On a construction site, there are innumerable moving parts: laborers, supervisors, materials, deliveries, machinery, tools, safety, subcontractors, just to name a few. The best way to stay on schedule and on budget is to adopt a mobile productivity app to manage project-related data and communication. Mobile solutions complete construction jobs, and will facilitate real-time communication and organize workforce management tasks for cost and time efficiency.
In the United States, $1.3 billion was spent on construction in July 2018 alone. It’s a huge industry, but often an inefficient one with massive overspending and slim profit margins. McKinsey found that most projects go 80% over budget and run 20% longer than scheduled. With a communication and productivity platform like Beekeeper, specifically designed for non-desk workers, construction jobs will reduce excess spending, streamline communications, and facilitate better time management.
Here’s how going digital keeps your build on time and on budget.
On Time Mobile Apps: A Mobile Solution Means More Efficient, Real-Time Communication
Clear communication is the most important factor in running a construction project. On a big job, important messages are usually sent from the main office to the on-site project manager. But disseminating that information to the field team, especially on a large job, can take a long time and won’t reach everyone. An on time mobile app ensures information delivery to all parties at the same time. This saves time, money, and reduces miscommunications, which costs companies $32 billion every year.
Real-time communication over a company app direct to mobile devices, whether it’s file sharing, video conferencing or a group chat, eliminates the need for travel between the construction office and the job site. All important information can be sent to the field, especially to laborers who have previously been left out of the construction communications loop. Providing them with pertinent information like schedule changes, building plans, and scheduled material deliveries creates a more engaged, productive, and proactive workforce.
A Team Construction Budget App Helps Accurate Cost Tracking
On-site supervisors and workers have generally been administratively separate from the main office. Last minute material changes or costs that need to happen on the spot aren’t cost checked against the off-site budget. So spontaneous purchases lead to expensive overages. With a team construction budget app, workers can access project budgets to conduct cost analysis, track financials and make data-driven purchasing decisions from the job site with a team communication tool.
A Mobile Solution Facilitates Better Time Management
So many construction jobs fall into the trap of time mismanagement. For example, sending valuable workers to deliver paperwork or design plans between the main office and the job site. The company pays for the travel time which eats away the budget and cuts into the construction schedule. Designs and blueprints can be shared digitally to the entire on-site team, saving time and money on printing and delivery.
With a company app, crews’ shifts can be dedicated to the project. File sharing through an app like Beekeeper allows all information to be digital and on site, not just on paper in a folder on someone’s desk miles away.
A Digital Workforce App Streamlines the Supply Chain
A mobile solution can be an instrumental tool in supply-chain management. Every workforce management task that goes into the build, from estimating the job to paying employees to purchasing materials, is more efficient when it’s coordinated through a single digital workforce management hub.
Traditionally, the administrative side of construction has been paper-based. Accessing information is laborious and time-consuming. When a job is supported by a digital workforce app, all workflow information is organized in one mobile solution. It takes numerous steps out of supply chain management, enables simple access to job-related data and easier data sharing and financial tracking.
A Company App Builds a Culture of Safety and Saves Lives
One in every five job-related fatalities is in construction. And many of them are avoidable accidents. A company can reduce incidents by cultivating a culture of safety. Relaying information like company policies, safety equipment requirements, and job-site safety procedures to every single worker saves lives. (And it’s worth mentioning that implementing safety policies and procedures can reduce worker compensation policy costs.)
Most laborers are excluded from receiving critical information by the simple fact that they’re digitally disconnected from the operational team. A team communication app like Beekeeper is designed specifically for this workforce. It builds communication between the field team and the construction office so messages can be delivered to every employee on a job. And the two-way communication allows the field team to report any safety hazards on site. By making safety a communications priority, you’re weaving it into the fabric of your company culture. And it could mean the difference between life and death.
It’s time for the global construction industry to embrace digital technology. It wilI boost productivity, efficiency, and increase your profit margin on every job.
