HFI Thought They Were a “High B” at Workforce Planning. They Were a Low C. Now They're an A.
Give me the CliffsNotes version of who you are and what you do at HFI. Kyle Livingston, vice president of operations — I've been with the company 13 years, held a multitude of roles from the field to logistics to field operations, and now overall supporting our field and operations including VDC and our field forces. Michael Bruner, field operations — I've been with HFI 16 years, and I oversee manpower in the Bloomington area, our fab shop, and our warehouse.
How many do you run and what kind of work? We're mechanical — plumbing, HVAC. We have around 600 to 610 guys on a daily basis in the field, supported by roughly 150 in the office. We're focused on hospitals, schools, and the data center work coming into our area. Offices in Bloomington as our headquarters, Indianapolis, Evansville, and Fort Wayne. We have over 20 on our VDC team to model and build jobs and support our fabrication shop.
Tell me about the growth. When I started with HFI we had 100 people in the field, so it's grown a lot. We've seen 50% growth a multitude of years now. We expanded into new office space, expanded fabrication — we just added 35,000 square feet for more fab space. Eight years ago we started our Evansville office, and three years ago Indianapolis. Rapid growth over the last eight years.
What has it meant to have visibility around labor — before RIVET versus now? Before RIVET it was a lot of song and dance. You think you have clear communication when you pick up the phone and call a field leader, but then that field leader passes the message to the next field leader, and then to the apprentice. What does that look like for the young man or woman going to their first job at a new site — what do they need, what background do they have? When you put that all in one package, the communication becomes more streamlined. It's easier moving people from place to place, you don't waste money doing it, you're super efficient — it's all through their cell phone. They get the information and the things they need. And you have the ability to see past records of who was here, what jobs they were on, what jobs your foreman ran — you forget those things as you grow. It also gives you visibility of every job, a deep dive on the forecast job by job, so when you're talking to that foreman you're prepared — you know the dollars and cents, the forecast. When you grow at a rapid pace, that's hard to keep up with on spreadsheets and notes on paper.
Mike, you're in the hot seat — actively maneuvering people. What was it like before RIVET versus now? When I started, we were just starting with RIVET, so it was a little of both. I cannot imagine having to do it with a pad and paper. RIVET is just a game changer for me. What was adoption like? It wasn't as painful as we thought. It took time — you had to be committed and keep it up to date — but it was worth it. Why? The visibility and the speed of it. I can see all the information I need in one spot.
You're in a data center hotbed. What's it like navigating that? We're super excited about data centers coming to Indiana, because that work dictates a compressed schedule and complicated processes — and that's who we are. Our tool allows us to show those compressed schedules, move fast, be adaptive, and we know how to do complicated work — hospitals, schools. This fits our mold.
Tell me about labor maneuverability as an advantage. Definitely an advantage. We have a wide facet of foremen capable of doing any type of job, and we've been intentional about placing young and upcoming leaders with foremen who are well-rounded. That allows them to see large projects at full scale and do that work with confidence. It's all about our people — that's why we use the tool. If we can train and bring them up, the tool allows us that ability. So this is a development tool for you as well, placing the right person under the right supervision. We talk to groups that don't even know where people are going in the future, and they hear us say that and think it's impossible. With the tool, it becomes possible.
What is visibility worth to you? It's everything. It's priceless. If we were back in grade school getting a grade on labor planning, 0 to 100%, where were you before RIVET? I'd say a low C. We thought we were a high B, but really a low C. We thought we were producing good communication — but time is money. That miss of one man going to the wrong job in the morning is a dollar a minute, and that equates to hundreds of dollars. When we have this tool to quickly distribute, dispatch, and tell them where to go with the details — and put the right person in the right seat because we can see their job history and skill sets — that helps immensely. After RIVET, we're definitely an A, and we see it in our productivity. Year after year we're bumping it up, in a market where you can see productivity is lower. We're moving the needle forward.
Did RIVET help you improve labor by 1%? Yes, absolutely. 2%? Yes. An electrical contractor sits down at a bar, never your competitor — what do you tell them about RIVET? It's an easy sell. I ask, how do you move your manpower? Nine out of ten say it's a phone call, and then I tell my foreman. When I can show them how we dispatch our field forces from my phone, show their location to avoid road fatigue, show how I communicate to a foreman on his performance daily — and show their picture, their certs, the notes that tell me this guy can go here — and then dispatch him, boom. That's an easy sell.
How big a deal is compression on a job? It's hard. The schedule keeps getting faster, and you work your fab shop into it to help, plan, and forecast. Compression can impact 75% of a job. We've got a job right now that compressed because of delays in the steel — not the mechanical side — and the next thing you know you've doubled your crew size, you're looking at cost, working overtime. This tool allows us to be adaptive, to show those graphs that matter to the GC: here's where we're at — real, live data. It makes it a two-way conversation between the GC and the specialty contractor.
What's it been like working with the people of RIVET? It's been good — helpful, a great group of people. You understand it's a relationship business, a close-knit community whether mechanical or electrical, and RIVET gets that. Is RIVET tech people or construction people? It's a solid mixture — you've got to have tech people because it's tech, but you understand we're trying to build jobs. It's a great tool for me, hands down. I use it every day, all day. It's always up on my screen.
THE CHALLENGE
Harrell-Fish has grown fast — "when I started with HFI we had 100 people in the field," said Michael Bruner, who oversees field operations and the Bloomington fab shop and warehouse. Today the mechanical contractor runs 600 to 610 workers in the field on a daily basis, supported by roughly 150 in the office and a 20-plus VDC team, with offices in Bloomington (HQ), Indianapolis, Evansville, and Fort Wayne. "We've seen 50% growth a multitude of years now."
At that pace, the cracks weren’t obvious — because the team thought they were doing fine. "Before RIVET it was a lot of song and dance," said Kyle Livingston, Vice President of Operations. "You think you have clear communication when you pick up the phone and call a field leader. But then that field leader passes the message to the next field leader, and then to the apprentice." One young worker showing up at the wrong site on the wrong morning is "a dollar a minute — and that equates to hundreds of dollars."
When the team finally graded itself honestly, the gap was stark. "We thought we were a high B," Bruner said. "But really we were a low C. We thought we were producing good communication — but time is money."
"Before RIVET it was a lot of song and dance — you think you have clear communication. When you put it all in one package, the communication becomes streamlined, and you're super efficient moving people from place to place, because it's all through their cell phone."
OUR SOLUTION
HFI put dispatch, forecasting, and worker history in one platform — and the difference shows up in productivity year after year.
Streamlined Dispatch to the Phone
Instead of a message passed down a chain until details get lost, workers now get their job, start time, and what they need straight to their phones. "When you put that all in one package, the communication becomes more streamlined," Livingston said. "You're super efficient moving people from place to place — you don't waste money doing that." For Bruner, who maneuvers people job-to-job, it’s indispensable: "I cannot imagine having to do it with a pad and paper."
Job-by-Job Forecast Visibility
RIVET gives leadership a deep dive on every job’s forecast, so a conversation with a foreman starts prepared — knowing the dollars and cents and the forecast of the job. "When you grow at a rapid pace, it's hard to keep up with those things if you're looking at spreadsheets and reviewing notes on paper," Livingston said. The platform also preserves the history of who ran which job — detail that's easy to forget at scale.
A Development Tool, Not Just a Scheduler
HFI uses the roster to grow its people. With an aging workforce and young talent coming in, the team intentionally places upcoming leaders under well-rounded foremen so they can learn large-scale work with the right supervision. "It's all about our people," Livingston said. "If we can train and bring them up, the tool allows us that ability."
ROADBLOCKS
Adoption "wasn't as painful as we thought," Bruner said — "it took time, you had to be committed and keep it up to date, but it was worth it." The bigger ongoing challenge is the one RIVET helps HFI navigate rather than eliminate: schedule compression. On data center and complex work, compression can hit 75% of a job. "You've doubled your crew size, you're looking at cost, you're working overtime," Bruner said.
RIVET’s forecasting and real-time graphs let HFI show the GC the true impact of upstream delays — turning compression into a two-way, data-backed conversation instead of the specialty contractor silently absorbing the slack. "This tool allows us the ability to be adaptive and to show those graphs that matter to the GC. Here's where we're at — it's real, live data."
"I cannot imagine having to do it with a pad and paper. RIVET is just a game changer for me — the visibility and the speed of it. I can see all the information I need in one spot, and it's always up on my screen."
NEXT STEPS
HFI sees its edge in labor maneuverability and continues to lean into RIVET as both an operations and a development platform — placing young leaders with the right foremen and baking the knowledge of an aging workforce into the next generation. As data center work accelerates in Indiana, the team plans to keep using RIVET’s adaptive forecasting to show GCs real, live data on compression impacts and to keep moving the productivity needle in a market where most contractors’ productivity is falling. "Visibility is everything," Livingston said. "It's priceless."
THE CLIENT
Harrell-Fish (HFI) is a mechanical contractor specializing in plumbing and HVAC, headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in Indianapolis, Evansville, and Fort Wayne. The company runs 600–610 field workers daily, roughly 150 office staff, and a 20-plus-member VDC team, serving hospitals, schools, and a growing base of data center work.
Industry:
Mechanical Contractor (Plumbing & HVAC)
Location:
Bloomington, Indiana (+ Indianapolis, Evansville, Fort Wayne)
Size:
600+ field workers, 150 office, 20+ VDC
Services:
Plumbing, HVAC, fabrication, VDC
FAQs
Find answers to common questions about RIVET’s workforce management solutions and features.
RIVET connects directly with Spectrum, Vista, Viewpoint, Foundation, Sage, COINs, CMIC, and other major construction ERPs through pre-built integrations. We automatically sync job budgets, schedules, and worker data, eliminating double data entry. Most integrations are completed within 1-2 weeks during implementation.
RIVET is designed for construction operations teams, not tech experts. We've helped many superintendents near retirement giving them hours in the day back. Hands-on white glove training with real people ensures your team will always get the support they need.
Most contractors see immediate task-based time savings in scheduling within the first few months. Labor planning impacts and reduction in margin fade from productivity killers takes longer to show up in the numbers, but you will feel the difference.
Most contractors using RIVET have more than 50 field employees performing construction work. We work with some of the largest contractors in the country, planning and scheduling thousands of field personnel. If you're currently managing workforce scheduling with spreadsheets, whiteboards, or phone calls, and have multiple projects running simultaneously, RIVET is for you.
Your data belongs to you. RIVET provides complete data export capabilities in standard formats, and we'll work with you to ensure a smooth transition if you decide to leave.
RIVET was purpose built for electrical and mechanical contractors, and is based on the workforce management best practices of the most successful MEP contractors. RIVET is an active partner with NECA, SMACNA, and construction research organizations like ELECTRI. RIVET is focused exclusively on making labor operations efficient rather than trying to solve every construction problem.
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