Paul McKeon, founder and CEO of B2W in Portsmouth, which has been acquired for an undisclosed amount to Trimble, a California-based technology company that also serves the construction industry. (Paul Briand)
B2W Software, a Portsmouth company founded in 1993 to create software to manage heavy civil construction projects has been sold to a California technology company with similar specialties.
Trimble, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Sept. 14 announced it offers purchased privately held the particular firm, which got its start on founder John McKeon’s a card table in the living room of his Stratham home more than 28 years ago.
Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. Operations as well as McKeon and the management team on Bow Street in Portsmouth are not expected to change with the sale.
In its announcement, Trimble said the particular passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and other infrastructure initiatives across the globe provides motivated building organizations in order to fast track the digitization of their processes and operations.
As infrastructure projects become increasingly complex, the company said, data-driven insights and analytics will be imperative to improve productivity, increase efficiency and drive sustainability.
“Practically speaking, the particular acquisition means business as usual for B2W customers and employees, ” McKeon said. “Trimble is looking to retain the entire group including the executive team. Trimble continues to be very enthusiastic about what they have seen from the particular team and the overall company. ”
He added that along with Trimble’s acquisition, “we can realize the next chapter of our story. By linking the planned using the executed, we will provide civil contractors with a truly connected construction experience, unlocking valuable new information for our customers across their entire operation. ”
B2W has more than 100 workers, with the particular majority based in Portsmouth. Trimble’s headcount is within the neighborhood associated with 11, 500.
“Seamlessly linked workflows are usually key to unlocking the true potential of a good organization’s data, ” stated Elwyn McLachlan, vice president of Trimble’s Civil Solutions Division. “With the purchase of B2W, Trimble will be able to provide an unparalleled end-to-end digital experience—connecting the digital to the physical—for heavy municipal and facilities contractors. ”
Heavy structure
McKeon’s original vision was to create a specialized software tool – which he called B2W Estimate — to replace pencil and paper in estimating the cost of design jobs before bidding with regard to a project. B2W Estimate ultimately became part of a suite of products contained in the company’s ONE Platform, which was formally introduced upon its 25th anniversary in 2019.
ONE – Operational Network Elements – unifies estimating, dispatching, data tracking and maintenance elements into a single unit. Other software companies offer construction management software, but in the piecemeal, disconnected way, according to McKeon.
The ONE suite’s newest addition is B2W Production Targets, which gives heavy building contractors access to a job’s progress more accurately in real time.
Without this ability, daily targets are typically set by averaging projected productivity from the original estimate evenly over the duration of a job or a particular phase. These averaged targets associated with progress, according to the company, may present a distorted impression of job progress on a given day or series of days when compared to actual production data.
The work managed by the B2W software program ranges from highways plus bridges in order to energy generation facilities, underground utilities and power transmission, according to the organization.
Trimble was founded in 1978 and over the years has obtained other software and technologies companies. In 2002, Trimble and weighty construction equipment maker Caterpillar formed the joint venture called Caterpillar Trimble Control Technologies (CTCT) to develop machine control items for improved customer efficiency and lower costs upon earthmoving projects.