How to Modernize Construction Management

Although historically the construction industry has been slow to go digital, times are changing. There’s an industry transformation happening in construction, driven by modern technology, and these changes are significantly elevating construction management. Contractors are finding ways to modernize their businesses with software that improves productivity and mitigates risks, while increasing their bottom line. Getting there just requires finding the right construction-specific tools.

Manual Processes Handcuffing True Construction Management

The industry’s slow adoption of construction software has traditionally hindered contracting companies’ productivity. The teams in the field often rely on capturing data via spreadsheets and sending an email to someone in the back office—or they wait until they can physically get to the office to enter information that will affect other processes. Waiting for this data, then finding the time to process it, trigger additional workflows or make project decisions can take days, weeks, even months. This makes it impossible for real-time analysis of projects or actionable decisions to be made in timely fashion.

It also makes it quite hard to keep all team members on the same page at all times, as data that might influence one set of work might not be seen by another team doing related work. This can cause additional errors, delays and rework.

A Call for Modern Construction Software

Contractors have begun to recognize these problems and have begun stepping up their efforts to modernize their operations. In many cases, they have purchased software solutions for construction-specific processes like accounting, project management or field management to rectify the situation.While this is a positive step, it’s not always ideal—especially for larger and growing contractors managing multiple projects.

“The problem today that our customers in the construction industry are facing is that the way they introduce technologies in a very fragmented way—they buy technology from one company, from another company, and they try to bring things together—consuming their limited viable resources,” Manolis Kotzabasakis, chairman and CEO of Viewpoint, said recently.

Kotzabasakis and other leaders at Viewpoint spoke about these issues—and Viewpoint’s solutions—in a video featured by BuiltWorlds, an organization that aims to connect technology with the broader construction industry.

Viewpoint believes contractors benefit from cloud-based, integrated software solutions that connect the back office, the project team and the crews in the field. The disconnect between these entities has created problems in the past, and focusing on these connections enhances collaboration and improves the profitability of construction projects.

“We want to help [our customers] get integrated technologies from us so that they can go and achieve their goals and serve their customers in the best possible way,” Kotzabasakis said.

Long-Term Benefits of Integrated, Cloud-Based Construction Software

When contractors select integrated, cloud-based construction software, they’re able to refine and automate many processes, operating in real time so that when something is updated in the field, it’s also updated in the back office. This ensures data is always up to date, items like change orders and RFIs are addressed quickly, and that bills are paid in a timely manner to keep people, materials and work constantly moving.

As companies grow, their overhead expenses can also grow. Having automated processes in place helps keep expenses and labor hours well under control, while ensuring revenues and profit margins increase to do faster, more efficient work and the ability to effectively take on more work.

To learn more about Viewpoint’s Office, Team and Field approach to integrated, cloud-based construction software, watch the full BuiltWords video. You can also explore all of our construction technology solutions at our Viewpoint website.