Customer: Gramercy Group | Product: Constrafor Contract Management
Since 1989, Gramercy Group has been a fixture in the New York metro area's construction landscape. What began as a specialized demolition and environmental remediation company has evolved into a versatile general contractor, capable of tackling complex projects across various sectors. For over three decades, Gramercy has prided itself on its ability to adapt and grow, always keeping pace with the industry's changing demands.
As GCs know all too well, growth often comes hand in hand with increased complexity. Gramercy's journey from a niche demolition contractor to a full-service general contractor is a story that many in the field can relate to. It's a tale of expanding capabilities, taking on larger projects, and navigating the intricate web of modern construction management.
To modernize their approach to construction management and build intelligent automation into their contract process, Gramercy Group turned to Constrafor.
Challenge
As Gramercy Group expanded from specialized demolition work into general contracting, they faced a new set of challenges. The transition brought increased complexity: more employees to manage, more software as mandated by the Owners, a multitude of tasks to oversee, and an ever-growing mountain of documentation to maintain. Gramercy's Technology Innovation Manager Zachary Ames recently summed up their challenging situation: "With that level of sophistication, it started to become obvious that without automation, you would have to simply have more and more employees doing these repetitive tasks."
This realization was a turning point for Gramercy. The company faced a critical decision: continue to expand their workforce to handle the increasing workload of repetitive tasks, or find a way to streamline their operations through technology. Recognizing that simply hiring more staff wasn't a sustainable long-term solution, Gramercy's leadership chose to tackle the challenge head-on by seeking out systems that could help them automate labor-intensive, repetitive tasks.
Solution
To find a software solution that could address Gramercy Group's needs, they evaluated a handful of systems including DocuSign. Ultimately, Gramercy chose Constrafor's Contract Management solution. Zachary emphasized the importance of industry-specific solutions: "Constrafor is construction industry-based, so the workflow was specific and therefore more efficient. They do a great job of streamlining the contract negotiation and subcontractor onboarding and management process."
Initially, Gramercy focused on utilizing Constrafor's contract management features to standardize their subcontractor agreements. This aligned perfectly with their transition to general contracting, as Zachary noted, "As we moved more into the general contracting side, we needed to focus on managing subcontractors. That's where our responsibilities were shifting." The cloud-based platform allowed Gramercy to digitize and automate their contract administration, eliminating cumbersome manual tasks and improving collaboration.
Results
The implementation of Constrafor's Contract Management solution at Gramercy Group was remarkably smooth, thanks to the platform's construction-specific design. "The process of automating contract management was minimally disruptive,” said Zachary. “Constrafor closely mirrored our existing workflows, which made it easy for our team members to adapt to the new system." The benefits were immediately apparent, with legal counsel and project managers praising the newfound visibility and organization. "Having everything in one place and being able to move these contracts along faster has gone a long way. The impact has been pretty substantial for us," Zachary added.
The shift to Constrafor's platform has freed up Gramercy's project managers and legal teams to focus on more strategic activities, reducing time spent on low-value tasks by 50%. This efficiency gain has led to faster project start times, reduced legal overhead, and increased satisfaction among both internal stakeholders and subcontractor partners.
For Gramercy, choosing Constrafor was not just about solving an immediate problem; it was about partnering with a solution provider that understood the unique challenges of the construction industry and could provide ongoing support as their business grows. With a foundation now built on Constrafor's scalable platform, Gramercy is poised to continue expanding its operations with confidence, knowing their contract management processes are future-ready.
