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C/F Data Systems History
1980s
In 1985, Eric Goldstein was hired to expand the client base, attracting contractors in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.
In the mid-eighties, one of our customers asked if we could develop a module for purchase orders to reduce the amount of work writing PO’s by hand and be able to track the committed costs on the job. So, we created the Purchase Order module.
In 1986 one of our customers, Brewer Electric, was performing a lot of service work and needed a way to generate a work order to give to their techs, with job instructions and directions to the site. They also wanted an easy way to schedule their workers. The first iteration of the Work Order module was written specifically for them.
In 1987, we acquired our first commercial flooring contractor, Circle Floors. Circle needed to track and manage rolls of carpet purchased for jobs, track the dimensions of the roll and track each individual cut that was made. Thus, the first generation of the Roll Inventory module was created.
1970s
In 1979 Dennis Coleman, a systems engineer previously employed by IBM, founded C/F Data Systems. The first program, Contractor Management System, consisted of five modules that we now refer to as the basic five: Job Cost, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, General Ledger and Payroll.
1990s
In the early 1990s we adapted to the changing technological landscape by converting our product to a Windows environment and renamed the product Structure.
In 1991 the city of Boston began the most expensive highway project in United States history, affectionately known as “The Big Dig.” As heavy contractors benefitted by the billions in construction contracts, so did C/F Data Systems. Modern Continental, one of the largest contractors at that time, and Testa Corporation both purchased our software.
Because of their large investment in equipment, they needed a better way to manage the depreciation on these assets. But more importantly, they needed a way to track repairs, generate work orders and set up preventative maintenance. We were able to meet their need with the Fixed Assets and Equipment modules.
2000s
In late 2004 C/F Data Systems partnered with Joe Annese, of Annese Electric, to develop the Project Management module. With Annese’s assistance we were able to successfully create a program that would provide the PM’s with everything they needed to manage their projects without allowing them access to sensitive accounting data.
In 2005, as the operational requirements of construction software expanded, Terry Zine of Independent Flooring, now known as Congress Flooring, asked us to develop a scheduling system for him to be able to effectively schedule his construction manpower, and thus the Workforce Scheduling program came to be.
Also, around the same time, Andy DeCristoforo and Jim Burke of Allegheny Contract convinced us to develop a Quoting program for commercial flooring contractors. Since introducing the Quoting module, we have added almost one hundred commercial flooring contractors to the C/F Data System’s family!
Our next project was the introduction of BRAINS: Business Reporting Automated Intelligence Notification Service. BRAINS. BRAINS allows you to set up scheduled tasks to be run automatically, such as updating the dashboard after business hours, sending out invoices or direct deposit pay-stubs via email or creating automated reports.
In 2007, several principals from one of C/F Data System’s largest clients, CAS, an ENR top specialty contractor, liked the company and product so much, that they purchased the majority interest to help fund future development and grow sales.
In 2007, Apple released the first iPhone which changed the way our entire society operates. As more and more people started to replace their flip phones with smart phones, we recognized an opportunity to use these devices in the construction industry, allowing the field to interact more effectively with the office.
The first mobile app we developed was TechLinc, which allows a service company to dispatch a mobile work order to their techs. Techs can update the status on the dispatch board, access service history, enter time and materials, capture a signature and close out the work order.
The second app we developed was TimeLinc, which allows a field foreman or supervisor to enter hours for their crew, as well as any equipment or stock materials used at the site. This app has saved many customers countless hours of duplicate data entry.
ChangeLinc is the latest addition to the mobile suite, thanks to input from Allegheny Contract. This program allows a field super to create an extra work ticket in the field, capture the GC’s signature and populate the JRE (change request) program in Structure Blue.
The late 2010s also saw the creation of Document Imaging. With Document Imaging, you can attach documents to any master file: employees, vendors, customers, etc., virtually eliminating the need for file cabinets. You can also scan in a batch of invoices to be attached to individual vouchers and cost transactions. We know this new feature will help to revolutionize the paper processes.
2010s
2020s
2020 brought the newest version of STRUCTURE Blue, Version 18. This version includes important updates to STRUCTURE Mobile, with the introduction of TimeLinc and TechLinc.
In the Summer of 2021 we introduced the newest addition to the STRUCTURE family: STRUCTURE Cloud.
STRUCTURE Cloud is everything you know and love about STRUCTURE Blue, but in an online hosted environment. You can access it from anywhere!
