Every construction project has its own set of challenges and requirements, but with the right tools, processes, and platforms, you can save time, money, and energy at almost every stage of the construction process. Construction management software is used by construction business owners, project managers, and contractors to keep track of all major aspects of the project and ensure every team has what they need to complete a project successfully – companies that use this software in their day-to-day operations can become more profitable and efficient as a result.
Construction management software is an essential tool for the modern construction industry. It can help you better manage your projects and employees, and it can also benefit both your bottom line and your client’s satisfaction. But how exactly does Construction management software impact business’s profit margins?
What is construction management software?
Construction management software is a set of cloud-based applications, features and tools that help construction companies manage their projects. The software allows users to track project progress, improve scheduling and cost control, and more. This type of technology is used by all types of construction companies, from small businesses to large corporations. It’s important for any business owner who works in the construction industry to understand how using this type of software can positively impact your profit margins.
For example, construction management software platforms like PlanRadar allow you to manage your resources seamlessly while allowing all stakeholders to access construction project related information – including BIM models and project plans. Using this facility you can streamline project management, collaborate with your team, and collect data that provide insights about your construction projects. To learn more about how PlanRadar helps you manage your projects with reduced overhead and improved operational efficiency, you can try the app for free or contact us here.
How does a lack of construction management software affect construction projects?
- Cost of poor project management: Poor project management can lead to delays, quality issues, and cost overruns.
- Cost of poor communication: As you add staff members, communication becomes more difficult. Without proper tools in place, there’s a greater chance that key information will be lost or miscommunicated.
- Cost of poor data management: If you don’t have access to your company’s data at all times and from anywhere, it’s difficult for employees at remote locations like job sites or subcontractors’ offices to stay on top of their work—and this can lead to additional costs as well as lost time.
- Cost of poor collaboration: With so many moving parts during construction projects (think about all the people involved!), everyone must be on the same page regarding the project budget, schedule, and scope. Without proper collaboration software in place, teams can’t work together efficiently—which means additional costs associated with rework or even delays in finishing projects on time!
- Cost of risk management: The earlier you discover any potential risks before they become crises (and therefore costlier), the better able you are to prevent them from impacting your bottom line down the road.
How construction management software improves profit margins
Any construction business should invest in assets, tools and processes to improve working capital management, quality control, supply chain management, data entry, and so on. These tools can significantly improve your company’s productivity and operations, resulting in increased efficiency, reduced site downtime, and lower costs. When it comes to construction projects, however, some activities require more attention than others. These may include project scheduling, site progress monitoring, document management, and construction defect monitoring.
Construction management software, when implemented correctly, can help you to achieve better process efficiency. This means less time wasted on manual processes and more time spent on core activities that improve profitability.
When engaging construction management software, teams can quickly benefit in a range of everyday operations and processes including:
- Improved process efficiency
- Improved compliance
- Enhanced risk management capability
- Standardised workflows and templates
- Real-time data monitoring and analytics
- Collaboration across the supply chain
1. Improved process efficiency
Construction management software can help you improve process efficiency by reducing the time spent on repetitive tasks, increasing the efficiency of the entire process, and reducing the time spent on data entry and analysis. This results in more accurate cost estimates, which means you’re able to quote projects with confidence.
2. Compliance with regulations and standards
To maintain a healthy bottom line, you need to comply with regulations and standards that govern your industry. Most contractors are aware of this fact. However, they may not know how to achieve compliance. The first step is understanding what those regulations are.
Compliance is an extremely important part of construction management software because it ensures that contractors comply with all applicable federal laws and local ordinances. In addition, many states have their own sets of rules for contractors in different industries (i.e., residential vs commercial).
3. Enhanced risk management
Risk management is another key part of construction management. Accurate and effective risk management has the potential to attract and bring in additional capital on a range of construction projects, as well as significantly improve outcomes at all stages of the construction project. Given the increasing size and scale of emerging construction projects around the world, there is a strong case for embracing risk management throughout the life cycle of individual projects. Construction software allows you to track and manage risk, including:
- Inspections (think building inspections or hardware installation)
- Risk assessments (failing a load test)
- Third party audits (for compliance and regulatory purposes)
- Safety and material quality assurance
4. Standardised workflows and templates
In addition to the above, it is important to standardise your workflows and templates. This will allow you to improve efficiency by creating a streamlined process for each department or team. The main benefit of having standardised workflows and templates is that they allow you to reduce risk. The following are some examples of how you can use them:
- Standardising your approach for collecting information from clients and suppliers about what needs to be built — will help ensure compliance with legal requirements such as building permits and codes
- Creating workflow templates for each project so that documents are distributed in an organised way, allowing teams or departments within the organisation access only when necessary
5. Real-time data monitoring and analytics
You need to know what your business is doing to make smart decisions. The more data you collect and analyse, the better informed those decisions will be. One way to collect data is by using construction management software with real-time reporting features. This type of software allows you to monitor your projects in real time so that you can keep track of everything from tasks completed and materials ordered.
6. Collaboration across the supply chain
In the construction industry, coordination is key. It’s especially important in projects that span a large geographical area and involve multiple parties. With all of these different parties working together to build something, they must stay up-to-date on their progress and know exactly what to do next.
Let’s look at an example: you’re building a new shopping mall in town, which means coordinating with developers and contractors who are providing materials for the mall’s foundation work as well as other subcontractors such as electricians, plumbers, and landscapers. You also need to coordinate with other companies that aren’t directly involved with your project but may provide services like food delivery so they don’t arrive at the wrong time or place. If you’re not careful, your project will fall behind schedule and possibly even fail. A good way to avoid this is by creating a project schedule on your construction management software so that each subcontractor has a clear outline of what they need to do on any given day and how long it will take them.
Conclusion
Contractors, architects, engineers, and staff may face difficulties in project planning, management, and scheduling. It’s also critical to keep costs under control so that costs don’t spiral out of control. Construction management software is a technologically enabled approach to managing the construction process that encompasses all of the day-to-day functions and site activities developed, contained, and controlled by construction firms. These software solutions can be used by construction project managers, procurement professionals, and site personnel to facilitate real-time collaboration between different locations. A construction app can help you streamline your day-to-day tasks, complete more tasks per workday, and save money on projects.
Construction management software can have a huge impact on your profit margins. By improving the efficiency of your operations, mitigating risk, and making smarter decisions, you’ll be able to increase revenues while reducing costs. This means that not only will you be more competitive in the market, but also more profitable!
Interested in using construction management software for your next project? Start your 30-day free PlanRadar trial here.
