LPL Solar LLC is a leader in the construction of utility-scale solar plants, renowned for its commitment to excellence and sustainability. With a strong emphasis on self-perform capabilities, LPL Solar caters to a diverse clientele, including utility companies and independent power producers. The company offers comprehensive Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) services, covering a broad spectrum of energy infrastructure, including PV Plants, Substations, Switchyards, and cutting-edge Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). Learn more at www.LPLSolar.com.
LOCATION
Fort Lauderdale, FL
CONTRACTOR TYPE
Specialty Contractor
TRADE
Solar
NO. OF EMPLOYEES
150 - 450
INTEGRATIONS
Solar Contractor Saves Foreman Over 7,800 Hours of Admin Work Annually
LPL Solar is an EPC (Engineer, Procure, and Construct) solar contractor for leading Utilities and Independent Power Producers (IPPs). Established in 2021, LPL Solar operates in multiple states across the US. LPL Solar has over 150 salaried employees with a fluctuating workforce of 300 temporary workers, depending on project demands. Finding new efficiencies to remain competitive as the company grows is essential to LPL Solar, and that’s where SmartBarrel has helped its foremen shine. With over 30 foremen, SmartBarrel has reduced the foremen’s workload by one hour per day, saving thousands of dollars per foreman per year.
Prior to contracting with SmartBarrel, LPL Solar’s employees and subcontractors had to clock in and out using paper timesheets.
BEFORE SMARTBARREL
The Foreman Challenge
Time tracking can be a nightmare for foremen. Each day, they need to:
- Track who is onsite and their arrival, break, and departure times,
- Note the number of workers on the job site,
- Document time and number of workers discrepancies,
- Add cost codes to shifts for productivity tracking and reporting; and,
- Approve all timesheets and ensure payroll has the correct hours.
Typically, foremen enter their crew’s time and supervise the job to ensure it’s on time and on budget. This added responsibility is prone to errors and miscommunication, impacting the foremen’s relationship with the workers. Providing foremen with the right tools that employees can trust reduces approval and reconciliation time while eliminating errors. The less time foremen spend on time tracking and approvals, the more focused they are on completing the project on time and on budget.
Huge Remote Jobsites
LPL Solar’s project sites are spread over many acres, with some sites having up to 27 entry points on a single job site. While multiple entry points make bringing equipment and employees onto the site more accessible, it makes a foreman’s job a nightmare needing more visibility when an employee enters or exits the site. Having the foremen enter in time for his crew makes it harder for them to ensure time tracking accuracy and sets up the foremen to have uncomfortable conversations with employees later on about when they arrived, took a break, and departed.
SmartBarrel’s Portable Time Clocks Never Fail
SmartBarrel’s portable time clocks enable employees to clock in/out on the job site easily by simply inputting their mobile number to clock in and out. The facial verification software validates that the same person is punching in and out under the mobile number. The boxes feature cellular connection with an antenna to boost connectivity in remote sites and a solar panel with a battery backup, so they work virtually everywhere without needing Wi-Fi or a power source. On an LPL Solar job site, 200 employees can check in on SmartBarrel and have accurate timesheets in under 15 minutes.
THE IMPACT
Improved and Trusted Time Tracking
With SmartBarrel’s unique facial verification time tracking, where workers are responsible for clocking themselves in and out on the job site, foremen and employees alike trust the time tracking process. As a result, foremen and employees don’t waste time talking about when employees arrive or leave. Foremen are now approving time in under 5 min for their entire crews and are confident everyone is paid correctly. Each foreman saved 1 hour per day on the time tracking process, translating into savings per year per foreman.
"With SmartBarrel, we've reached a 90% approval rate for time tracking, a massive improvement from our previous methods. This level of accuracy and speed in approvals has greatly reduced our administrative burden and resulted in significant savings."
–Michael Cottle, Project Executive
Accurate Job Costing with Procore Integration
SmartBarrel’s integration with Procore allows LPL Solar to be even more efficient. Projects and budgeted labor cost codes are synced from Procore to SmartBarrel. In SmartBarrel, foremen can easily apply cost codes to their crews’ shifts. Then, the data is seamlessly synced to Procore Timesheets within the workforce management module, allowing LPL Solar’s executives to see accurate productivity metrics within Procore in real-time. This data provides correct job cost information to ensure projects are on time and on budget and enables project managers to quote future projects more accurately.
"The seamless flow of data between the two platforms has streamlined our processes, ensuring our project management is more efficient and accurate than ever before."
The most accurate time clock in construction.
Powered by biometrics and AI, SmartBarrel completely automates time tracking and guarantees 100% accuracy.
