How Taylor Kuhlman Helped Scale Epcon Communities’ Design Ops Across Six Regions

When Taylor Kuhlman joined Epcon Communities, the team relied on traditional drafting software that lacked a centralized way to manage plans, options, or community-specific rules. Each unit type lived in its own file, and every change—no matter how minor—had to be repeated manually across dozens of documents.

“Before, if marketing or sales needed to change something across models, we’d have to open every file and make the same edit over and over. It was painful.” — Taylor Kuhlman, Epcon, BIM Manager

As Epcon Communities expanded into new markets, the complexity only grew. Each region came with unique configurations, zoning requirements, and customer expectations. But traditional homebuilding software isn’t built to scale for those challenges.

“The last program we used didn’t have a central master file. Every unit type had to be updated manually, one by one.” — Taylor Kuhlman

This fragmented approach slowed down cross-functional workflows and made it difficult to keep construction documents accurate and aligned. Marketing, sales, permitting, and purchasing teams were all impacted, often waiting on delayed updates or corrections from design.

Epcon Communities, Taylor and his team decided to adopt a centralized, data-driven platform, which could streamline their operations. By managing design data centrally, they aimed to:

• Reduce time spent on drafting updates
• Improve accuracy across all documentation
• Enhance collaboration between departments
• Scale operations efficiently across multiple regions

From Manual Drafting to Centralized Intelligence

To address their growing operational complexity, Taylor and the product development team at Epcon Communities began implementing Higharc, starting with a single community pilot. That initial rollout, focused on generating lot-specific construction sets, proved successful and laid the groundwork for broader adoption.

“We started with one community and were just doing permit and construction sets. Now it feels like the entire company is using Higharc.” — Taylor Kuhlman

Embracing a Central Data Model

At the heart of this transformation is Higharc Studio and its central data model. Rather than duplicating work across separate files, Taylor’s team manages all product options, configurations, and region-specific rules in one shared system. This master file acts as a single source of truth that flows into community-level Studio files, allowing for consistent updates across the entire portfolio.

“We used to maintain seven or eight different files for a single design. Now we input the data once in a central model, and it filters down. It’s been a huge time saver.” — Taylor Kuhlman

Behind the central data model is a team of dedicated and talented Epcon team members, who are managing the flow of updates and actively working with Higharc to improve company-wide deliverables.

“Taylor and all members of our product development team have done a tremendous job building up our management capabilities, with the continuous support of Higharc. Anytime we run into an issue, they have been there for us with timely and accurate assistance. Higharc is as much about the people as it is about the software platform.” — Mats Ahlstrom, Epcon, Director of Design

Scalable Community Setup

Opening a new region is a complex and often error-prone task, but has become a more predictable, streamlined process. Taylor coordinates with regional leads to gather requirements like lot handings, zoning constraints, and available options, then configures everything in Higharc.

“We know exactly what we need to collect, addresses, lot data, option sets, and where it goes in Higharc. The platform takes it from there.” — Taylor Kuhlman

Faster Workflows

Higharc’s central data model dramatically reduced the time required to implement plan changes and roll out new communities. What once took days now takes minutes, often with just a checkbox and a re-publish.

“We used to open every file and repeat the same change. Now we make it once and update across communities instantly.” — Taylor Kuhlman

This time savings has allowed Taylor’s team to handle more work, supporting six regions and hundreds of plans while maintaining the quality standards Epcon Communities expects from its teams across all its regions. 

Cross-Department Collaboration

Taylor’s team has become a critical bridge between product development and nearly every other department, especially marketing, sales, permitting, and purchasing.

• Marketing is able to generate accurate, up-to-date 3D visuals
• Sales relies on the visuals to help shorten sales cycles
• Estimators use Higharc data for quick checks on material quantities
• Operations benefits from real-time plan updates to keep projects on schedule

“Departments trust us more now because they know the platform is always current and accurate. Higharc became our single source of truth.” — Taylor Kuhlman

In fact, Higharc has become so reliable that it’s reshaped expectations company-wide: faster turnarounds are no longer a nice-to-have, they’re the standard.

“It has kind of backfired in a good way. Now everyone expects changes back right away, because they know we can do it.” — Taylor Kuhlman

A Game-Changer for Sales

Higharc Showroom has transformed the buyer experience for Epcon Customers. Sales teams can toggle 3D options in real time and visualize configurations live with customers.

“One salesperson said Higharc has helped close more deals than anything else. If a buyer’s on the fence, the showroom is the game changer.” — Taylor Kuhlman

Operational Scale Without Complexity

Higharc allowed Taylor and his team to scale Epcon’s design operations without scaling complexity. From managing six active regions to supporting new community launches, everything now runs through a unified, repeatable process.

“We’re managing entire regions, hundreds of plan files and configurations, with way less effort than before. That would’ve been impossible in our old system.” — Taylor Kuhlman

Why Higharc

For Taylor Kuhlman, Epcon Communities adopting Higharc wasn’t just about replacing outdated drafting software; it was about unifying Epcon’s entire homebuilding process under one intelligent system.

That single-platform approach has reshaped how Epcon Communities operates, empowering every team to move faster, make smarter decisions, and collaborate without the usual friction of disconnected tools. For builders looking to scale without sacrificing control, Taylor sees Higharc as essential infrastructure.