Will 2017 be the year that mobile technology becomes a force in the construction industry? More and more construction professionals are utilizing mobile data. This post explains what is behind this movement.
Harnessing mobile technology with construction management programs can improve efficiency, profitability, and job site safety. Mobile technology has already made inroads in the construction industry but penetration is small. According to the 2014 Gartner IT Key Metrics Data the construction industry is dead last in spending on information technology compared to other major industries.
In 2015, a survey revealed that the top six concerns facing the construction industry were:
- Getting new customers – 39%
- Cost of Materials – 38%
- Labor shortage – 26%
- Increased competition – 25%
- Profit Margin – 25%
- Compliance – 22%
Source: Sage construction technology survey
How Mobile Technology Helps Address Industry Concerns
Although mobile technology is not a panacea for every concern facing the construction industry, it does have an influential role in helping companies deal with issues.
Mobile Technology Increases Efficiency
When efficiency improves, so does profitability
Workers in the field use mobile technology to file daily reports, submit time sheets, and send emails in real-time. They can receive responses or other job-related information too. This means they never need to leave their location to send or receive information. This improves efficiency and helps ensure the project being completed on time. Information from the field are automatically GPS tracked and time stamped. This extra documentation may help protect you against legal action. Efficiency and other concerns are easier to deal with thanks to mobile communications, smartphones, and cloud-based construction management software.
Compliance items
Because smartphones can store or access data quickly, workers always have their documents with them that show their licensure if required, certifications, and training. Equipment on the job site has documentation readily available from the office including licensure and insurance, date of last safety inspection, findings of the last safety inspection, records of maintenance and repairs, workers certified to use the equipment. Not only does this help keep the entire job site in regulatory compliance, it is also safer.
Mobile Technology Makes for Better Communication
Smartphones are revolutionizing the way businesses communicate internally and with other firms. Contractors are especially finding mobile electronics useful as it allows for immediate communication among all stakeholders – smartphones take and transmit photos that allow all to see the topic of discussion such as:
- Progress photos
- Architectural details
- Other job-related photographs
- Live data allows for reviews such as actual costs compared to budgets
Hiring and Retention of Workers
For the first time in recent history, construction executives are concerned about finding and keeping the best talent they can. Mobile technology is a good recruitment tool. Using their own smartphones, employees can perform many daily tasks that could add time to their work day. They get to leave on time and executives get the daily data they need. When mobile technology is involved, new hires tend to stay.
You Need the Right Platform
To have mobile communications work to your construction company’s advantage you need the right platform for data collection, storage, and management. Assignar is such a company.
Assignar gets the right workers paired up with the right equipment to get projects completed as scheduled. It also keeps track of hours worked, equipment maintenance, and much more. All the data needed to determine workforce productivity and asset use as well as project profit and loss are easily retrievable using Assignar.
