How is it almost 2025? I don’t know about you but I still catch myself writing “2022” in my notes and absolutely cannot wrap my head around the fact that it’s been five years since COVID-19 began. But I digress. This was a year of massive growth at SmartPM, not just for our valued customers and partners but for our company as well.
So, as we close out 2024, I’d like to reflect on the wins, the lessons, and the areas where we helped teams get more time back to their day to do what matters most: building a better future. After all, construction revolves around planning for what’s next – and learning what came before.
Most Used Feature: Schedule Quality Checker → Because Trustworthy Schedules Start with Quality Data
There’s a reason we built SmartPM the way we did – schedule quality first. It’s no surprise, then, that our Schedule Quality Checker was the #1 most used feature in 2024. Why? Because trustworthy schedules start with quality data.
At this point, most schedulers understand the concept of a Schedule Quality Checker, so I won’t waste your time explaining it. What I will do, though, is explain my favorite use case.
I heard it more this year than in years past – “It’s like going back to school.” As anyone in construction knows, the industry is full of go-getters, and the right tools can help bring that out. For instance, A “C” schedule often motivates teams to do what’s needed to get it to a higher grade. The good news is that this is like an open book test, where you get as many cracks at the grading until you get that A!
The result? Trustworthy schedules you can use to manage the job. But don’t just take my word for it:
“SmartPM creates a positive feedback loop. When our people keep getting better quality scores, the more they trust the metrics that are being produced. And that not only leads to better outcomes, but it also spurs better, more productive discussions and then better maintenance of the schedule.”
– Tom Carolan, Director of Scheduling, Barton Malow Builders
“Our people love the Quality Checker. All you do is drop your file in, it runs through a rapid analysis, then it spits out a report about the file. It’s sort of like a ‘cleanser’ – it looks at the schedule, tells you what to clean and fix, after which you simply re-submit your file.”
– Joe Mannon, Director of Scheduling, Manhattan Construction.
Over the past 5 years, we’ve watched schedule quality turn into a game worth playing, with more and more project teams striving for higher scores every update. Because a great schedule isn’t just a box to check. It’s a tool to trust.
Helping Save Thousands of Hours by Saying Goodbye to Manual Reporting
Back when I was a forensic delay analyst, analyzing schedules was one thing – reporting on the findings was another beast entirely. I could see the story in the data, but presenting it in a way that executives and teams could act on took hours of slicing, reformatting, and reworking.
The problem is, not everyone speaks schedule. Executives need the big picture. Project teams need details. You need to tell the story – fast. Enter the highly anticipated Custom Report Builder with automated subscriptions—regarded as the biggest time-saving feature of 2024. Here’s why:
“With the custom reporting feature, every time a schedule is synced, everyone – me, the senior project managers, the entire team – can get the same report with the data most important to us and go from there.”
– Taylor Shapland, Project Executive, NGC Group
“Because of SmartPM, now that we have data readily available, we don’t have to wait two weeks before we receive the Project Performance Report. The amount of time SmartPM saves us, combined with the presentation of analytics, allows us to convey information about our projects more proactively than ever before.”
– Seth Jeffrey, Director of Scheduling, Satterfield & Pontikes Construction.
This year, reporting on the schedule definitely got smarter. Noise out, clarity in. And for anyone who’s lived through the pain of manual reporting, that’s something worth celebrating.
Favorite Report: Should Start / Finish Report
Having hard conversations helps you grow – but let’s be honest, they’re not fun. At least for me, they’re nowhere near the top of my list of favorite things to do at work. Maybe they’re on yours, I don’t know. What I do know is this: having the right data makes hard conversations a little easier. And that makes all the difference.
The Should Start / Should Finish Report has been SmartPM’s most popular report for three years running – and it’s no surprise why. Trying to make heads or tails of a 1,000+ activity Gantt chart can make anyone’s head spin. But breaking down the schedule into smaller chunks can be just what you need to get teams focused on what matters: Did we execute what we planned? If not, what needs to change?
“Being an Ex-Superintendent of 15 years, the Should Have Started/Finished Report really allows me to use my experience and credibility to ask the right questions to the project team and on-site.”
– Andy Dalbom, McCowanGordon Construction, Scheduling Manager
“The Should Start/Should Finish report is a quick and easy way to see what our schedule says should have started and should have finished in an update period.”
– Kerry Lorts S.M. Wilson, Director of Operations
This report is simple, direct, and powerful. It starts productive data-driven conversations by clearly showing what should have started and finished versus what actually did. Project teams can look back and ask, “Could we have managed differently?” – and apply those lessons moving forward to improve planning for the next period.
Favorite Trend: The Rise in Schedule Update Frequency
Let’s face it – entering progress data into your schedules can be a pain. Walking the jobsite, chasing down answers, and asking questions can feel like transactional garbage. So, why even bother?
I’ll tell you why: to know where you’re going, you need to know where you’ve been – with certainty. If you aren’t updating regularly – and doing it right – you risk two things:
- Losing trust in your schedule
- Missing out on critical insights about your project’s performance.
Our clients get this:
“For whatever reason, we weren’t always getting the weekly updates. That has changed since SmartPM can analyze the schedule instantly, which is far simpler than using our previous system to run through the schedule line by line. And since some of our project schedules contain 5000 or more line items, the time savings are dramatic.”
– Melanie Gilbertson, Director of Production Support, FlintCO
“SmartPM has transformed the way we manage schedules and schedule updating.”
– Frank Marsac, HPM, SR. VP of Operations
The more you update, the leaner you are. With the average number of updates increasing by 50% year over year for two years running, our users are the benefactors. Every update produced tells a story of delays caught, risks mitigated, and goals achieved. After all, it’s a lot harder to overcome a two-week delay at the end of the month than it is to overcome a two-day delay at the end of the week.
A Year of Unprecedented Growth, Recognition, and Milestones
2024 was a big year for us at SmartPM. We doubled our team, bringing on people with the experience, grit, and fresh perspectives needed to take SmartPM to the next level. Working with this group has been a highlight for me, and I can’t wait to see what 2025 has in store.
At the core of this progress was securing Series A funding from industry leaders who believe in what we’re doing: helping projects stay on time, on budget, and out of court. This investment says a lot about the impact we’re making – and the room we still have to grow.
“What excites us about SmartPM is how it helps construction executives and site teams solve operational problems by helping them understand the root cause and potential solutions for scheduling issues. This simple and easily adoptable solution delivers value without changing established schedule workflows. We are very much looking forward to continuing our collaboration with the SmartPM team, especially under the guidance of their exceptional leadership.”
– Matt Wheelis, SVP Strategy, Build & Construct at the Nemetschek Group
“It’s no surprise that the market’s response to SmartPM’s product is overwhelmingly favorable—we have never received more positive feedback from existing customers on any company or product in diligence. I am excited to join the board of directors, and our entire team is thrilled to be helping Mike Pink and his team grow their business going forward.”
– Jesse Devitte, Co-founder and General Partner at Building Ventures
We also earned recognition along the way, including being named one of Atlanta’s Best Places to Work in 2024. This is a testament to what I’m most proud of: the culture we’ve built – one that values hard work, innovation, and supporting each other as we keep improving.
Looking Ahead
As we head into 2025, we’re building on everything we’ve learned and achieved this year. SmartPM continues to grow because of the trust our customers place in us and the team that shows up every day to deliver.
Thank you to everyone who’s been part of this journey—your work matters, and it’s making a difference. 2025 is just around the corner, and we’re ready to keep building.
