Construction Trades: Pitfalls & Technology
Wasted Resources, Countless Systems, and Incoherent Processes.
Through our decades working with residential and commercial trade contractors, we have recognized these as dominant pitfalls of the industry. Simply stated, these pitfalls are created by a lack of technology implementation and the trades that are excelling, are the trades that are embracing technological advancement.
Outlined below are three specific ways technology combats wasted resources, countless systems, and incoherent processes:
- Precision
Construction trades are incredibly competitive and fast paced. In order to scale, companies must bid a project, sign a contract, and begin work within an incredibly tight window of time. For this process to be efficient, you need to know exactly what resources are required to complete the job. With the implementation of technology, companies can track an exact bill of materials, labor hours, and worker efficiency. Sierra takes precision even further than those calculations by giving you visibility into your daily budget to actuals. Through utilizing technology, management gains a comprehensive view into daily operations and precise steps for improvement.
- Simplicity
We have observed manual data entry between numerous spreadsheets, accounting systems, and construction management systems consuming most of an employee’s workday. These are powerful tools respectively, but at this point, trade companies cannot scale without integrating and simplifying all of their processes with technology. Additionally, it not only matters that processes are simplified with technology, but also that they are replicable. Technology with a replicable bill of materials that extends to specific jobs means you can simply transfer information, make adjustments, and begin work without wasting hours of data entry. The result from technological simplification is increased efficiency for management gathering data and a significant decrease in labor.
- Cohesion
The demands upon building trades are becoming increasingly complex. The complexity leads to departments creating their own way to complete work. When unique processes are invented, managers receive differing information from every department involved, leading to general and financial uncertainty. The solution is a centralized technology system which ensures clear communication of objectives across departments. Whether it is the purchasing manager or the field worker, with a single technology system, everyone speaks the same language. The core piece of technology that removes incongruity between departments and unites a company’s processes is a scheduling system. In the end, applying technology with a strong scheduling system ascertains everything is accounted for and everyone operates under the same processes.
For over 25 years, Sierra Data Systems has drastically accelerated the operational efficiency/profitability of construction and logistics companies. With industry leading understanding of how you operate, our software is tailored to meet your specific operational requirements. With Sierra, you can ensure:
- A proper bill of materials is established
- Products are received into inventory and scheduled for delivery
- Field resources are balanced with scheduled work
- Immediate feedback for crew leads and managers on their budget accuracy
Our trade software is easily customizable to whatever you need. From plumbing, to concrete, to HVAC, our system can be implemented to match your specific processes.
Contact us for a demo to see the power of our system and how we can use technology to implement precision, simplicity, and cohesion within your company.