The main construction trends – and how to benefit from them

HCSS is the Business Reporter client

The most competitive construction companies know which trends will change the industry and which will become fads. We’ve analyzed five trends in construction that are currently shaping the future of the industry, and how you can use technology to future-proof your business.

1. Automated equipment

Automated equipment such as self-driving cars will transform the industry by taking repetitive tasks and allowing employees to focus on more skilled, specialized work. Using autonomous equipment to perform calculated, optimized movements can increase efficiency, productivity and safety, which in turn can reduce overhead costs without replacing jobs.

The key to seeing ROI in automated equipment is good data, so now is the time to get ready if you want to get ahead of your competition in this trend. Before implementing automation, create an accurate baseline so you know how to most effectively deploy equipment and train operators. Use telematics data to know where your equipment is in real time, track meter readings, and set up low inventory alerts. This allows you to spot problems before they occur, identify trends and ultimately identify which equipment is currently making or losing money and where you can automate your fleet.

Learn more about automated equipment and HCSS customer responses here

2. Automated payments

Moving to automated payments such as smart contracts, blockchain and cloud technologies can save time, improve communication, reduce risk and simplify the payment process.

Prepare your company for automatic payments by fully understanding workplace costs in your current systems. When your software can account for every detail of work, you can comprehensively analyze costs to gain visibility into cash flow, make more informed financial decisions on the fly, and analyze how workplace conditions affect margins. Automated payments should be part of a broader process review to ensure accuracy and timeliness of payments.

Find out what our customer HCSS has to say about automated payments here

HCSS team members share their perspective on the future of construction

3. Supply chain

Recent supply chain issues have tested every industry and digital ordering process. Being nimble in the field can put you one step ahead.

Protect valuable time and materials with software that integrates your bidding and project management processes so you know exactly what to expect and when. Knowing that everything your job needs will be harder to find, slower and more expensive than it has been in years past, a digital planning tool that integrates with your project management is also key so you know exactly what has been done, and could plan ahead.

Learn how to stay ahead of the supply chain with HCSS Customer Advice here

4. Sustainability

Building sustainably while implementing reliable, safe and cost-effective processes that meet government regulations is one of the industry’s biggest challenges – and one that will only become more prevalent.

Lean towards sustainable solutions that also benefit your business. Replacing paper time cards, plans, payments, tender documents and memos with their digital equivalent not only reduces waste, but also increases efficiency, improves collaboration and ensures operational transparency. Digital refueling tracking helps companies find places to reduce fuel consumption – a win for sustainability and profits. As more and more partners look for environmentally friendly firms to work with, companies that follow sustainable practices will be ahead of their competition.

Hear from our customers how you can build greener (without compromising on practicality) here

5. Trust

Embedding new technology into your business is a risk that requires time, money, resources and training, but the biggest hurdle construction leaders face is feeling like they can trust the tools to their people. Companies that can entrust their field staff with software, with greater business transparency and with decisions that impact the bottom line, find that they have more reliable data, better efficiency, stronger employee retention and, ultimately, a more profitable business. , but getting to a place where you can place this trust in your people is not an easy task.

If you’re just getting into empowering field teams with technology, rely on software that provides a very simple user experience and allows you to create automated checkpoints for incoming data. Expand to providing more field feedback on how they are performing against project estimates and plans. After all, creating a suite of software tools that every employee has access to can help you better engage younger employees, get more performance out of all your employees, improve accountability across the company, and even identify rising stars who can innovate and advance. your business forward.

Learn how one HCSS client is empowering their team here

Click here to read more about the four trends and dive deeper into them from HCSS, where we use our more than 35 years of leading construction technology to analyze these top trends and how you can take advantage

Originally published on Business reporter