How a 25-year partnership delivers speed, visibility, and control across the entire build lifecycle.
Executive Summary
Over the past 25 years, Summit Homes Group and BusinessCraft have built a partnership focused on one thing: building more quality homes, faster. From the early 2000s—when Summit adopted BusinessCraft during the introduction of GST—through to today’s scale of 650+ staff and 2,000+ annual starts, BusinessCraft has become Summit’s single source of truth across sales, estimating, scheduling, construction, and handover.
“BusinessCraft really is the source of truth. Everything we do—whether it’s new or existing business—we can find a home for it in BusinessCraft.”
Key outcomes
Operational scale: grew from ~300 to 650+ employees; project starts from ~600 to 2,000+ per year.
Reduced white days (days of no production) by improving scheduling visibility, site updates via BC Go on iPads, and clearer supplier lead-time logic.
Faster onboarding and adoption across departments, with direct access to BusinessCraft developers for rapid improvements.
Data-driven execution: custom dashboards and the Activities module help prioritise work and ensure nothing is missed.
Watch: “INSIDE THE PARTNERSHIP” with Fabio Fusari
Building a Legacy in WA
Founded in 1978 by John Simpson, Summit Homes has helped more than 45,000 West Australians realise their new home dreams. The Group’s vertically integrated model—spanning traditional homes, modular, utilities, finance, real estate, and aged care—means more of the build process is handled locally and under one roof, with data and decisions moving faster across teams.
Why BusinessCraft—and Why Then?
In the early 2000s, as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced, Summit faced new complexity and compliance requirements. The team selected BusinessCraft, an Australian-developed construction software for builders, to unify operations across sales, estimating, scheduling, construction, and finance.
“It’s our core system,” Fabio explains. “We hang other things off it—CRM, CAD, and other tools—but BusinessCraft runs the business.”
Scaling Up with Confidence
The past few years have brought unprecedented demand across WA. Summit’s workforce more than doubled, and project starts tripled. BusinessCraft’s scalability ensured the organisation could add divisions, users, and volume while maintaining control of costs, timelines, and supplier coordination.
Sales Integration:: Web-based quoting and client requests feed downstream tasks without rekeying.
Construction Management: Supervisors on Devices since 2021 update milestones in real time, reducing manual handling and double entry.
Scheduling & Planning: Configurable logic accounts for lead times and site readiness, helping reduce back-and-forth and delays.
“When a construction manager handles 30–40 homes, small efficiencies make a big difference,” Fabio notes.
Empowering Teams Across the Business
Because BusinessCraft connects every phase of the build, new starters quickly see how their part fits the whole.
“It’s a big system with a lot of information—new users can feel overwhelmed at first,” Fabio says. “But within a couple of weeks, they’re up to speed and can see how the workflows come together.”
The partnership extends beyond software: Summit has direct lines to BusinessCraft developers for quick-turn enhancements and issue resolution.
“We’ve built strong rapport with the dev team. They value our feedback and respond quickly.”
Data-Driven Decision-Making
Summit and BusinessCraft co-developed improvements in interfaces, dashboards, and task management:
Custom Dashboards: Real-time visibility into performance, forecasts, supplier alignment, and exceptions.
Activities Module: Prioritisation and inter-department coordination ensure no job is overlooked.
“If a job needs urgent attention, it’s flagged and visible instantly,” Fabio explains. “That visibility is key.”
Leadership Perspective: David Simpson on Speed, White Days, and Measurable Control
David Simpson, Managing Director at Summit Homes, highlights speed of construction as a critical commercial lever—and the role of timely, accurate information in eliminating downtime.
“It’s great to see the partnership grow between BusinessCraft and Summit Homes. One of the critical factors in our business is speed of construction. It makes a substantial difference to our business. It would be great to see how we can work with BusinessCraft to help reduce white days [days of no production] by having timely accurate information. If it can’t be measured – it can’t be managed.
We’re on a journey together with BusinessCraft – I’m more reliant on timely accurate information than I ever have been before – and our users are more demanding. I’m delighted you are engaging with us to help us achieve our growth ambitions.
I look forward to hearing from you on how we can expedite change together.”
What are “white days”—and how BusinessCraft helps reduce them
“White days” are days of no production on site—expensive gaps that push out timelines and cashflows. BusinessCraft helps reduce white days by making the right information available at the right time:
Live Schedule Visibility\ Everyone sees the same plan and status—supervisors, schedulers, trades, suppliers—reducing clashes and missed handovers.
Lead-Time Logic Built In\ Schedules automatically account for supplier and material lead times, keeping starts realistic and sites ready.
Field-to-Office Feedback Loop BC Mobile\ Supervisors’ Device updates flow straight into the system, triggering next tasks and supplier notifications without delay.
Exception & Readiness Flags\ Pre-start checks, site readiness indicators, and job blockers surface early—so teams act before a day is lost.
Supplier & Trade Performance Insights\ Dashboards reveal on-time percentages, completions, and bottlenecks to drive continuous improvement conversations.
Measuring What Matters\ With accurate timestamps and milestone data, Summit can measure white days and actively manage them down.
Looking Ahead: Estimating at the Coal Face
Next on Summit’s roadmap is pushing estimating closer to the field—with tighter integration and faster turnaround times.
“Our ultimate aim is to take full estimation to the coal face via BusinessCraft,” Fabio says. “That would reduce lag and help us respond faster to customers.”
Why It Matters for the Industry
Residential construction remains a major economic driver in Australia. As demand continues across WA, shorter build times and fewer white days are essential to meet customer expectations, maintain margins, and scale volume. Summit’s use of BusinessCraft residential building software shows how standardising processes and surfacing real-time data can help builders increase throughput without sacrificing quality.
What Different Teams Gain from BusinessCraft
Managing Director / General Manager: Fewer white days, predictable cashflow, measurable performance.
Construction: Clear schedules, live site status, fewer clashes, streamlined supervisor workflows.
Estimating & Prestart: Faster changes, fewer errors, tighter supplier alignment.
Finance: Traceable costs, cleaner WIP, better forecasting.
IT & Systems: Single source of truth, integrations with CRM/CAD, strong vendor partnership.
Customer Care: Visibility from sale to handover, timely communications.
Conclusion: A Partnership Built for Scale
Summit Homes and BusinessCraft have laid a foundation of trust, visibility, and continuous improvement. By focusing on speed of construction, reducing white days, and measuring the metrics that matter, the partnership is positioning Summit to deliver more homes, faster—while keeping quality and customer outcomes front and centre.
“It’s a great piece of software,” Fabio concludes. “It’s been with us through our growth, and we’re excited about what’s next.”.
For more information about BusinessCraft, please visit www.businesscraft.com.au or BusinessCraft on LinkedIn.
Media enquiries: Mario Aguilera, Business Development Manager
Email: marioa@businesscraft.com.au | Phone: +61 432 998 759
About BusinessCraft
With over 30 years of experience, we are committed to being the go-to choice for businesses across residential construction and diverse industries. Our innovative, integrated solutions and deep industry expertise drive better outcomes for your business.
About Summit Homes Group
Founded in 1978, Summit Homes Group has grown into one of Western Australia’s most respected residential construction companies. With a strong focus on quality, innovation, and customer care, Summit has built over 45,000 homes, helping thousands of families create spaces tailored to the Australian lifestyle. From first homes to custom builds, Summit’s commitment to craftsmanship and community continues to shape the future of housing across WA.