Technology and Mobile Application in the Construction Industry

Mobile applications in the construction industry have been on a steady rise in the last few years. You’d be hard pressed to go to a job site and not see everyone using a smart phone and more than likely a guy or two with an I-Pad or tablet of some type. The use of new technologies has made managing construction projects easier than before. There are three key ways that I feel technology has helped the construction industry and they are material ordering, communication and scheduling/ organization.

Material ordering is on the cutting edge right now it seems. There are numerous material companies out there ranging from small mom and pop places to large scale national companies and the ordering process can vary from place to place. The majority of these companies have sales people who handle certain clients. I have close friends who do sales for larger construction material companies and they receive phone calls, texts, and emails constantly from clients doing ordering. The multiple methods of ordering cater to the different customers’ needs. Some customers want to have a personal conversation and talk everything out, while others don’t have time to sit and talk on the phone so a quick text or email can suffice. Also a tip when ordering; always make sure you have everything in writing, that way if there is ever any issue with the order you can refer to your email or text to make sure the issue is resolved based on what was agreed upon. So back to the topic of technology, just simply having a smart phone can give you different ways to cater to your needs when it comes to ordering because it opens up multiple avenues of communication.

Speaking of communication the ‘reach’ that construction leadership has available to them now is almost endless.  Apps like Facetime, Facebook, Zoom, Slack, and other similar applications has given construction professionals the means to communicate and connect like never before. When starting a construction business one of the biggest and best ways right now to reach new clients is through Facebook. Whether you’re going through Facebook Marketplace, or just posting content on your business’s page, Facebook opens up a whole new world of people and potential business we didn’t have just a few short years ago. It might go overlooked sometimes because we are so accustomed to it now but just simply the ability to text and have group text messages has been an incredibly useful tool that we now have access to. The fact that we can have questions answered, meetings scheduled, crews lined up, schedules communicated etc. in just a quick send of a text has really been able to stream line the construction industry. One of the biggest things, especially in the Covid era, has been the use of Facetime, Zoom, and other video call apps like those have been able to have client and worker relationships personal with a face to face feel while still keeping the distance that some feel necessary for their health. Other practical applications of these video call services can connect out of town clients with you making the world seem a little smaller and help you be able to possibly land some out of state jobs that you might not have had access to before.

One of the biggest and most important ways that technology has helped the construction industry is through access to programs that help you schedule everything out and keep you organized. One of the biggest killers to a construction business or a construction professional is the inability to be organized. When it comes to material if you don’t know how to schedule out you might not have material lined up when you need it and that can cause you to lose time on a project. With labor, you might have material delivered, and on site but no crews lined up to work, therefore opening yourself up to theft of material, or damage to material, and again loss of time. But being organized, especially in a management roll in a company goes beyond just scheduling materials and labor. You have to make sure you know when to send invoices, pay subs/ employees, meet deadlines for bids, make sure you are free to attend meetings when they are scheduled, ect. If you don’t keep yourself organized you can complete throw yourself through a loop causing you to play catch up which can become difficult to dig yourself out of once you end up in that cycle. Luckily though with the use of tablets and new construction applications it has gotten considerably easier to manage your time, materials, labor and business without relying on just your memory and a sheet of paper. Technology has made it to where you can change appointments, set reminders, schedule meetings, ect. with just a swipe of the finger instantly. With these new advances in the construction industry it has definitely been able to cut down on time and mistakes caused by human error.

If any of the information above seems useful but lacking in your business give us a call! We have a very tech savvy team who have used these technologies in the field and have also developed systems for construction companies in the past. If you are needing help with getting organized we can create an app custom tailored to your wants and needs that could help take your business to the next level! 

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