How Wright-Ryan Construction Modernized Precon with Ediphi

Brian Labossier got his start in construction during the long New England summers while attending Southern New Hampshire University, when he worked as a carpenter.

That was a big contrast from school, where he studied accounting. He enjoyed his time on site, working with his hands, and seeing a building go up around him. That led to him pursuing a career in estimating, or, as he puts it, “a more exciting version of accounting.”

Now eleven years into his career, Brian is a Senior Estimator and Preconstruction Manager at Wright-Ryan Construction, a commercial and high-end residential GC in Portland, Maine.

With a team of four estimators in the commercial division creating, on average, one estimate every two weeks, Wright-Ryan needed a modern estimating solution that could speed up their process. That’s what led him to Ediphi.

“I like how it’s not trying to do too many things”, Brian says. “Ediphi is doing it right and focusing on the estimating side, making that tool run as well as possible. That’s what drove me to it.”

Intrigued, Brian got set up with a sandbox account and started testing the platform.

When asked to describe Ediphi, “flexible” was his choice.

“With your Unit Price Catalog, I can have as many sort fields as I want and I can customize all of those sort fields," said Brian.

Another thing that stood out? Ediphi’s unique, systems-based approach to estimating. 

“It’s a little bit of a learning curve, but once you get over that hump, it makes all the sense in the world,” he said. “Instead of just grabbing a template, you’re building it from the Area Sheet. You’re building it from Use Groups, and you’re actually thinking about the estimate like you would a building, which is a different way of doing it.”

The result? Massive time savings. 

With around 95% of their work either negotiated or CM at-risk, the Wright-Ryan team historically spent a lot of time creating conceptual budgets for RFP’s — which was a bit at odds with what prospective clients actually wanted.

“A lot of requests for proposals, they’re just looking for GC’s and fee, not a full blown estimate right outta the gate,” Brian said. That’s where Ediphi really shined. “On a conceptual budget, you’re going to cut from eight hours to one hour,” he said.

On bigger projects, it’s a bit of a different story. The time savings is still there, but it appears in a different way.

“On those bigger projects where you’re building out your schematic design with all your line items, I feel like I’m spending more time in Ediphi. But it’s saving a bunch of time that I don’t have to spend in takeoffs. I don’t have to go back and forth among 30 spreadsheets — it’s all living in Ediphi.” 

And while the time savings is great, it’s not Brian’s favorite aspect of the tool.

By his own admission, Brian has strict reporting requirements for the software he uses. 

“I have a vision for our reports that’s beyond what any other platform has been able to do,” he said. But with Ediphi’s direct Excel integration and customization, that gap is rapidly closing. 

“Ediphi has a lot more customization with 'Last Mile'... It’s two clicks with Ediphi, and other tools, it’s an hour process,” Brian said. “Ediphi is getting pretty darn close to making that work how I envision it.” 

After six months using the platform, would Brian recommend it to others?

“Yep,” he quipped. “And I have, and if any of those companies do it, I expect Ryan to be taking me golfing here,” he joked. 

We’re lining up the expense account and putting lessons for Ryan now.