How Technology is Making Your General Contractor More Efficient

Construction tends to be an industry resistant to change. Contractors have a reputation for being old-school, stoic, and maybe a little behind on modern technology trends. But that’s all starting to change. With the emergence of mobile computing, Building Information Modeling (BIM), and bidding software, general contractors are able to reduce costs and pass the savings on to their clients.

Digital Planning

Construction has long been an inefficient industry, where a large portion of costs come from wasted materials and time. Productivity growth comes slow, growing only around 1 percent each year, nearly 2% behind the global economy. This is largely due to a lack of technology saturation in the industry. But with the efficient integration of technology into the planning and building processes, costs can be reduced and project times reduced.

In pre-construction, which includes bidding and planning jobs, advanced bidding tools help save customers money and reduce waste.

Here at CPM, we use Smartbids to accurately estimate the amount of materials and labor our customers’ projects will need. This helps us avoid unnecessary waste from over buying materials, which leads to cost savings for our clients.

Building Information Management (BIM)

BIM technology is a huge trend in the industry and its not going away. General contractors can use BIM technology to increase the accuracy and efficiency of the building process by virtually creating the project and using digital tools to estimate and plan the project needs. BIM technology also allows contractors and architects to give their clients better visual representations off the project, helping match expectations and reality, leading to more customer satisfaction.

Mobile Computing and Communication

One of the largest changes most general contractors are embracing is mobile computing technology. In the past, you would see job sites with lots of paper plans and notes. This was especially the case with large projects, where plans were needed to coordinate different teams and specialists. Now with light, durable, and reliable smartphones,tablets, and laptops, portable computers are everywhere on the jobsite. From project managers, to architects, to skilled laborers, contractors are now relying on computers on the job.

There are many benefits to the use of this technology, and all contribute to a more efficient jobsite. By using things like wearable technology, communication apps, and project management software, there is less jobsite clutter and better communication between team members. With better communication, projects can be completed faster and with fewer mistakes.

CPM strives to use the best available technology solutions to improve efficiency and provide the most cost effective construction serves.