About Van Ausdall & Farrar

Bowen Engineering

When Indianapolis-based general contractor, Bowen Engineering found themselves in a technology challenge, they called on Van Ausdall & Farrar to create an innovative, one-of-a-kind field operations solution that was both flexible and cost effective.

The Company

Bowen Engineering is a self-performing general contractor with headquarters in Indianapolis and operation centers across the United States. The company delivers engineering, procurement, and construction services for complex projects all over the country. Bowen regularly executes projects for private and municipal water/wastewater clients, energy providers, and industrial clients in a variety of markets.

Because Bowen’s work is primarily in the field, the firm requires temporary technology capabilities and equipment at each jobsite.

The Objective

Bowen teams are typically on a job for anywhere between six to 24 months at a time and utilize leased technology equipment on site. Bowen works simultaneously on an average of 40 different sites throughout the country. After a major project is completed, the leased equipment moves to storage. The problem with this approach is Bowen was spending more than necessary because of the lease terms.

Van Ausdall & Farrar’s objective was to trim Bowen’s technology budget for onsite equipment, allow for flexibility, deploy printing strategies, help the company manage its inventory, and inspect the equipment to ensure it is functioning properly.

The Strategy

After becoming acquainted with Bowen’s operations in the field and recognizing that the lease program that was in place was costly, Van Ausdall created a rental program for Bowen to trim costs and streamline set-up. The strategy would lesson the burden on Bowen’s limited IT staff of four. The Bowen and Van Ausdall teams meet quarterly to ensure appropriate planning and smooth execution.

With each onsite set up, Van Ausdall creates a functioning office in the field including internet and Ethernet capabilities. With each project’s end, Van Ausdall is able to inventory and inspect each piece of equipment.

The Results

Van Ausdall has been working with Bowen for four years under this strategy with wins in flexibility, security, and managing growth.

  1. The savings from implementing a rental program have been well over $100,000 per year.
  2. Bowen is not longer paying for equipment to sit in storage saving thousands per month.
  3. Technology upgrades when needed have been easy to include with each new project.

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