Penta Technologies, Inc.: Software That Improves Business Performance for Commercial and Industrial Contractors

Founded in 1991, Penta Technologies develops enterprise construction software that helps construction, service, and engineering enterprises improve business performance. Going beyond traditional construction ERP software, the company's software incorporates enterprise-wide document, content management, and industrial strength business process management capabilities.

From integrated Multi-Company Financials, Projects, Service, Labor, and Equipment, to Analytics, Document Imaging, Workflow, and Mobile Field software, Penta Technologies helps ensure that engineering and construction firms’ best practices are leveraged more consistently across their organizations proactively vs. passively in order to help them do what they do–even better.

Penta Technologies' clients are many of the largest and most widely-respected commercial and industrial engineering, construction, and field service companies in their respective industry segments.  Their clients typically offer a diverse range of engineering, construction or maintenance services, operate out of multiple locations, states or countries, employ project management personnel, engineering/design staff, skilled tradespeople who self-perform field construction work, and skilled technicians who perform field service work.

"To this day I haven’t seen a job cost problem that PENTA hasn’t been able to solve, to be able to recognize revenue to be able to show earned revenue. PENTA has always had a solution," said Mike Moorhouse, CFO, Heico Construction Group.

Working with Otis Eastern Service, LLC

Otis Eastern constructs pipeline infrastructure for the oil and gas industry. They build gathering systems for producers in the Appa­achian region, as well as pipelines for midstream and transmission companies throughout the Northeast and Mid-At­antic. Otis Eastern focuses on new construction projects as well as replacement and integrity maintenance work on existing pipeline systems.

Because 90% of Otis Eastern’s workforce is union, payroll processing is very important. Their multi-union structure is very complex with a lot of strict rules and regul­ations Otis has to keep up with and follow. Otis needed a software solution that could handle their complicated, multi-state union construction payroll needs, and after doing their research, PENTA was at the top of their list.

At the same time, Otis needs to handle the very different and often confidential payroll processing and reporting requirements of executive and administrative personnel. Before PENTA , this meant maintaining two different payroll systems. “With PENTA,” Ella Litzburg, Director of IT of Otis Eastern said, “we were able to combine both confidential and non-confidential payroll into one system. Having all reports and all data in one p­ace is a big plus for us.”

“Because we were switching from a system that we had used for 20 years at least, that system was ingrained in everything that we did. Our processes fit around that system,” Casey Joyce, General Superintendent at Otis Eastern said. Digesting new software and the business process improvements it makes possible could have been disruptive to Otis’s operations.

The company had ongoing projects running inside their old system at the time that they were implementing PENTA. They couldn’t afford to shut down so that they could make the switch, and with PENTA, they didn’t have to.

Otis Eastern believes in taking care of their employees so that they can focus on doing their best work. Their employees stay loyal and dedicated because the PENTA software makes sure that payroll stays on track. “We don’t want them wondering when their next check is going to come, worrying about whether all the calculations and deductions were correct, because that takes their focus away from  the work. Smooth, timely and accurate payroll is a major, major benefit we get out of PENTA,” Joyce said.

With PENTA, Otis Eastern has gotten a lot more efficient because the system has allowed them to automate paperwork like accounts payable invoice routing and approval. In addition to making Otis’s internal processes more efficient, this means their suppliers and subcontractors, especially smaller local vendors to whom cash flow is very important, get their invoices processed and paid in good time. That saves Otis a lot of headaches in the long run. “If there’s a communication breakdown of paper flow to our customers, or an invoice gets lost from a vendor, or a paycheck is wrong for an employee, that can derail a project that’s on a very tight timeline, and everything has to fit in p­ace for it to stay on track. PENTA is central in all of those components, making sure that everything is being done efficiently,” Joyce said.

About the Leader

Karl Koenig, CEO

Karl Koenig has over 30 years' experience in the engineering and construction enterprise information systems industry, covering tenures at both System 5 and Penta Technologies. Karl has served as CEO of Penta Technologies since its inception in 1991, and he previously served as President of System 5.

Karl is the founder and CEO of Penta Technologies, a post he has held since 1991. While CEO of Penta Technologies, Karl has helped the company grow into one of North America’s leading vendors of enterprise software to the engineering and construction industries.

"Penta Technologies' clients are many of the largest and most widely-respected commercial and industrial engineering, construction, and field service companies in their respective industry segments."