Using Business Intelligence to Gain a Competitive Edge

As technology and data analysis tools evolve, data science is giving construction firms the ability to see how their operations fit together and where there’s room for improvement so they can gain a more detailed understanding of their business.

Business intelligence (BI) is more than just understanding how to run your company. It refers to a technology-driven analysis of data to enable actionable information in helping stakeholders and end users make smarter decisions. With BI, contractors can gain actionable insights and see a clearer path to balancing the business.

Whether you’re an owner, executive, project manager, or job supervisor, it’s important to know what’s happening in your business and how you stand next to the competition. When profit margins are thin, it doesn’t take much to wipe out a project’s financial benefits.

The 2016 JBKnowledge Construction Technology Report finds the construction industry has massive amounts of data at its fingertips from every project, and most of it just sits there. Insights from all this information could increase profit and productivity and reduce time, errors, and material waste.

In Viewpoint’s latest business intelligence white paper, we outline three key areas where insights and analytics can help contractors gain a competitive edge. Be sure to download the full paper “How to Leverage Business Intelligence for Your Construction Company” for true-to-life examples of construction problems solved by using BI.

1. Cost control

When an average of 35 percent of construction costs are spent on material waste and remedial work, tracking cost and performance makes all the difference. Detailed reports and summaries that outline actual expenditures compared to budgeted costs allow for educated decisions as to where adjustments are needed. Managing inventory and employee work hours throughout the entire project, beginning with the bidding and estimating stage, allows managers and owners to monitor the entire company’s monetary flow.

2. Scheduling, planning, and collaboration optimization

BI enables easy tracking and monitoring of complex projects to ensure schedules are kept and collaboration is happening every step of the way. Schedule analysis reporting enables effective planning, while optimizing deliveries and equipment with real-time project data. With these insights, you’ll be able to analyze patterns and uncover issues that might not have been brought to light so you can avoid delays and prevent damages that hold up entire projects.

3. Risk management

Be it legal, safety, costs, or delays, construction is a high-risk business. Staying in control of risk requires an analytical understanding of its causes as well as an efficient and timely response. BI helps pinpoint risky behavior early for faster and more cost-effective mitigation. Managers are equipped with data to look at even the tiniest detail in an effort to reduce and eliminate risk factors.

Business intelligence insights give you a clearer picture of your construction business, projects, and spending. To learn more about how Viewpoint can help you take advantage of data and see a holistic view of your company, get in touch direct or reach out via LinkedIn or Facebook.