Turner Industries cuts device costs with ChromeOS rollout

Turner Industries has rolled out ChromeOS devices, Google Workspace, Chrome Enterprise Premium and Cameyo across its operations, cutting device costs and deployment time.

The industrial contractor has adopted Google Workspace and Chrome Enterprise Premium for 21,000 employees and deployed 1,200 Chromebooks as part of a broader shift to a cloud-first infrastructure. Turner, which provides construction, maintenance and fabrication services, made the changes after reviewing its productivity tools and device management.

Figures published by the company show the cost per device fell by 40% to 50% compared with its previous hardware estate, translating into USD $700,000 in savings across the 1,200 devices already deployed.

Executives also pointed to longer replacement cycles, with Turner expecting Chromebooks to last eight to 10 years. It estimated that as a 100% to 125% improvement in longevity over its previous equipment.

Turner also sees another USD $600,000 in potential savings from using ChromeOS Flex to repurpose existing machines, allowing older devices to remain in service rather than be replaced outright.

Time savings

The move also changed how quickly Turner's IT team can prepare devices for staff. Configuration and deployment now take minutes rather than hours, producing an estimated annual saving of 1,750 working hours.

That reduction comes alongside lower maintenance demands, according to Scott Gatreau, Director of Information Security at Turner Industries. He said the new set-up cut time spent on patching, software installation and routine security support work.

Security was a central part of the rollout. Turner now uses Chrome Enterprise Premium to apply policies such as data loss prevention through the Chrome browser across different device types, while the ChromeOS environment limits the risk from malicious downloads.

The company operates at hundreds of client job sites, where remote access for field staff had previously depended on a different virtual desktop infrastructure platform. It has now replaced that arrangement with Cameyo, which it described as a simpler way to give workers access to legacy Windows applications over external networks, including guest Wi‑Fi.

Workforce shift

ChromeOS now extends across most parts of the business, including frontline teams, sales staff and senior management. Turner said its chief executive officer, chief operating officer and chief information officer all use ChromeOS devices.

One internal example highlighted by the company was a senior executive who had long relied on Microsoft Excel and later moved to Google Sheets. Turner said leadership adoption helped set the tone for broader take-up across the workforce.

The company also linked the change to recruitment and onboarding, noting that younger employees often arrive with prior experience of Chromebook devices from education. That reduces training needs and shortens the adjustment period when they join the business.

Turner has operated in industrial contracting for more than six decades. The technology overhaul began about two and a half years ago with a move to Google Workspace, followed by the broader deployment of ChromeOS, Chrome Enterprise Premium and Cameyo.

Gatreau described the outcome in operational and financial terms. "We have moved beyond the complex, costly, and resource-intensive architecture of the past to embrace a stack defined by simplicity, intrinsic security, and operational efficiency," he said.