Learn about the benefits of automation in construction like increased productivity, reduced costs, and higher employee satisfaction.
Blog Post
6 minutes
Oct 19, 2022
Many industries already take advantage of automation. This technology is used in manufacturing, automotive, electronics, and healthcare organizations to streamline projects, increase productivity, and reduce human error. But what about the uses of automation in construction?
Automation is the use of technology to handle tasks, specifically tasks that are repetitive and tedious, freeing up employees to perform jobs that demand critical thinking skills and creativity.
Construction businesses, like any other organizations, can also use automation for better project management and accelerated timelines, among other benefits. See our subject experts discuss some of the benefits of automation in the workplace in the video below:
Explore the five top benefits of automation in construction:
If your bidding process involves a team of people opening invitations and scheduling meetings to discuss bids, time is lost until every stakeholder is up-to-date on the project and final decisions can be made.
With automation, bots can be programmed to send notifications to all relevant department members, such as estimators or leadership, whenever a new invitation arrives. Each person involved with the project can quickly access the bid and look for important information.
Bids can be deployed faster with automation, removing the need for a human to analyze each part of the bid and inform stakeholders. As stakeholders make decisions and generate quotes, an automated solution can notify the rest of the team, streamlining this previously time-consuming manual task
All the data generated and used during the bidding process can also be collected to derive insights in the future. For example, when new bid invitations arrive, data from previous bids can inform decisions and make the submission process even more efficient and accurate.
Project management allows users to send automated tasks and appointment reminders to employees and track the progress of every task.
Additionally, team members working on the same project have increased visibility over tasks assigned to others. This helps improve communication among the team, removing the need for meetings or discussions for updates. This technology is easily accessible everywhere, which means even on-site employees can be notified of upcoming and newly deployed tasks.
Similar to the bidding process, this project data can also be used to find any bottlenecks in previous projects, measure time and material use, and help superintendents or foremen improve operations in future projects.
3. Improved Employee Satisfaction
Because automation reduces the amount of extremely repetitive and tedious tasks from a person’s workflow, it unblocks time that could be spent on more human-centric, critical thinking tasks.
For example, inputting record or invoice data manually, storing files in a cumbersome physical location, and locating these files later can be easily automated with a software-based solution such as a document management platform.
One practical example of this technology is how the accounting department or accounts payable team of any construction company uses it. A document management solution takes advantage of software robots to automate data entry from any invoice. The software scans email or physical invoices into a database.
If any team member needs access to this data, the software makes it easily accessible and shareable with relevant parties. It also reduces the likelihood of human error since automation bots do not experience fatigue and handle large amounts of data.
Therefore, payments will be streamlined, contractors’ ability to pay any partner or vendor will be improved, and employees will feel more satisfied.
4. Reduced Costs
“84% of firms report construction costs have been higher than anticipated.”- AGC
It is no secret to contractors that the effects of the coronavirus pandemic still affect their industry. The rising costs of materials, labor shortage, and supply chain disruptions have taken a toll on construction companies, despite the increase in demand, especially in the commercial construction sector.
Because automation results in streamlined project timelines, increased productivity, reduced human error, and reduced likelihood of re-starting projects, overall costs are reduced.
Hiring costs are also reduced because fewer people are needed to perform highly repetitive tasks. Automation robots can perform tasks overnight as well, which means extra work is getting done without the need for human supervision.
For tasks that demand high supervision or revision, automation software can complete their assigned tasks and a human worker can inspect them after.
Besides the costs of implementation, automation technology does not increase expenditures. Since it lends itself to performing a high amount of tasks without downtime, the return on investment is considerable.
5. Improved Client Experience
Besides the ability to automate notifications and communications, this technology can be extended to make the client experience better. It facilitates faster responses, automatic project updates, and faster payment processing.
The consistency in the amount and form of the communication means your clients will have less doubt about how the project is developing, and feel increased trust in your construction company.
Whenever construction projects are delayed or errors appear, the client is directly affected. Since many clients are acquired through word of mouth and reputation in the construction industry, this puts the onus on contractors to deliver a project as fast as possible with the least number of mistakes.
If your organization wants to maximize the use of automation to improve a customer’s experience, they could automate mobile text reminders and updates. The added transparency will grant your clients more ownership of the project, which in turn will result in a better partnership for your company.
Bottom Line
Automation allows contractors to streamline projects, increase productivity, and reduce costs. By leveraging this technology, construction companies can take advantage of benefits other industries—automotive and manufacturing, for instance—are already capitalizing on.
Although less than half of contractors say implementing new technology and training workers is difficult, contractors have the option to partner with a managed service provider. A reliable MSP can help them implement, train, and maximize automation solutions so that their construction company can provide clients with top-notch products and services.
If you want to learn more about leveraging tech to run effective construction projects, check out Impact's webinar, Effective Construction Site Management, part of the Industry Insights series.
