Therma’s steady growth and sterling reputation over the decades has been driven in part by its highly motivated and skilled innovators, each with their own approach to process—which also resulted in a disjointed recordkeeping system. They chose Procore’s scalable construction management platform to standardize their project processes and centralize their document management, creating seamless collaboration, complete flexibility across project types, and a single source of truth and project data accessible to all. Now, workers collaborate through a common platform with deep visibility into all the information they need, all available on mobile devices.
Silicon Valley’s Mechanical Contractor
Founded in 1967 in the area that would come to be known as Silicon Valley, by 1970, Therma’s clients included semiconductor companies before anyone knew what a semiconductor was. Therma made it a practice to put only the best and brightest self-starters in the field, the better to stay atop Silicon Valley’s continually cresting wave. They became known as the go-to specialty contractor for biopharmaceutical and life sciences companies, data centers, and other technologically complex builds.
Compared with other platforms, “Procore is more automated, it’s more collaborative, and it’s a better tool for bridging the office and the field.”
—Greg Conn, Director of Operations, Therma
Greg Conn, director of operations at Therma, explained, “The company grew organically, and its success came from the motivated people who worked here. As the company grew, there were a lot of individual worker methodologies with little standardization. A project’s actual documentation could live on someone’s personal computer or somewhere else. Locating project files and records proved challenging if you were not the author. There were a lot of people doing it their own way.”
Sandra Sherry, Therma’s virtual design and construction (VDC) software manager, concurred. “There was no single standard. Many people used spreadsheets and a variety of different apps that they might personally download to help with documentation. There was no unifying tool or process,” said Sherry.
One Platform, One Standard
For 50 years, Therma’s success has been fueled by their unique ability to do it all—from a one-day fabrication to a $30-million data center job. Therma chose Procore’s construction management platform because it flexes to accommodate Therma’s diversity of projects in a collaborative, transparent ecosystem. Procore automatically standardizes project workflows, streamlines cross-project coordination and communication, and seamlessly connects field and office teams.
Sherry described one example of how Therma leveraged Procore to increase transparency. “I was hearing that the field wanted the ability to view the models on their mobile devices,” Sherry said. “We utilized Procore’s Models tool to train all detailers on how to publish a model, and within an hour of publishing, the field could see the model and walk through it. The feedback was amazing.”
Therma evaluated several other construction-focused software, said Conn. Before they committed to another platform, though, Therma’s CEO, Jeff Sprau, wanted another look at Procore, which seemed more aligned with Therma’s needs and plans for growth. After a thorough leveling process, Procore beat the competition by including the most value in one platform—as well as the best price. “Looking back, we have not second-guessed our decision,” said Conn. “Procore is more automated, it’s more collaborative, and it’s a better tool for bridging the office and the field.”
Download Procore’s Construction Activity Index, which aggregates jobsite activity from Procore as well as publicly available information to measure construction activity across the country: https://www.procore.com/ebooks/construction-activity-index
For more information, visit www.procore.com.
