a couple times it goes pretty easy. It's similar to a spreadsheet on Excel. I mean, you're cutting and dragging and pointing and clicking. So I mean, for the most part, it was pretty user-friendly. Once we got it implemented, the ease of it was so obvious that there was really no— there was really nothing to be afraid of any longer. I mean, again, you guys have developed a software and a program that is intended for not tech-savvy people. I mean, it's just that easy to use. So, yeah I would say there was more— there was some skepticism across the board, but again, once everyone started getting their hands on it, that was resolved pretty quickly and went away. Once we just ripped the Band-Aid off and fully sat down and committed to like, these are all the things we have to do, implementation really wasn't that bad. It was easier than I thought. We already had such a good solid platform being such an Excel-based company that it was honestly a copy and paste of cells and that was super straightforward.
How Terra Uses IVO Today
Today, IVO helps Terra keep daily operations connected across scheduling, equipment tracking, and maintenance. Instead of separate systems that create extra handoffs, Terra can work from shared information that stays visible to the people who need it.
For Seth, that connection between modules is a major part of the value. ScheduleVO, TrackVO, and MaintainVO all support different parts of the operation, but they feel like they're all working together in one integrated system.
He keeps multiple IVO tabs open throughout the day so he can move between the schedule, equipment locations, and maintenance information as decisions come up.
“There's nothing that feels like it's separate systems... they all communicate together.”
— Seth Zimmerman, Vice President of Operations
For Chris, ScheduleVO helps with the day-to-day planning that used to happen in spreadsheets and emails. He can look ahead, see where people and equipment are scheduled, and coordinate equipment moves with the shop and trucking vendors. When equipment moves are part of that workflow, DispatchVO helps keep that information tied to the schedule instead of scattered across emails and separate documents.
TrackVO adds another layer of visibility. Instead of paging through spreadsheets or trying to remember where a machine is located, Terra can quickly look up equipment and see what job it's on. That makes it easier to decide whether a machine can be moved, whether another job needs it, or whether maintenance should happen where the equipment already is.
“...we can count almost on one hand the number of times we've needed to try and find a missing attachment or even a machine because of IVO Systems. That alone probably saves us around $5,000-$10,000 a year in wasted time, not to mention being more efficient with the work.”
— Seth Zimmerman, Vice President of Operations
MaintainVO helps the shop and field stay connected on maintenance and repair needs. When a foreman or operator submits a repair form, Ryan receives the information by email and text, reviews what needs to be done, and decides what should come next - whether that's creating a work order, or talking through a quick repair over the phone. EqInspectVO supports that equipment-focused workflow by allowing field employees to submit custom, equipment-specific inspection forms directly from a phone or tablet.
While some of Terra's equipment fleet has built-in telematics, the team is satisfied using TrackVO, DispatchVO, and EqInspectVO to track their assets manually on IVO's online magnet board for equipment. Seth says there's no issue keeping up with hour meters or with losing equipment/attachments - since everyone has real-time visibility - and the investment into telematics for the rest of their fleet just wouldn't make sense at this point.
Out in the field, the difference shows up in everyday communication. With everyone receiving ScheduleVO notifications, foremen no longer have to relay every schedule update to every crew member manually - field employees receive all the information they need via interactive texts.
Just kind of going around and looking at all the modules, I would say yeah, there's nothing that feels like it's separate different systems by any means. I mean, they all communicate together. I honestly have ScheduleVO, TrackVO, and MaintainVO all as separate tabs on my computer. That's just a personal preference because I like to be able to see where something's at, but then bring up the maintenance of a couple pieces of equipment that are on that job and evaluate it. It's nicer to project your schedule out a week in advance or whatnot to see what holes you have. It's right there in front of you instead of having multiple spreadsheets open for each day and going bouncing back and forth, everything is there. So it's easier to visualize on that aspect of it. Now everybody gets that [ScheduleVO] text. So that way, the only reason I gotta call them if it's like an early start time or special pickup place, you know, something like that. But other than that, everybody gets the same thing I do, an address, where we're going, where the job is. Saves me a lot of phone calls. And the other advantage obviously is, you know, you have it on your desktop, you can have it on your phone, you can have it on your iPad, that it's always available to look at and view. Whereas before, it was a spreadsheet so you had to zoom in and try to find stuff, you know, where [IVO Systems] you can type in just a couple letters and then it'll populate and you can find the machine and what job it's at— instead of looking back and paging through what job is that on and whatnot. That is definitely just a huge plus just locating equipment where it's at and how I can proceed to use it or move it if somebody else needs it. So typically there's a few things that end up happening. They'll fill out a repair form. I get notified via email and text message, so I see them. They come through, I get them on my computer, I look at them and see what needs to be done. And then I either, you know, look at it and determine if I gotta start a work order or if I can just say, "Alright, well, this is what we're gonna do." We're gonna walk through it over the phone and just kinda knock it off that way. I mean, that's where this system's nice, at least, that— everything's livestreamed. I mean, we're being a lot more proactive than we are, you know, being reactive. Tenfold I would say. Yeah it's been really great, honestly. Saves everybody a lot of time. Even the guys in the office call us and say, "Your backhoe is due for an oil change in twenty five or forty hours. Try to line something up now instead of the day you need it." So I mean it helps both ways, for us and in the office. Now that everyone's checking it from our field to even our vendor who's doing all of our trucking, everything is just so much more proactive. You know, you're staying ahead of so many more things— and having way less phone calls, way less emails. Again, it's just all live data that's right there at all times.
The Outcome: A More Connected and Efficient Operation at Terra Engineering
For Terra, the biggest impact has not come from one isolated feature or tool within the platform. It has come from reducing the number of people who have to touch the same information before work can move forward.
We still don't even utilize everything and we still feel like we're light-years ahead of where we were. Just having the live data and I guess going from a reactive maintenance program to a proactive maintenance program, that has been, I'm not going say life changing but it's made a huge difference in the company and keeping things more efficient and jobs rolling and, you know, crews efficient as far as having equipment makes it easier for us to decide do we need to just do this maintenance on-site? Do we need to just pull it out and swap it? So now, at any given time I feel like we hardly ever go over ten pieces of equipment on the Maintenance Dashboard because we are getting the information updated so quickly. So I would say just having the real-time input has been drastically different in a good way being that we're just staying so far ahead of everything. I mean it's at your fingertips, you know, that's huge. You don't have to open up several programs to see what's going on and whether it's accurate or not. That makes it huge, I think. That's a huge time saver— hands down. It's hours a week for multiple people, right? I mean, you're talking— if you're filling out the cards all week as a foreman and you gotta drive them all the way over across town or maybe you're not even working in town, so you got a half hour drive I mean, I gotta say you're saving 10-20 hours of messing around a week for multiple people all added together, right? Because that's including your field staff, that's including then not just your maintenance manager, but the other mechanics. And then you're talking about your admin in the office who's doing all the processing of the information, then quite frankly, myself as a manager and Chris, who's our scheduling manager and helps work with the equipment. Yeah, I mean there's a lot of people whose hands are involved the old way, compared to now it's quick click of a button and it's all right there. Yeah it has definitely helped in the long run. I was a little pessimistic at first just because you're stuck in your own way, and this is how I've been doing it for so long. But I think you would be happy with it after using it for a little while. Definitely. Your biggest jump is just committing to doing it and if you're on the fence, my only recommendation would be sign up with IVO for a year, give it a try, and if you're really not sold, you can not sign up again. But in all honesty you're going to get a couple months into it and you're going to think about, 'What do I wanna do for renewal and for how long?' I mean, I just I don't see someone getting involved and not liking it. So ultimately, the end-all be-all is if you're unsure, try it, but you're going to be convinced rather quickly as to why that was a good decision. Truthfully, I can't imagine going back and doing the old process. Again, no knock on how we did it before. This just wasn't an option fifteen, twenty years ago. So, yeah I can't imagine doing something different from what we're doing right now. It would literally slow things down again.
Seth estimates that IVO saves Terra 10 to 20 hours each week across field staff, mechanics, maintenance managers, office administrators, schedulers, and operations leaders.
“You're saving 10-20 hours of messing around a week for multiple people all added together.”
— Seth Zimmerman, Vice President of Operations
The time savings come from removing friction across the process. Instead of waiting on cards, tracking down spreadsheets, making extra calls, or re-entering information, the team can get to the information they need faster.
As Seth put it, there used to be a lot of hands involved in every process. Now, more of that information is a quick click away.
That visibility has helped Terra stay ahead of work instead of constantly reacting to it. Schedules are easier to update and share, equipment locations and details are easier to find, maintenance needs are easier to stay ahead of. Crews and foremen get clearer information, and the office and shop can make better decisions before issues turn into bigger problems.
Maintenance has been one of the clearest examples. With live data and better visibility, Terra can make faster decisions about whether to service equipment on-site, pull it from a job, or swap it with another machine. That helps keep jobs moving and reduces the risk of preventable downtime.
“It's made a huge difference in the company and keeping things more efficient and jobs rolling.”
— Seth Zimmerman, Vice President of Operations
For a company that had built strong processes long before IVO existed, the point is not that the old way was wrong. It worked for a long time. But as Terra’s operation became more complex, the old way could not provide the same visibility, speed, and connection.
“Truthfully, I can't imagine going back and doing the old process.”
— Seth Zimmerman, Vice President of Operations
Learn more about Terra Engineering & Construction here.
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