Dive Brief:

• Command Alkon, the provider of Connex software, which helps construction companies acquire concrete and similar heavy materials, has been acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, the companies announced in a press release.
• The deal, made for an undisclosed amount, will help Alabama-based Command Alkon transition from focusing on intra-company aid to focusing on the concrete and asphalt supply chain as a whole.
• The partnership is expected to enable the company to expand on its vision of an integrated supply chain across the heavy construction market by accelerating the time to market for new solutions, according to the release, and will allow Command Alkon to invest in next-generation, vertical-cloud capabilities.

Dive Insight: 

Command Alkon’s Connex platform is designed to increase collaboration between contractors and project owners and their heavy material suppliers, producers and haulers, the company says, adding that it's meant to facilitate every step in the workflow, from initial orders through paying the final bill.

Connex uses technology like IoT sensors on trucks to track the location of a shipment as well as to measure the quality of the concrete from the time it departs to when it arrives onsite. The automation of the ordering, according to Ed Rusch, vice president of global marketing at Command Alkon, is designed to speed up the ordering process and create dependability while reducing unnecessary paper transactions that can take longer.

“Longstanding manual and paper-based processes aren’t necessarily the best way to take the industry forward," Rusch said. "Gaining better experiences, getting a better idea of how jobsite or business is running creates a rapid mindset shift that this process is getting disrupted probably forever."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Command Alkon has added new e-ticketing to the transaction process and tried to limit contact during deliveries. Much like with food orders, buyers are able to remove concrete from trucks without coming into contact with drivers, and vice versa. 

The e-ticking implementation comes at the same time that multiple safety applications have introduced contact tracing apps or ways to monitor if workers are properly maintaining social distancing guidelines. 

“On a macro level, few jobsites come in on schedule or on budget,” Rusch said. “There has been a long effort in the industry to find ways to create more project certainty, profitability levels, dialing into increasing project certainty and removing cost or schedule overruns.” 

Chicago-based Thoma Bravo is a private equity firm that specializes in the development of software services. The company has also recently acquired companies in the education technology and cyber security sectors. The firm has also invested in safety, environmental, health, quality, fleet tracking, management, schedule, dispatch and risk management solutions, according to A.J. Rohde, a partner with Thoma Bravo’s investment team.

Much of the collaboration between buyers, sellers, and haulers today is disparate or completely disconnected, Rohde said.