Our world is driven by data. Companies around the world use data to make better decisions, predict future results and improve their efficiency – and the construction industry is no exception.
While construction professionals have adopted digitalization and data-driven practices more slowly than others, they have now discovered the unique benefits that data analytics can bring to their projects.
Construction companies that don't harness the power of data risk being left behind.
Why You Can't Ignore Data Analytics in Construction
Construction companies are using data analytics more than ever to gain insights into the performance of their projects and overall business. Collecting and managing the right data allows them to make better decisions, improve efficiency and productivity, and build quality.
Without this data, it is challenging to identify trends that help identify and resolve potential issues, resulting in more time and money spent.
In an industry where large portions of our budgets are spent on labor and materials, we benefit from every opportunity to lower our costs, improve our efficiency and minimize material waste.
Including data analysis in our decision-making processes leads to cost savings, time savings and increased productivity.
3 ways to leverage data in construction
Now that we’ve discussed the “why” of data analysis in construction, let’s explore the “how.”
1. Eliminate silos and make your reporting more efficient
Construction data helps project managers make better decisions and eliminate barriers between teams. For decades, the construction industry has relied on paper-based processes for communication, reporting and management.
However, the shift to digitization and the growing adoption of construction management software means that data traditionally stored in cluttered files and drawers now lives in the cloud.
As a result, a construction company's stakeholders, including contractors, subcontractors and third-party suppliers, can access information from anywhere – information that would have been out of reach in the past.
One of the biggest problems for construction companies pre-digitization is that paper reports are unreliable: papers get lost, emails don't get where they need to go, and it's easy for underwriters to get behind on their paperwork.
By using construction data stored in your management software, you can eliminate the inefficiencies and challenges of paper reporting. You can speed up the process while making it easier to visualize and collect data from different sources.
Digital solutions make your reports easily accessible in the cloud, saving you time, helping you deal with human errors in data entry, and avoiding the problems discussed above.
2. Maximize worker productivity and increase worker safety
The ultimate goal — and challenge — for project managers is to complete projects on time and stay within budget, something in which labor productivity plays a significant role.
When workers are not engaged in their on-site and off-site activities, it costs money and resources that you could spend elsewhere. But if you overwork them, you risk paying overtime and increasing burnout rates. These sources of additional cost and time – which lead to greater security risks – are avoidable.
Data analytics in construction helps project managers uncover scheduling issues and the overarching trends that lead to these incidents.
With the right construction data, you can identify which issues are affecting your work productivity and determine which areas need improvement. For example, are your employees wasting time on site waiting for deliveries? So, your schedule needs some adjustments, whether with your employees or your suppliers.
Ideally, you will find a balance between work productivity, worker safety, and job satisfaction for all key stakeholders; The way to find this balance is with data analytics in the making.
3. Resolve current disputes and minimize future problems
People can lie, but data can't. Unfortunately, disputes are common in the construction industry – a problem that is often costly for construction companies.
By emphasizing data collection, it's easier to uncover truths and resolve disputes quickly and accurately. These disputes are often about things like project progress, time and costs spent, and use of materials.
But if you have access to comprehensive data about your construction site, you can use that data as a source of truth for everyone involved in your dispute resolution process – or you can prevent the dispute from arising altogether.
With the effective use of data analytics in construction, you can use the data you collect to leverage predictive analytics. This way, you can leverage historical data to predict the most likely outcomes, improve your decision-making processes, find opportunities to increase efficiency, and prevent problems before they happen.
Increase efficiency and productivity with data analysis
Data analytics in construction brings endless possibilities for improvements – from on-site efficiency and safety to better scheduling and reporting processes.
The time has come for the construction industry to further embrace digitalization and incorporate data-driven decision-making into its work. The second best time is now.
