For any construction company, a successful project encapsulates a myriad of features other than a project or quality – it’s about hitting the right profits. For many of the projects, the latter challenge is difficult to accomplish. Based on a report by KPMG, only 31% of the projects came within 10% of the budget in the previous years.
Yes, there will always be budgets & estimates as a project begins, but those budgets and estimates are derived from a highly accurate & coordinated 3D BIM model. It all begins in the preconstruction phase of a project. Furthermore, a seemingly marginal increase in profits can make a huge difference.
But, like anything, AEC firms and project managers need to implement deep construction automation to enhance productivity, communication, workflows, mitigate rework, and cost overruns.
#1. Productivity in the HQ and back office.
How is money lost?
What’s the most crucial non-material cost for any project
The answer – An enhanced collaboration between HQ and Field personnel.
Yes, it is expensive to staff a worksite, but it can be more expensive if personnel and labor are inefficient or ineffective in the HQ and onsite. One way enterprises can lose money is not being able to staff a project adequately. If AEC firms face a labor shortage or have problems collaborating with offsite and onsite personnel, then construction automation is key to resolve construction challenges.
Studies have identified a 10% decrease in productivity for every 10 hours per week that’s added to a worker’s timesheet. Wasted time also contributes to huge productivity losses as workers become overwhelmed, or they are unable to find the right tools. It is estimated that construction workers do waste about 35% of their time in unproductive activities every week. Lack of streamlined job operation results in loss of operational and job site productivity and profits.
How will your projects make money?
A comprehensive construction management solution includes collaboration, cloud storage, and construction management tools. Architects, engineers, contractors, owners, cost estimators, quantity surveyors can leverage the power of automation to enhance productivity and profits. Small profits on multi-million dollar projects through enhanced productivity turn out to be a substantial amount of money.
#2.Communication & Collaboration
How is money lost?
When your project is losing money, issues can be tracked back to poor communication and collaboration. Let’s understand this – there are hundreds of stakeholders involved in every project, and everyone needs to be on the same page. There’s a myriad of project teams who still resort to paper-based processes and outdated communication that results in poor communication and collaboration. Miscommunication can lead to wasted time and incorrect work – leading to cost and time overruns.
How would your projects make money?
Keeping your communication streamlined on a project site makes sure every process is performed through centralized automation software. With construction automation, project teams can leverage better efficiency, build better, and improve construction profits. Finally, the quality of communication and collaboration results in transparency and trust in a project.
#3. Project Workflows.
How is money lost?
It is important to know how data and information flow in the field. This is a significant factor right after communication and collaboration. Poor workflows include the absence of a standardized practice. Lack of standardization creates information silos and builds a project disconnect. Manual information processing creates a higher risk of data or information being incorrect. The smallest information ambiguity can lead to project errors and can be labor-intensive.
How would your projects make money?
How do you ensure that your workflows are completely optimized? Streamline them with complete construction automation software. Investing in automation software streamlines workflows across the board. It helps reduce traditional time-heavy processes like submittals and RFI’s. Through integrated automation, project stakeholders can streamline the complete construction lifecycle. Clear and accurate workflows helps teams move faster with great ease.
#4. Information Accuracy.
How is money lost?
Inaccurate information is a complete profit killer. When there’s wrong project information flowing to every trade, it is bound to downscale the project through poor operating projects and errors. There may be various situations that create inaccurate information. Non-credible sources or mediocre construction management software. This increases confusion amongst project teams, to access the right kind of information.
How would your projects make money?
For a construction project to be successful, the single source of truth pertains to the information stored in the cloud. Productivity can increase by 50% if a cloud-based solution is implemented to control and operate information. When your project is integrated with these solutions, you’re poised to spinning out quick and successful projects.
Conclusion – Unlock greater construction profits with integrated automation.
As mentioned earlier, any construction firm needs to deliver product and quality. AEC firms can leverage deep & integrated construction automation to build a strong company portfolio. But, in conclusion, AEC companies are in the businesses of hitting huge profits to sustain businesses. Is your company struggling with the above-mentioned factors? iFieldSmart technologies enable various AEC stakeholders viz. Architects, engineers, contractors, etc. improve their bottom line by converting challenging to opportunities.