As this decade nears its end, the construction industry has experienced a trend toward modernization and contractors are gearing-up for its most transformational years yet. After some strong growth in the sector, the industry is indeed getting more sophisticated in overall project delivery, while still contending with some tactical challenges, such as a shortage of skilled labor and tariff-induced material price volatility. Looking toward the future, there is no way of knowing what the specific challenges will be, but technology advances are going to be instrumental in setting construction businesses on solid ground for improved long-term resilience.
So, when is the right time to invest in new technologies to modernize a business? The answer may be sooner is better.
Technology to Solve Today’s Inefficiencies
New innovations and advancements are making it easier for companies to reconsider process improvements that can greatly improve their bottom line. Taking better advantage of existing construction data presents an opportunity to increase operational efficiency, expand margins and market share, improve worker safety and deliver new services.
Those companies that are able to act quickly in transforming their workflows will be best poised for success. An Aberdeen Group report found that 35% of contractors are still suffering from redundant data, 28% have systems that can’t track business processes and 23% lack adequate collaboration. Another study by Dodge revealed almost three-quarters of contractors report that double entry in project management systems was impacting productivity.
As daunting as change may seem, the cost of doing nothing is higher. With competition investigating disruptive approaches to business transformation, the challenges will intensify—no matter if the market continues to expand, or as some predict, begin to decline.
Gaining a Competitive Edge for Future Growth
For the sake of the future, investing in technology to stay a step ahead of the competition is smart. Gregg Shoppman, principal at FMI Corporation, a consulting firm specializing in construction, shares, “We’re always trying to get 1% – 5% better, but you’re not going to get there using the same methods. You’re going to have to leverage better technology. With most industries advancing their technology initiatives at breakneck pace, those still resisting might find themselves at a competitive disadvantage to their peers that modernize.”
A growing number of companies are recognizing that the time is right to begin steering strategic business decisions toward defining their own constructible process. With connected workflows, content-enabled projects and rich constructible models, they can improve visibility and increase productivity. With democratized access to data, plans and models, they can enhance collaboration between various project teams, from the field to the office, and remove unnecessary data silos that block improvements to project delivery.
Adopting a constructible process can have many benefits. Among them:
- Streamlined Processes and Workflows. Cloud-based data and systems give office and field staff easier access to the most up-to-date plan sets, communicate better and eliminate the need for rekeying project data as tasks pass between different project stakeholders.
- Reduced Strain on IT. Embracing the cloud helps ease costly IT investments by allowing cloud vendors to store and manage data, provide automatic software updates and provide consistent backups of data should a disaster or security breach occur — ensuring business continuity.
- More Connected Stakeholders. Integrated, collaborative software solutions ensure project stakeholders are more connected and that everyone, from project teams in the trailer, back-office staff, field-based crews, sub- contractors, owners and architects, are working from the same, approved and shared sets of information.
- Informed Projects. Modern software ensures timely, accurate data to better understand job costs and progress, stick to budgets and timelines, find ways to maximize performance and profitability, and better estimate and plan for future projects.
- Decreased Project Risk. Intuitive mobile technologies are mitigating project and safety risks, reducing costs and time spent on tasks, and allowing contractors to work quicker and smarter in the field.
This is just the beginning. From providing a single source of data across entire project teams, to improving cash flow by reducing time spent tracking and managing invoices, to optimizing labor, equipment and materials, New technologies are opening the door to increased productivity and profitability.
When is the right time to invest? There is no right or wrong time. But the sooner that companies embrace the fact that change is upon them, the sooner they will reap the benefits.
