Technology in Construction is Changing Contractors Bottom Lines

Way back in the 1980’s I was “bungalow bashing”. Technology in construction was still more of a blurry concept. Somehow, somewhere, I heard about “Planning”. Being of an innovative and creative nature I decided to give it a go. Pinned bits of wallpaper on the office wall and drew pretty diagrams with a magic marker. Technology progressed and the wallpaper changed into a whiteboard! People would wander into the office and study it, then they’d organize men and materials. This reduced the house build time from 12 weeks to a mere 6 weeks! That must have helped the company’s bottom line no end, but nobody ever even acknowledged the acceleration had happened! Snooty CM’s!!! Idiots couldn’t even recognize the early introduction of construction management services!

Technology in Construction advanced further and many changes around the field started to appear:

1.  Computer on site

The arrival of computer on site changed a lot. Suddenly, we had a Planner sat at the keyboard, on a major infrastructure job. He was a part of the clients PM Team and their office was out of bounds to mere tradesmen, so nobody ever got to see what he was hoping for!

2. Laptops on our desks

Then technology in construction advanced even further and many of us had our laptops on our desks! We did our own Planning using MS Project and either we printed that off for people or they came in to see who should be doing what and when. We definitely saw project acceleration then but we also saw a big reduction in time extensions and no LAD to be paid out. That must have been an even bigger saving on the contractors’ bottom lines! But, again, no acknowledgment was ever given to us poor muddy-boot brigade people!

3. The arrival of e-mails 

At the same time we got e-mails introduced! That was either good or bad! Meant we had a lot of our time wasted with stupid one, but we also got information much more quickly! Oh! Except for drawing revisions – they still came in the post or were dropped off by hand. This really was technology in construction!

4. AutoCAD

Er, er … I’m not going to condescend to mention the architect and engineer types what started, like, to use Construction Technology like AutoCAD to do their stuff! But it has turned their old drawing instruments into Collectors’ Items! I’ve got three slide rules if anyone wants to make me an offer????

So let’s, at last, start looking at today’s cutting edge Construction Technology: – GenieBelt! We are changing the field and here’s how we do it:

1. No paper on site

No more paper required on site, or anywhere else, for any reason! Now, you can keep track of every little detail of your project online.

2. All information are easily accessible

Everyone involved in a project from Client to ganger man, has full access to absolutely all information instantly! Communicating with all the different parties on a construction project can be extremely challenging. Thanks to GenieBelt, you have the opportunity to boost productivity and build solid relationships with anyone working on the project.

3. Clear directions to everyone 

Everyone knows what they should be doing, where and when so they make sure labour is ready to jump in and materials are there waiting for them!

4. No need for supervision

We require less supervision because people simply KNOW! As we mentioned above, all construction agents have access to every little information concerning the project that is related to their tasks. In that sense, everyone’s contribution to the team is pretty apparent.

5. Save time and money

In a previous Blog I calculated that the saving of time and storage for the paperwork on a £5 million project would be about £63,000 – that is about a 1¼ % saving. Now let’s add in work that doesn’t have to be undone and then re-done to the revised specification because there has been no time lost in receiving it.  Then we get the really sneaky bit! Because the project is now so organised it is likely to complete ahead of time! – And it is a myth! Acceleration does NOT cost money! It usually saves a lot of it! – So, no LAD to worry about! Oh, and because everything can be so closely monitored now de-snag as you go can become the norm! That alone is a great cost saver!

Now if all those potential savings from the use of todays’ best construction management software, GenieBelt, doesn’t turn that 1¼ % saving on paperwork into a 4% additional profit on the Contractors bottom line, then I’m a monkey’s uncle!