Inglett & Stubbs Builds a Procurement Process that Scales with ASAP

‍A Manual Procurement Process that Couldn’t Scale

When Ken Farrell joined Inglett & Stubbs as Director of Technology, the company was facing a great problem to have: growth. They already knew that the manual workflows holding together their procurement process wouldn’t tolerate the stress test of higher volumes, and they were determined to find a better way before procurement became a major pain point.

Historically, every material request, from company supplies and jobsite electrical components to their state-of-the-art prefab facilities and buyouts moved through emails and spreadsheets. Purchasers received requests from the field or prefab facilities, then placed orders with their preferred suppliers–or, when lack of availability required it, they sought out materials from other suppliers. 

This manual process was complicated further by challenges like backorders that might show up only after a purchase order had been placed. Since the team tracked purchase orders by dollar amount rather than by line items, any discrepancies were hard to catch down the line, leaving the team vulnerable to overpayments and delivery delays. 

Core Challenges

• Manual processes slowed down procurement: The Purchasing team received emails and spreadsheets they had to manually process to place purchase orders
• There wasn’t enough visibility to backorders: Once purchase orders were placed, they had to wait and see what they got–sometimes availability was unclear and backorders only discovered after the fact
• Billing discrepancies weren’t traceable without line-item POs: Purchase orders were tracked by total dollar amount, so if there was a backorder, it was difficult to verify what was actually delivered without line-item matching
• Material handling where a dedicated handler is required: Handlers had to open, print, and manually route every incoming order

Choosing Flexible Tech the Team Will Actually Use

Inglett & Stubbs has already seen success investing in innovation with their best-in-class prefabrication facilities, so they had already experienced firsthand the benefit of investing early in new technologies. When it came time to choose a solution for procurement, they had an equally ambitious vision: an end-to-end, AI-native platform that could integrate with their in-house systems and complement, rather than compete with, existing processes.

They found the solutions already on the market too inflexible to accommodate their preferred scope and scale, leading them to partner with Canals on a new kind of procurement technology-one that could meet their rapidly growing needs without the compromise of a one-size-fits-all approach.

Once Inglett & Stubbs’ kicked off work with Canals to digitize their procurement process with Advanced Sourcing and Procurement (ASAP), the purchasing team noticed immediate benefits. For everyday purchasing, using ASAP bought the Purchasing team precious time.

‍“They can handle twice as many orders with half the stress."

But for both Canals and Inglett & Stubbs, the work didn’t stop at “good enough.” It was crucial to find a more efficient means of procurement that adapted to how their company buys, rather than any top-down mandates telling purchasers to change their processes. 

As Director of Technology, Ken knows the importance of choosing workforce tools that are adaptable enough to meet a team’s needs. “You don't want to come in and just uproot an entire process,” explained Ken. “We have to get [the end users] involved, because they're the ones that are going to be living in it.” The team at Canals agreed.

“Canals has taken a different approach. No one on the Canals team has ever said, 'No, we really can't do that.' They take everything we suggest on board.”

One example of this flexibility arose in the context of Inglett & Stubbs’ dedicated Material handler. While other purchasers had been able to move much of their work to the ASAP platform, prefab presented unique use cases the platform didn’t quite address. 

“Our prefab department has a complex ordering process with a lot of back and forth,” explained Ken. “So that’s one area where Canals is adapting and it’s saving that team time already. It’s already cutting down on emails.”

Whether it’s bigger challenges like supporting a complex prefab procurement process or smaller updates like additional search filters, Canals’ enthusiasm for feedback is helping the team adopt a tool that is truly making a difference in their efficiency, productivity, and the team’s morale at work.

“The Canals team embraces the challenge, and they definitely tackle it and overcome it. And they're not slow about it either—I'm having a hard time keeping up."

Key Benefits

• Time savings that improved efficiency: Purchasers no longer have to manually retype or copy-paste material requests—ASAP ingests comms from the jobsite and prefab facilities and parses it onto their screen, ready to check and act on 
• Better visibility, fewer errors: With ASAP, the team can track orders by line item, so everyone can see if anything’s missing, what’s backordered, and what’s on time
• Workflows that scale (and reduce mental load): Purchasers can handle a higher volume of orders without the same stress levels

Fewer Emails, Happier Employees, Healthier Vendor Relationships

Now that the whole purchasing team can benefit from ASAP, the impact has been transformative.

“They don't have to do a lot of copying and pasting or typing anymore,” said Ken. “They are wowed by the way Canals is ingesting our material order requests from the field and from prefab. Canals brings in those spreadsheets, parses the content, and it's on their screen as a neat list.”

‍“ASAP has given them a centralized management area for purchase orders.”

Inglett & Stubbs’ suppliers have noticed a difference, too. “They've complimented us and commented that Canals has made their job easier,” said Ken. “People make relationships. But systems make a difference, too. If our systems are causing our vendors 20 different steps a day, then that can strain the relationship.”

“So for our vendors to say, ‘this is helping us, too’ then that's a positive for us in our relationship,” said Ken. 

Smoother, more streamlined communication between the purchasers and their suppliers also help with handoffs. “It's a positive that ASAP can help our orders be processed more accurately,” said Ken.

“ASAP can help our orders be processed more accurately.”

Digitized purchasing processes also translate to higher job satisfaction. “The purchasers are now handling twice as many orders with half the stress,” said Ken. “They didn’t want the stress of forty orders sitting in their inbox. Twenty of them are for the exact same thing. That can be automated now.”

The feedback from purchasers is clear. As one senior purchaser put it:

“Don't make me go back to the way I was doing it.”

Business Impact

• Operational efficiency at scale: Purchasers can now handle more requests with less stress, transforming manual data entry into automated workflows
• One connected system: Now everyone–purchasing, field teams, accounting–get visibility on what’s been purchased and how much each item cost, reducing long-term risk and operational overhead as the company scales
• Better data integrity and financial control: Moving from PO tracking by dollar amount toward invoice-to-PO line-item matching closes a costly gap by making it easy to catch billing discrepancies

Advice for Other Contractors Evaluating Canals

Asked what he'd tell a peer considering Canals, Ken didn't hesitate: “Sign the dotted line.”

More seriously, his advice is to look past flashy features that don't hold up under real use, and focus on what actually saves time day to day. “I'd recommend taking a very deep look at what Canals has to offer,” said Ken “And compare that to the other companies out there. Some of them have pretty pictures, but it’s what’s under-the-hood that counts.” 

For Ken, the value comes back to a system built to accommodate how the business actually operates. “You keep finding your wow factor. I think that's what sets Canals apart.” 

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How Inglett & Stubbs Is Building One Connected System for Purchasing and AP with Canals

For Inglett & Stubbs, the digital transformation doesn’t stop at purchasing. With purchase orders that accurately detail each line item, the accounting team also reaps the benefits: now catching billing discrepancies is possible–a process made even easier and faster by using Canals AP automation for contractors. 

“Our ultimate goal was to have a solution that's on both sides–accounts payable and procurement. It’s integral that they can talk to each other. The connection between ASAP and AP is a must. Automating back end matching and enabling the two teams to communicate is a major piece.”

Canals keeps material moving because every person in the chain—crew, foreman, PM, purchasing, AP, and even the supplier—has their own dedicated workflow, and all of those workflows connect directly to each other in real time. While the Purchasing team can work collaboratively across their internal stakeholders and external suppliers, their accounting team ensures they’re paying the right price for the right materials at the right time with AI-powered three way matching and invoice auto-submissions.