Big-D Construction Improves Profitability, Collaboration, and Scheduling Efficiency with Planera

Overview

Salt Lake City-based Big-D Construction Corp. is a nationally recognized contractor overseeing diverse project portfolios in healthcare, multifamily, industrial, commercial, mission critical and more. Among its largest emerging needs has been a robust scheduling method to unify pre-construction teams, field operations, subcontractors and owners.

Big-D faced recurring scheduling bottlenecks and low collaboration among team members using traditional construction scheduling platforms. This resulted in outdated schedules, reactive delay handling, and margin erosion from last-minute overtime costs.

With the adoption of Planera, Big-D schedulers and estimators dramatically increased scheduling efficiency and transparency, creating a real-time “single source of truth.” The switch propelled them to reduce schedule preparation times, bolster cross-team engagement, and enhance early detection of delays to avoid costly claims.

The Challenge: Complex Scheduling and Low Visibility

Historically, Big-D project teams relied on either P6 or Microsoft Project, each requiring specialized expertise. Schedulers and project managers often built schedules in one tool, only to distribute static PDFs to site teams and owners. This meant that valuable field input or quick schedule changes were slow to be captured, if at all. Although Big-D employs many experienced schedulers, not everyone in the organization has the training or comfort level to actively update these traditional platforms.

Disconnected Stakeholders

Schedules often existed in a vacuum. Many owners, architects, and subcontractors simply saw high-level Gantt charts or PDF snapshots rather than the full project logic. In preconstruction especially, where design and permitting steps can delay groundbreaks, Big-D needed better ways to show each stakeholder’s responsibilities and deadlines. Without visible links between tasks or a user-friendly interface, it was easy for teams to overlook critical predecessors or miss small delays that could snowball into larger issues.

Avoidable Time and Cost Impacts

A lack of real-time schedule updates meant Big-D’s teams were sometimes catching impacts and claim-related events late. Internal analyses suggested that incomplete or late adjustments to schedules could contribute to margin erosion, overtime costs, and even legal disputes over delay claims. While the organization wanted to capture changes immediately (like unexpected site conditions or design revisions), many teams found it cumbersome to dive into P6 or Project mid-stream.

Planera’s Impact

A More Visual, Streamlined Interface

Planera’s Canvas view (a virtual “whiteboard”) lets users place tasks, connect dependencies, and visually map sequences without juggling long lists of activity IDs. In preconstruction, this meant a senior estimator could quickly outline scopes (e.g., design submissions, permit steps, subcontractor milestones) and highlight dependencies in real time. Field teams and owners—who rarely accessed scheduling software before—were more willing to provide accurate dates or feedback once they saw a clear, interactive workflow. 

The canvas view allows users to visually link activities, milestones, and deliverables in a flowchart-like interface. Schedulers can see immediate logic relationships without sifting through activity IDs.

From preconstruction through execution, Big-D managers found it simpler to “drag and drop” tasks rather than memorize complicated sequence IDs. 

As Michael Hulse, a Preconstruction Lead, explained, “It’s more of a ‘planner board’ feel. You’re just dragging lines to the other tasks, which is more basic and intuitive than hunting for an ID.”

Fast Onboarding and Low Training Burden

Most Big-D personnel said they needed minimal formal training—often just a short web session or recorded videos—before creating entire schedules in Planera. Project managers commented that routine updates could be done in minutes rather than the half-hour or more required with other tools. 

“The learning curve for someone with scheduling experience is really quick, far faster than P6. I can log in, do my update in 5 or 10 minutes, and move on,” said Senior Project Manager Mitch Deusenbery.

Flexible Scenario Planning

A key challenge Big-D frequently faced was evaluating multiple “what-if” timelines—especially for preconstruction tasks that could overlap or compress. Planera’s Versions feature enabled teams to make a copy of the current schedule, test a new phase overlap, and compare results immediately. Several Big-D schedulers noted that performing this iterative process in P6 would have meant lengthy exports and multiple stand-alone files.

“We created multiple versions in a single day. In Microsoft Project, that would have meant building separate files and juggling updates. With Planera, it’s point-and-click,” said Scott Pardee, Senior Estimator.

Continuous, Centralized Collaboration

Rather than rely on version after version of static PDF schedules, Big-D’s teams found benefit in Planera’s built-in collaboration.

In preconstruction, owners and design partners were given the option to log into a shared environment to see and provide input on submittals, permitting timelines, and design reviews. “From a scheduling standpoint, this is one of the most user-friendly software platforms I’ve ever worked with. Logging in is effortless, and using its features is seamless, with minimal lag or delay. Plus, the ability to collaborate with team members has been a breath of fresh air.” Deusenbery said.

Built-In Schedule Quality Checks

Planera includes a quality check mechanism that flags missing logic and activity constraints, encouraging teams to fix gaps early. This lowers the risk of overlooked dependencies or large float issues remaining hidden until late in the project. It also improved communication around what might still be needed from design teams, owners, or city agencies. This was especially helpful in preconstruction, where capturing potential delays up front can avoid last-minute fire drills:

“Planera includes a quality check mechanism that was definitely helpful. Because if you get in there and perform the checks manually, you might miss something and it’s good to see that pop up,” said Pardee.

Outcomes

Reduced Delays and Improved Cost Impacts

By integrating scheduling into real-time workflows, Big-D aims to eliminate costly delays and significantly reduce overspending on General Conditions—an area where inefficiencies were costing the company in excess of 5 million annually. “Planera can help us knock that number down,” stated COO, Troy S. Thompson. “If we get our teams to where we want them, we could recover half or even three-quarters of that amount.”

Increased Collaboration Across Teams

By providing a more user-friendly interface, Planera attracted participation from both scheduling veterans and less experienced team members. Senior estimators, for instance, could collaborate directly with site superintendents to refine durations and avoid last-minute surprises. “Planera has changed the game. They’ve made scheduling significantly easier without sacrificing powerful capabilities. Now, a broad array of project team participants can participate in schedule development. By democratizing scheduling this way, Planera has helped us to make our schedules more accurate and more efficient,” noted Thompson.

Reduced Schedule Creation Time

Planera’s drag-and-drop canvas, versioning, and quick search features let Big-D managers develop baseline schedules and scenario plans more rapidly. They spent less time manipulating activity codes and more time discussing real-world sequencing with field staff and owners.

Improved Risk Mitigation

Real-time updates and a proactive quality-check tool helped Big-D catch design or permitting delays early. By documenting changes in the schedule as they arose, the company reduced the risk of claims and overtime work escalating at the end of a project.

Seamless Handoffs Between Preconstruction and Operations

With Planera, a precon team can build a phase-by-phase schedule that’s then carried forward by the operations group without the need to recreate it in P6. Direct export functionality (or optional “dual-use” with P6) allows continuity and preserves the planning insights that are usually lost in translation.

Simplified Stakeholder Engagement

Owners, architects, and subcontractors who had seldom logged into scheduling platforms became more willing to do so. When they opted not to, Big-D could still present granular schedule detail or scenario comparisons via Planera’s PDF exports, ensuring every stakeholder stayed informed.