The changing landscape of technology in the construction industry

See how technology initiatives are helping streamline communication and work completion in a trillion dollar industry.

February 13 2019 by

Jonathan Locast

As an industry that generates trillions of dollars, construction continues to be one of the world’s largest economic sectors every year. However, that economic value comes with tight competition and slim margins, and can make owners and contractors hesitant to take on disruptive changes. While other industries such as education or healthcare have seen an immense adoption of technology, the construction industry has seen a slower, more cautious approach. But that progress is coming in the form of adoption of video equipment for live viewing of job sites, 3D modeling software to get exact measurements right on a job site and more. In November, in Austin, Texas, Procore held their annual Groundbreak conference which brought together over 3,000 industry professionals and showcased the emerging technological trends making their way into construction firms – large and small.

Time really is money

Time is money. A phrase that was given to us by Benjamin Franklin that is now often considered a cliché. Every industry looks for ways to increase efficiency to avoid wasting resources — and construction is no exception. Time spent reworking blueprints and plans, finding information and the plans that need to be reworked, and relaying changes between those in the office and those on a jobsite are all obstacles that a company or contractor has to overcome. The truth of all of this is that if there is not an effective way to manage this, you can have hours, days or weeks’ worth of time wasted.

This is where technology is beginning to form a role. Companies like Procore that specialize in streamlining ways to manage projects, monitor productivity, make sure projects are completed safely and done with quality work, as well as, keep track of financial details from the field to the office. All of this was created to make you more efficient from start to finish in everything you do.

Use Procore’s API integration strategy with their marketplace as a perfect example of technology’s growing role. Integrating and partnering with everything from analytics, bidding, document management, field communications, ERP solutions and IT companies, Procore is beginning to construct an all-in-one solution for the jobsite. These, partnered with Apple devices like iPhone or iPad, allow you to enable the best work results from your team. By using iPad devices on the jobsite, teams are using its split-view capabilities to look at blueprints and estimate costs or finalize jobs simultaneously with markup tools.

Uses of technology

It must be said that the emergence of companies like Procore is not going unnoticed by the industry. As we saw at Groundbreak, companies are looking to technology leaders they trust, like Procore and Jamf, to help bring their company into an age of technology and help them excel. This is creating a trend of introducing iPad, iPhone and Mac devices into everyday workflows. Quickly people are seeing the benefits of their adoption:

  • Real-time issues and decisions are being worked out, collaborated on and made.
  • Quick-paced changes are now capable whether you are in the field or at home base with digital access to blueprints.
  • Instant feedback between teams and project stakeholders allow teams to move quickly and effectively day to day.
  • Streamlining these tasks and producing efficiency reduces waste and overall cost allowing companies to maximize their margins and profits.

In addition to adding efficiency to managing projects, technology is creating a streamlined, more collaborative method to managing day-to-day tasks throughout your workforce.

  • Keeping track of an employee’s working hours, clocking in and out, and even where your team is located if you are working multiple projects.
  • Keeping track of hours worked to manage billable hours if projects demand that level of tracking.
  • Managing budgets quickly and easily to directly attribute costs to projects.

These are just a few of the most common use cases for integrating technology, but more seem to be coming out by the day.

How to manage these devices?

You’ve done it. You’ve committed to adding more technology to your company. You have all your iPhone, iPad and Mac devices ready to be set up, and you know all the apps and software you are going to need to get the job done. Then, you realize the amount of work it is going to take to set up each device, get all the apps downloaded, manage the Apple IDs, and figure out how you are going to help your team from afar when they have issues. This is where Jamf Now and mobile device management comes in. With Jamf Now, you don’t need to be a full-time IT professional to achieve what you need to.

Jamf Now empowers you to quickly set up devices with the apps, Wi-Fi and settings you want right out of the box, allowing you to enable your entire team and scale with your company’s growth. With a team scattered on different sites or needing to communicate with teams in the office, it can seem like a daunting task to provide support to them. Jamf Now will allow you to manage their devices’ Apple IDs, protect and secure important data, as well as lockdown or wipe a device should the worst-case scenario occur. All of these features, paired with the right applications, are a quick and easy way to spend less time managing your devices and more time getting the job done. After all, “time is money.”

See how Jamf Now can help your construction business by signing up for a free trial.

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