I know you have been hearing about the construction technology craze and that if you do not use and streamline technology in your construction company you’ll be left behind. The headlines about it are everywhere.
I’ve noticed some of those headlines do not explain just how you will be left behind. And I think that’s the most important part. Why would anyone want to change all of their companies processes just because a headline says you should.
That’s why I want to give you the real meat and potatoes of why you need to adopt technology – meat and potatoes meaning the reasons technology will really grow your bottom line.
Construction Technology – How To Know If You Are Being Left Behind
As an IT company who focuses on construction, the signs that you are falling behind usually appear in five main areas.
- You are not winning the number of bids you used to win. Or you are being underbid at a growing rate.
- It is getting harder and harder for you to get the best price for your materials. You are not able to easily predict material cost fluctuations.
- You are spending too much time in your truck driving to jobsites.
- Predictability. It is taking you too long to know when a project is off track or over budget.
- You are doing many tasks manually, for example payroll. Your technology does not connect your on-site workforce and most of your payroll process is still manual.
If you are experiencing even one of these problems, it is enough for your competition to win more bids than you. Because they can do it easier, faster, and more cost effectively.
How?
The Number of Bids You Are Winning is Decreasing
Everyday, more and more construction companies are using technology.
Recently in a Deloitte survey 76 percent of engineering and construction executives indicated that they are likely to invest in at least one digital technology in 2021.
The digital technologies they are adopting is helping them streamline their processes with automation, connecting job sites and office workers and they are gaining the ability to predict future events like, rising supply costs and moving workers to and from projects where they are needed the most quickly.
What this means is construction companies who put technology in place are able to do more for less. Which is how they are able to underbid you.
How Can Technology Help Me Buy Materials At the Best Price
Hopefully you have escalations in your contracts. But if you don’t, it is even more important that you order the right amount of materials, as cheap as possible, so you do not risk the price of the materials doubling or tripling before you purchase them.
How does technology help with this?
Let’s say you see that lumber prices are rising in the next six to eight months. Technology helps you quickly evaluate the price increase vs the number of materials you need for the project, so you know when the best time to purchase at the best price is.
Driving From the Office to the Jobsite Wastes Time and Money
If you are still driving back and forth to jobsites when there is technology that can accommodate the tasks you are driving back and forth to do, you are losing money. It is that simple.
Construction companies with technology in place are not spending countless hours in their truck. They are using technology to connect jobsites in real-time. Because each job is built on a complex web of data, with countless decisions being made across multiple teams and numerous workflows. The project’s success depends on real-time accurate information.
If you are not remotely connected to your jobsites and have to drive to get project data, you are losing time and money. Because while you are driving from jobsite to jobsite, your competition is sitting in their air-conditioned office getting real-time project information from multiple jobsites – saving time and money by getting real-time data on multiple projects.
How Does Technology Help Me Predict When A Project Is Off Track Or Over Budget?
When you have your field and office teams connected in real-time it is easy to see problems and make adjustments quickly. You’ll know when a project is over or under manned, over budget, delayed, has issues with materials, and more. Real-time data helps you predict your projects needs rapidly. Saving you time, money, and making you more agile – able to move quickly to adapt to the ever-changing needs of your project.
All while the construction companies who have not adopted construction technology are taking weeks or months to realize their project has gone south and is losing money and is delayed.
How Does Technology Save Time with Tasks I Perform Manually?
Let’s use payroll as the example here. Every project has to deal with payroll and it can be one of the most time consuming activities you do, especially if you are not using technology for field payroll.
Without technology you have to manually collect timecards from everyone across multiple jobs at different rates, reenter multiple rates for states, unions or trades, and withhold and pay union dues. Often times this leads to overdue payroll and a last-minute frenzy to get payroll out accurately.
Field payroll technology takes away the time-consuming task of manually collecting payroll from each employee, contractor, sub, etc. and allows for electronic submission of their hours to be submitted to one centralized location, eliminating the need for manual entering and reentering of hours and union details.
There are many ways technology is used to help construction companies be more competitive, but these are some of the top time and money saving areas I see in the construction industry. And time and money savings always equate to you being more competitive and winning more bids.
We have been helping construction companies with their IT for years. We know the time and money saving technologies that give you the biggest competitive advantage.
My job is to help you select the technology for your construction company that will streamline your processes, give you real time data, secure your network and employees, and take less time so you can be the most competitive.
If you are interested, we offer a free technology audit, you can sign up here. The audit will show you how technology helps you be more effective and more efficient, and how to do it in a way that saves money and maximizes profits.
