We now have the ability to take on more contracts and process higher quantities of orders because Field Materials has been a game changer for us.
Carwile Mechanical is a full-service mechanical contractor based in Cookeville, Tennessee, with a rich history and proud family ownership. It was founded in 1961, and more than 55 years later the company is still delivering the highest quality commercial, industrial, and residential mechanical work across the region. Despite the decades of expansion and nearly 100 employees, Carwile remains grounded in founding values of craftsmanship, fairness, and Gary Carwile’s promise of being, “big enough to accommodate, but small enough to appreciate.”
As Carwile’s project pipeline and prefabrication operations continued to grow, the company recognized that it needed a better process to manage materials across the field, prefab shop, and the back office.
We now have the ability to take on more contracts and process higher quantities of orders because Field Materials has been a game changer for us.
Before Carwile Mechanical adopted Field Materials construction material tracking software, both procuring and receiving materials on the job site were manual and time-consuming processes. Field crews could not create or reserve POs without either calling, texting or emailing the office the materials they need. The receiving department then had to review these notes (often handwritten) to create itemized POs. It took a lot of time to type or copy-and-paste line items into Viewpoint Vista to create POs.
When materials arrived on site, field crews texted or emailed photos of packing slips. The receiving team then had to manually find the corresponding PO and record received quantities. As Erin says, “it was someone’s full time job to pull all information from different departments.”
The receiving department spent over 50% of their time manually entering data. As Carwile prefab operations grew and project volume increased, the shortcomings of the existing process became clear. The company needed a modern, scalable solution to reduce administrative burden and support continuous growth.
At least 50% of the receiving department’s time was spent manually entering data, and a large part of this was copy and pasting line items.
Field Materials construction material tracking software helped Carwile eliminate data entry and automate material procurement. Field crews now create and reserve POs on the job site using the mobile app. No more phone calls, texts or emails. Carwile Mechanical relies on Field Materials AI to instantly create POs from vendor quotes, PDFs, and photos of field requisitions without any manual data entry in Viewpoint Vista.
Receiving has also been transformed. Field crews now use the mobile app to take photos of packing slips and pick tickets and the AI automatically matches them to the correct PO. The receiving team no longer needs to manually search for the right PO when verifying deliveries.
Carwile has also adopted Field Materials’ prefab module, which helped immediately eliminate the need for spreadsheets and inconsistent procurement practices in the prefab shop. It freed up valuable time for its team, who can now worry less about manual data entry and busywork.
As Erin explained, “Prefab has changed our industry the last few years. And Field Materials AI is changing how we do prefab. The majority of our jobs are prefab. We had tried using smart sheets, but nothing worked as well as Field Materials. It simplified the entire process.”
Before Field Materials AI, Carwile had to hire additional help to cope with the growing backlog of jobs. Field Materials has greatly increased the capacity of its team and now they can take on even more work.
Field Materials has essentially freed up the equivalent of a full-time position across our receiving, field operations, and AP departments.
Field Materials AI streamlined material procurement for the field, back office, and prefab shop staff, helping Carwile Mechanical continue growing strong.
