At a time when construction firms value speed, agility, and efficiency more than ever, productivity growth continues to lag. There is, however, no shortage of opportunities to flip this equation.

Increasingly, firms are looking to jumpstart productivity at the site level. The focus is on transforming and automating field processes and jobsite documentation to place the most up-to-date and actionable information at the fingertips of local decision-makers. Executed successfully, the end result is greater productivity, accuracy, accountability, and transparency from project setup through closeout.

Missed Opportunity

There are many reasons for the productivity lag, including the unique nature of the commercial building process. Construction and engineering firms face a growing mountain of regulatory and safety requirements—all of which must be documented. They also must manage unprecedented volumes of project data and a never-ending stream of requests for information (RIFs) and change orders. In addition, a vital, but loosely connected, web of contractors and subcontractors working for numerous entities underpin all major projects, further complicating the equation.

During a project, even minor efficiencies can add up and compound rapidly across a firm’s project portfolio. Rework, in part due to poor document control, can account for 5% of total construction costs—totaling upwards of $4.2 billion annually in the United States, alone.¹

As the industry wrestles with shrinking margins and the skilled labor shortage, it’s time to close this gap. Construction firms are looking to rev up productivity—and many are starting in the field.

Focus on the Fundamentals

Success on engineering and construction jobsites isn’t just about having the right labor, equipment, and materials in place. Field teams also must manage growing volumes of documentation data and processes. Smooth and efficient execution can mean the difference between a successful and profitable project and one that falls short.

Firms that successfully achieve higher productivity in the field embrace three core principles:

• Automation: Digitizing key reports and processes, including RFIs, issue tracking, daily reports, safety documentation, and more

• Accuracy: Providing field and corporate offices with up-to-date and actionable information

• Accountability: Establishing transparency across roles, processes, and requirements

The ability to digitize information, streamline processes, and automate where possible, ensures that field teams are working with the most up to date project data. In turn, this increases work accuracy, drives project accountability, and accelerates jobsite performance.

This strategy also supports corporate-office business priorities, including improving financial discipline on projects by increasing efficiency and transparency between stakeholders, reducing risk, and accelerating decision making.

Firms have automated individual functions, such as creating a repository for electronic documents and generating daily reports. They still, however, largely rely on a series of point systems that are either loosely, or not at all, integrated. As a result, firms fail to automate end-to-end and interdependent processes and cannot provide the granular visibility needed at both the jobsite and corporate offices. They also sacrifice productivity gains, and miss an opportunity to improve accuracy and accountability. And, these one-off systems, which are largely on premises solutions, require significant management resources and versions become dated quickly.

It's time for a new approach in the field—digitizing documentation, issue tracking, RFIs, and more on a single platform in the cloud—for complete visibility and control across the entire project lifecycle.

This approach yields several important benefits, including:

• Boosting productivity by bringing greater speed, simplicity, and accuracy to managing jobsite documents and processes
• Improving field team decision-making and ensuring accountability with accurate and up-to-date project data
• Accelerating creation and simplifying management of critical jobsite documents and processes
• Improving financial discipline by increasing efficiency and transparency between stakeholders
• Reducing risk exposure with improved documentation
• Supporting complete coordination and project command—from the enterprise to the field
• Empowering the field to work the way they want while providing enterprise visibility for the home office
• Reducing IT complexity, avoiding capital investment, and accelerating time to value

Construction and engineering firms are getting serious about productivity, and many are looking to start at the jobsite level, where processes remain siloed and paper based. By delivering greater visibility and control across the entire project lifecycle they drive greater productivity and new levels of accountability while reducing overall risk.

To learn how Oracle can help you power productivity in the field, check out this video or watch our in-depth webcast.

¹Hwang, Bon-Gang; Stephen R. Thomas, M.ASCE; Carl T. Haas, M.ASCE; and Carlos H. Caldas, M.ASCE. “Measuring the Impact of Rework on Construction Cost Performance,” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, March 2009, http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/docs/JCEMD4_135_3_187_1.pdf.