Toolbx Delivers Materials, Supplies Within 2 Hours

Construction Business No Comments

Contractors, foremen and most construction workers know what happens when a crew comes up short of materials, tools or supplies on a jobsite. Suddenly, you have a bunch of high-skilled, high-wage people standing around with nothing to do.

That’s the problem Erik Bornstein, CEO of Toolbx, set out to solve four years ago. Bornstein spent 15 years in the construction industry building a successful company in the custom home and commercial building markets and saw the knock-on effects of supply and material interruptions first-hand. Additionally, he felt the normal process of securing supplies and materials seemed riddled with slow-downs, uncertainties and inefficiencies.

The new company he founded, Toolbx, is aimed squarely at solving these inefficiencies with an app that allows users to order almost any type of material or supplies and have them delivered, if need be, within two hours.

“I saw a huge lack of technology available specifically for procurement of construction materials,” says Bornstein. “And yet 50% of the budget for any project is for materials – whether it be a small remodel, a medium size home, or a large commercial building.”

Bornstein identified three basic problems in the construction materials acquisition process:

One: guys leaving the job site, to go pick up materials, multiple times a week.

Two: the lack of digitization around sourcing. A project manager, owner or a site super had to call or email a bunch of different suppliers, just to see what’s available, eating up more valuable jobsite time.

Three: the payment and approval process. “Most builders have 10 to 20 different supplier accounts,” says Bornstein. “It was an accounting nightmare for us.”

The vision for Toolbx was to take all three of these pain points and create a digital materials procurement platform that connects builders with their suppliers. “We do it in a transparent, digital way to give time back to the builder by making it fast and easy,” says Bornstein.

Supply chain visibility

The key was to provide visibility. “When you order from a traditional supplier you don’t know where the materials are, you don’t know when they’re going to show up and you often don’t get a confirmation when they ship,” says Bornstein. “If you’re a builder working on multiple jobsites, not having that visibility can cause a lot of friction.”

For a Toolbx user, all decisions get documented and streamlined within the app. You can add jobsites and add crew members with a few taps on a smartphone. Every order is GPS tracked. And you can place an order 24/7 from anywhere to get the materials to your jobsite anytime between 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Payment is handled within the app and all your invoices are posted online for you, organized by jobsite.

Delivery within hours

The supplies and materials Toolbx sources run the gamut from hand and power tools to PVC pipe fittings and hardware to rebar, lumber, steel and concrete. “We have about 50,000 SKUs in our database today,” says Bornstein. “But as we go into new markets, we bring on more suppliers and continuously update those SKUs.”

Toolbx outsources its fleet of delivery vehicles and partners with Onfleet, a provider of last mile delivery management software to connect businesses, dispatchers, drivers and deliveries to end customers in real time.

Lumber, drywall, insulation, fencing, decking products and hardware are some of the most frequently ordered items on Toolbx. “The larger orders typically get scheduled well in advance,” says Bornstein.

For large orders, Toolbx will partner with different suppliers and connect the order to their system, so the builder knows they have this material coming from a specific supplier. Then it facilitates the direct delivery from the supplier, and it all gets tracked in the Toolbx app.

“In the markets that we operate in, we can do deliveries in two hours or less,” says Bornstein. “You can schedule your orders in one-hour time slots, but you also have the option to do four- hour or next-day time slots scheduled in advance. You can also place an order at 11 p.m. and have it show up at 8 a.m. the next day.”

marketplace for material suppliers

Toolbx doesn’t stock materials or products. It’s not a threat to retailers. Rather it partners with both big box stores and local specialty suppliers.

“The nice thing about it is that it is a symbiotic relationship,” says Bornstein. “We are driving revenue to them and helping those suppliers digitize as well. We’re not just building tools for the contractor, but we’re also building tools to help optimize suppliers, as well, because it works hand in hand. We’re trying to provide efficiency and productivity to both sides of the equation.”

The company does not charge users a platform fee, but rather adds a markup on items purchased through the app. There is also a delivery fee depending on distance and weight.

Contractors can also get a $99 monthly subscription that offers unlimited, free same-day deliveries and discounts on delivery upgrades and Pro pricing which gives subscription users up to 7% off on materials in the Toolbx catalog. Competitive delivery quotes are also available on bulk orders.

It says it also save customers money on bulk orders. Users who have a large order can send their materials list directly and they will get a competitive quote (using supplier partnerships) including delivery within 24 hours.

Toolbx is available now throughout Canada and is planning a rollout in the United States next year.

Did you miss our previous article…
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Road Projects Feel the Pain of Congress’ Last-Minute Funding Extensions

Construction Management No Comments

Construction, engineering and transportation groups are frustrated by the House once again delaying a vote on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and also having to enact another short-term extension of federal transportation funding.  

“Repeated month-long extensions of the federal funding programs for transit, roads and bridges mean that cities and states cannot move forward with critical transportation projects,” says Tim Smith, executive director of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

On Thursday, a House vote on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was delayed after negotiations among Democrats broke down. The House did, however, extend transportation funding until December 3. The funding was set to expire October 31 after a previous 30-day extension.

Meanwhile, construction and related industry associations are becoming more frustrated, not only at the inability to pass the infrastructure bill but at leaving states in a lurch with last-minute, temporary extensions.

A recent survey of departments of transportation around the country revealed that many DOTs face uncertainty with planned road and bridge contruction projects because of the temporary extensions.

In the survey, conducted by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet commented:

“Over the next four months, KYTC has over a quarter of a billion dollars in projects scheduled for construction lettings. Without the certainty of full federal-aid highway funding, many of these projects could be delayed until federal funds are in hand.”

The Alabama Department of Transportation reported that a lack of long-term funding would ripple through the state’s economy:

“The impacts of a short-term extension are not just project-related; it also increases labor, construction and material costs affecting ALDOT and its contractors, consultants, material suppliers and Alabama citizens who work for these businesses. Many of these businesses and employees are still struggling to recover from Covid-19-related effects, and the postponing of work a short-term extension generates is profound and unfortunate.”

Transportation funding almost expired

The Senate passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in a bipartisan vote August 10.

But since it moved to the House, progressive Democrats have been using the bill as leverage to try to pass the Build Back Better Act. That bill started with a $3.5 trillion price tag that includes such things as pre-kindergarten, expanded health care coverage and environmental initiatives.

At the same time, almost every Republican in the House plans to vote against the infrastructure bill, despite 19 Republicans supporting it in the Senate. They call the infrastructure bill a “Trojan horse” to try to ram through the BBB Act.

As the political bickering and negotiations continue, state departments of transportation – and those who build roads and bridges – around the country were three days away from seeing federal transportation funding expire and 3,700 USDOT employees furloughed. That’s because a last-minute extension enacted earlier this month was set to end October 31.

“Legislators cannot continue granting extensions from month to month using funding estimates from the previous decade without causing uncertainty for workers and business owners in the communities they are elected to serve,” says National Asphalt Pavement Association President and CEO Audrey Copeland.

What’s next?

President Joe Biden and Democrats in the House and Senate continue to hammer out the details of the Build Back Better Act.

Biden scaled back the proposal Thursday from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion in the hopes of satisfying moderate Democrats while also keeping some of his priorities and getting the infrastructure bill to his desk.

Progressive Democrats still want the House to vote on the BBB Act and the infrastructure bill together. They also say they need to see the text of the reduced BBB Act before voting on it.

Congress now faces a December 3 deadline for federal transportation funding. That’s also when the federal debt ceiling needs to have been extended, or the government could default on its debt.

Congress is expected to return to session Monday.

The Associated General Contractors of America’s CEO, Stephen E. Sandherr, called on progressive Democrats and Republican leadership to consider the infrastructure bill outside the lens of partisan politics and think of its impact on an economy still emerging from the pandemic-induced slowdown.

“It is extremely disappointing that some progressive Democrats and the Republican leadership would again delay passage of a much-needed infrastructure bill,” Sandherr said. “This legislation will provide investments that will make our fragile supply chains more efficient while providing a needed boost to economic growth and employment levels.”

 

 

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