Innovative
construction
software

Innovating since 1986.

As the industry grows and evolves, so do we. HCSS continually develops new products and enhancements to stay ahead of changing needs.

1986 HCSS is born.

HCSS started not in a garage, but in a bedroom that served as the master bedroom, nursery for a newborn baby, and the HCSS office. Mike Rydin, HCSS President and the only employee, thought he could actually run his business with a baby in the nursery. Two weeks later, the baby was promptly moved off-site to day care.

HeavyBid

Within a couple of years, HCSS hired one of its first programmers, Carl, and expanded into the entire house. This left Mike’s father confined to the living room after his senior citizens group in the afternoons; and there he stayed until Carl left his bedroom at the end of the work day. Carl made the DOS version of HeavyBid into the successful estimating software that it became.

Mike previously worked in the estimating department of a large heavy construction company and understood the importance of bidding and time crunches. So he decided to start the very unusual concept of 24/7 support for HeavyBid. Many nights, he took support calls in the dark directly from his bed. Today, HCSS still offers 24/7 instant support to thousands of customers.

Learn about HeavyBid | Learn about HCSS Support

1998  HeavyJob Introduced at a User's Meeting

In 1998, Mike sold 25% of the company to employees via an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) with the idea of motivating all employees to think and act like owners. Carrying this concept into construction, HeavyJob was developed to give foremen more information and responsibility to manage their own work. When the program was introduced at the 1998 HCSS Annual User’s Group Meeting, you could hear a pin drop—no one believed foremen would use laptops to enter their daily information. Turns out we were just ahead of our time. HeavyJob went mainstream in 2005, and today there are thousands of foremen entering their field information, comparing with the estimate, and forecasting their future needs through HeavyJob.

Learn about HeavyJob

2004  Magnet Boards go Digital with The Dispatcher

As Mike visited customers, he noticed the number of dispatchers relying on magnet boards or dry erase boards to track their equipment and labor. In 2004, HCSS introduced The Dispatcher to replicate the familiar look of a magnet board, but with much more functionality. Today, The Dispatcher still retains its basic simplicity, but now has the ability to map your entire fleet with Microsoft Bing Maps®, schedule your resources (including trucking and materials), and capture move history. It has a GPS option to locate equipment in real time, deter theft, and analyze productivity. The Dispatcher also integrates with HeavyJob to share resource information between your dispatchers, foremen, and superintendents.

Learn about The Dispatcher

Today  HCSS offers a complete suite of products.

In 1989, HCSS moved into its first office building, and the company has continued to expand ever since. In August 2009, HCSS moved into its own 45,000 sq ft campus in Sugar Land, TX, custom-built with top-notch amenities for customers and employees. The HCSS product line has continued to grow as well. In 1986, HCSS had one product—HeavyBid. Now, HCSS offers almost a dozen products to help contractors improve their operations. Learn more about how our products can benefit your company today.

View all HCSS products