Construction is a big business. But, it is also one of the most loss-prone endeavors you could embark on.
According to a KPMG construction survey, only 31% of construction projects came in within 10% of budget in the past 3 years.
As such, it is clear that most construction projects need to improve productivity, efficiency, and risk management. This is where construction workflows come in.
Construction workflows are processes for completing common tasks, actions, or project phases.
The construction workflows standardize sequences for operational tasks to review, streamline, and repeat across different projects.
A workflow takes a given activity or project phase, defines the tasks that constitute the activity, puts them in sequential order, and assigns responsibility to a particular person.
This makes it easier to plan projects, saving money and time.
What makes a workflow efficient
Workflows can vary depending on several factors.
How you plan your construction project management workflow should depend on the type of task, team size, project size, project budget, timeline, and project type (commercial, residential, healthcare, infrastructure, etc).
While these factors play a huge role in the specifics of your construction management workflow, all successful workflows share certain characteristics.
These include:
Repetitive tasks
Successful project management workflows should be documented so these can be repeated for subsequent undertakings.
This makes more sense than formulating new workflows for every project. This makes repeatability a desirable characteristic for a construction workflow.
For example, let’s take the equipment acquisition workflow for a housing project. If the acquisition and construction for such a project concluded on time and within budget, its acquisition workflow could be documented, standardized, and repeated for subsequent housing project contracts.
This saves both time and money.
Accessibility
Workflows are most efficient when all personnel involved with the project have access to the same source of information through a unified database.
Projects where individuals are getting information that isn’t from a single source of truth ultimately face a lot of losses and inefficiency.
This is why knowledge bubbles should be eliminated when planning a construction workflow. Knowledge bubbles or silos, create situations where tasks are unnecessarily repeated or team members make unnecessary changes.
For example, a construction project could end in complete failure if its architects, engineers, and contractors are using different design versions. This could lead to incompatible structural elements, requiring costly rework.
There could also be duplicate orders and incorrect material acquisition due to miscommunication, leading to added losses.
Other complications include scheduling conflicts, safety risks, and time delays. This could all be avoided with a central repository of information.
Transparency
A construction management workflow can’t be executed smoothly if everyone involved can’t easily understand it.
Your whole team must understand what is happening, when it is happening, in what order, and by whom. This is necessary for effective communication and accountability.
When the project activities are not transparent, there is a higher likelihood of action items being missed.
For example, an electrical contractor encounters unexpected site conditions but doesn’t inform the general contractor or other teams. This leads to a 2-week delay in the project timeline.
Collaboration
Critical issues may be undiscovered if the team or crew members work in isolation without active collaboration.
This leads to a higher likelihood of mistakes being repeated and it could lead to an exponential delay in the project timeline along with increased costs.
For example, the design review process should ensure the design team, owner, and contractors can view the current version of each drawing and discuss constructability issues or changes in real time.
Automation
One of the simplest ways to improve your workflow is to identify tasks that can be automated to eliminate the chances of human error.
One of the advantages of using a digital tool to automate such tasks is that it can also update the team once a task is complete.
For example, manual tracking of material deliveries, storage, and installation using paper-based records and approvals over phone calls are highly prone to errors.
These can be improved using cloud-based rental software to track deliveries, storage locations, and installation status in real time.
Construction rental management software optimizes workflows
While construction rental management software is primarily meant to improve the heavy equipment rental process, it can also help your construction project by improving workflows.
Rental management software improves equipment management optimization, costs, and overall efficiency.
Improvements in these three areas result in the following benefits:
1. Equipment management
Rental management software streamlines equipment rental, tracking, and maintenance.
It also ensures that the same equipment isn’t booked for more than one task in the same time slot.
This ensures timely availability of equipment once it is booked for a task.
This helps the entire project stick to its timeline by minimizing or eliminating needless delays.
2. Inventory optimization
The right rental management software can automate inventory management.
This optimizes equipment acquisition, reducing unnecessary rentals.
As a result, unwanted spending is minimized or eliminated, helping the project stick to its budget and timeline.
3. Delivery and pickups
Construction rental management software tracks your rental costs, monitors expenses, and optimizes budgets using real-time financial data.
The improved visibility and insights this gives into your construction projects.
It enables you to monitor expenditures throughout the project, improving adherence to the budget and timeline.
4. Communication and collaboration
Automated alerts and notifications make communication more efficient for all team members and stakeholders.
This improves productivity and efficiency for the whole project.
Additionally, your customer will stay on top of everything and you will be able to build trust and improve their rental experience.
5. Asset utilization
Construction rental management software gives you insights into the overall status and usage of every asset, asset stock, and inventory item.
These insights help you maximize the use of every piece of equipment.
Idle time can be minimized or eliminated while asset allocation is optimized.
This improves productivity and efficiency, helping the project stick to its budget and timeline.
6. Servicing and maintenance
Construction rental management software gives you insights into the status of each piece of equipment.
These insights can be used to efficiently schedule maintenance and repair, minimizing or eliminating asset downtime.
This ensures your project runs smoothly without any essential tasks being held up due to inoperable equipment.
Not only does this save time and money, it also extends the lifespan of the equipment.
7. Industry regulations and compliance
Construction rental management software helps ensure all equipment meets the required safety standards.
It also helps track certifications and inspections.
This prevents losses from fines and minimizes the chances of accidents that could lead to litigation-related losses.
8. Reporting and analytics
Construction rental management software gives insights into equipment usage, costs, and performance.
This data can help when standardizing workflows for future projects, improving the overall performance of your construction business.
9. Financial integrations
The right construction rental management software will integrate with the financial software ideal for your construction projects.
This includes integrations with accounting, bookkeeping, payment solutions, and webstore plugins.
The seamless data exchange due to these integrations increases transparency and accountability.
Use tech for improved construction management workflows
Implementing improved construction management workflow is a time-consuming process that doesn’t happen overnight.
Generally, designing an effective workflow ensures the right people get the right notifications, at the right time.
A technological solution can make this happen by automating key tasks, acting as a unified source of information, and notifying relevant parties promptly.
This not only improves efficiency but also significantly contributes to successful project completion.
Most importantly, these insights allow your team to preempt potential challenges and maneuver quickly to avoid additional costs or lost time.
