When I joined Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope (OBE), one of my earliest projects was building a proof of concept for a price configuration tool. At the time, OBE had no streamlined way for customers or sales reps to filter through inventory and generate accurate quotes. Most of the work was done manually by sales and portfolio managers, despite all of the data already living in various plant databases.
My goal was to create an interface that connected to these distributed databases and digitized the company’s price book. What began as a simple prototype quickly became more powerful than anyone expected. The tool allowed estimation teams to explore every available configuration, view up-to-date pricing and descriptions, and receive warnings or guidance, all within a single online platform.
This solution lived on for several years and became instrumental in producing quick turnaround quotes. It also laid the groundwork for GameOn’s bundler and quoting system.
As OBE shifted toward SAP and began working more closely with its subsidiary CRL, I was promoted to manager to oversee the transition. I partnered with internal teams and external consultants to roadmap a robust Configure Price Quote (CPQ) system suited for SAP and our evolving business needs. The foundation of the original tool remained valuable, but changing metrics, a consolidated price book, and ongoing iSeries server migrations required extensive data verification and re-engineering.
The original tool was embraced by estimation teams and credited with enabling faster, more accurate quotes than ever before. It became a trusted resource across multiple plants and proved the value of digitizing processes that had long been manual. Even years later, colleagues remarked on its continued importance, underscoring its role as both a stopgap and a stepping stone to enterprise-level systems.
Although the larger SAP-aligned CPQ system was ultimately shelved due to OBE’s sale by CRH, the project was an invaluable leadership experience. I had the opportunity to coordinate across business units, collaborate with consultants, and guide a team through the complexities of system integration. The lessons I learned about stakeholder alignment, data accuracy, and scaling a proof of concept into an enterprise solution, remain central to how I approach projects today.
• Full-Stack Development
Designed and built a proof-of-concept tool that integrated with multiple plant databases to digitize OBE’s price book.
• Process Digitization
Transformed a manual quoting process into a streamlined online system, reducing turnaround time and errors.
• Team Leadership
Promoted to manager to guide the SAP-aligned CPQ initiative, coordinating internal teams and external consultants.
• System Integration
Worked with legacy iSeries servers, evolving price book structures, and SAP requirements to ensure data accuracy.
• Stakeholder Collaboration
Partnered with sales, portfolio managers, IT, and external vendors to align the tool with business needs.
• Strategic Foresight
Created a solution that not only solved immediate challenges but also laid the foundation for future quoting systems like GameOn.
Languages & Frameworks
PHP, JavaScript, SQL
Databases
IBM iSeries (AS/400), Plant-level SQL databases
Enterprise Systems
SAP (integration planning & roadmap)
Data Access & APIs
Custom database connectors, secure query handling
Collaboration
Cross-functional workshops, vendor coordination
Hosting & Infrastructure
OBE internal servers (pre-cloud migration)