How Better Equipment Management Helped Save a Major Pipeline Project

Since 1994, Macro Industries had built a reputation as one of Western Canada’s most trusted pipeline builders. With 100 full-time employees and 500+ seasonal workers, they had always delivered on major projects.

But despite $100 million in annual revenue, they were bleeding profits.

“Every conflicting equipment rate delayed invoicing, slowed change orders and ate into our margins,” recalls Kevin Mather, President of Macro Industries. “We were using different pricing and rate systems across the company, and it was killing our competitive edge.”

Managing 1,500+ pieces of equipment across multiple project sites had become a costly guessing game. Change orders stalled, assets were difficult to track, and work face optimization was nearly impossible.

The Trans Mountain Pipeline Project exposed just how broken their system had become. Leadership knew they needed to fix their equipment tracking, rate structures, and cost reporting—but there was a problem.

With resources constantly tied up in field projects, these critical improvements were pushed aside again and again. As the delays dragged on, the changes became harder, more complicated, and more expensive to implement.

Now, with their biggest project on the line, they couldn’t afford to wait any longer.

It was time for a change.

When Lonewolf met with Macro Industries’ leadership and project teams, the problem was clear—there was no time for a long review. They needed immediate solutions to fix delays, improve efficiency, and stop money from slipping through the cracks.

Leadership wanted to reduce admin work, improve accuracy, and speed up cash flow. At the same time, project teams struggled with delayed billing, slow change order approvals, inconsistent bidding, and poor asset tracking. Both sides were working toward the same goal, but miscommunication between operations and accounting was creating costly bottlenecks.

To fix this, Lonewolf focused on two major areas: Operations & Estimating and Equipment Management.

The first game-changer was a custom estimating tool that revolutionized how Macro Industries handled bids and change orders. More than just a database, it gave them a competitive edge by centralizing all rate data, organizing equipment by function and size, integrating rental rates, automating labor agreement management, and clearly defining each scope with visual timelines for entire project planning. What once took weeks was now completed in hours, ensuring faster approvals and greater efficiency.

Originally developed as a project-specific solution, the tool proved so effective that Macro adopted it company-wide. It transformed how they estimated, bid, and planned jobs, making their entire process faster, clearer, and far more efficient.

Next, Lonewolf tackled the 1,500-piece equipment fleet. Tracking was messy, leading to costly downtime and billing errors. A new Asset Numbering and Naming system brought clarity and organization. Now, equipment could be assigned, deployed, managed, and billed efficiently—without needing costly renumbering or re-decaling.

These changes did more than fix problems—they bridged the gap between operations and accounting, creating a faster, smoother, and more profitable system.

The results were undeniable. Bid preparation time dropped dramatically. Change orders that once took weeks were approved in days. Equipment utilization shot up as teams could finally see and effectively deploy their full fleet. Cash flow improved, and profitability grew.

Beyond efficiency, the new estimating tool unlocked new revenue opportunities. Macro Industries could now bid faster, optimize resource use, and manage change orders with pinpoint accuracy.