In this article, Nick Nieder, director of project management, Deltek explains to PBC Today about productivity in the AEC industry, and how construction can remain resilient during times of economic disruption
It’s fair to say that the AEC industry isn’t afraid of a little weather. Rain or shine, the industry remains flexible and adaptable to overcome any economic disruptions, continuing to deliver critical infrastructure, build new homes and ultimately complete projects. Weathering economic uncertainty on the other hand, comes with a completely different set of challenges.
The recent economic disruptions have affected business large and small, with different sectors being impacted in different ways. For the AEC industry, it’s been a truly challenging time, but one that the industry continues to prove resilience against. From rising product costs to lack of materials, the challenges keep on coming – impacting every aspect of the business, hitting the bottom line.
What can AEC businesses do to remain resilient?
To date, the UK has had a long-standing challenge with productivity. Even in the first quarter of 2022, productivity fell 0.8%. But, as we teeter on the edge of a recession, productivity could be the lifeline to re-charge AEC resilience, combatting economic disruptions and boosting businesses into the future.
1. Resource planning
As teams grow and evolve, managing time, employees, assets, timeframes, clients and every other aspect of a project becomes more complex. The solution to continuing to deliver seamless project management is insight. Projects, large and small, must be supported by accurate, up-to-date information to ensure that plans turn into efficient, profitable projects.
With 4 in 5 businesses attempting to recruit are struggling to find staff, resource planning just got more challenging. With gaps in staffing a real issue, resource planning becomes not just a challenge, but a business risk.
Productivity starts with planning – and while resource planning won’t ultimately make the AEC industry more productive, it will highlight the starting line. Resource planning enables senior construction leaders to understand the current position of the business. It shows the foundation of the business, which can then be built on and tailored to enable greater business productivity. It’s the essential first step in the journey to enhanced productivity.
2. Incorporating resource planning tools
Everyone loves a spreadsheet! And it’s easy to understand why – there’s no doubt that spreadsheets are a powerful, versatile tool. That’s exactly why they’re so widely used in so many enterprises. But like any tool, they have their limits – they require a lot of manual effort, they are hard to collaborate in, there is no real time view of data and they can be inefficient.
Many professionals are aware of these shortcomings and simply feel the flexibility and familiarity of spreadsheets make it worth putting up with other issues. However, in some cases, firms don’t realize the full impact these spreadsheet problems are having on their business.
To establish a solid understanding of the businesses current position, companies need to be able to access comprehensive knowledge of who is available, which projects are up next, and insights from previous resource plans. Project information management, incorporating a resource planning tool provides all that information in one place, while making project planning consistent across the business. Companies can make informed decision and identify digital transformation targets.
3. Identifying digital transformation targets
Once the business has solidified its resource planning, it can begin to identify opportunities for digital transformation, enhancing productivity. As a rule, a significant amount of AEC companies see digital transformation as a huge undertaking which takes months to rollout and is overly complicated. It doesn’t have to be.
The biggest benefit of digital transformation comes from taking a step back, looking at all of the businesses processes and identifying manual task that tech can transform.
Take a site visit for example. Currently, the quantity surveyor visits the site and takes a selection of photos on a digital camera for the company records. When they return to the office, the photos have to be manually downloaded, uploaded to the system, renamed and put into the appropriate file on the system.
Through digital transformation, the process could be streamlined to a single action. While on site, the quantity surveyor takes the photos using a mobile device which uploads the files directly to the correct company file. The task, taking site photos has been streamlined from the best part of an hour, to under a minute. Apply these simple tech transformations across the business and suddenly productivity skyrockets.
4. Retaining construction talent
Retaining talent in 2022 is a top concern and priority for businesses large and small. Many firms are investing in their workforces to maintain staff engagement in the business, while boosting business productivity.
Take skills shortages for example, working around issues will often cost additional time, reduce productivity and ultimately be an unexpected project expense. Employees are much more likely to stay in their role if their employer invests in them, supporting them to develop new skills and provides a clear career path aligned to their aspirations.
Plus, employee development costs significantly less than outsourcing to address skills shortages. Another way to retain employees is to transform the business into a place where employees want to work. Employees want the latest technology, the latest equipment and the latest benefits. The workforce is changing, and employers need to keep up to remain competitive.
5. Investing in Tech to boosting productivity in the AEC industry
The key to improving productivity is technology – and the right technology that aligns to business needs. As margins continue to become tighter, the right tech can revolutionise a business’s productivity to give flexibility and improve resilience.
For example, 65% of architecture and engineering firms found that COVID highlighted weaknesses in their operations model, and as such, are looking at digital in a new context, considering how they can better leverage technology to run their business.
Enterprise software is now non-negotiable. When embraced, ERP and resource planning technology can enable superior levels of project intelligence, digital transformation and collaboration. Whether that be running a project on site, or reinvigorating a recruitment programme, companies can get a greater understanding of the business – which can empower more informed decision-making.
There is no overarching quick fix to the economic challenges currently facing the industry. But taking the time to improve productivity can be a simple way to make a huge difference. Not just to the businesses bottom line, but for employees in what is a really difficult time. Boosting productivity is no easy feat, but with the right support from technology, it might just be the lifeline the AEC industry needs.
Nick Nieder
Director of Project Management
Deltek
