Use of Project Management Software in Construction Industry

The construction industry today is worth more than $600 Billion in India. Even being such a flourishing industry, it is highly unorganized because of on-field labor, no price standardization, and the middlemen involved. Because of all these factors, managing a construction project and ensuring timely delivery is a hassle.

But digitizing different processes with construction project management software can help you overcome major challenges like project scheduling, task tracking, budgeting, report generation, and more. Software implementation helps your teams to stay on schedule and within the budget.

So, let’s understand in detail how project management software can benefit your construction business.

What Is a Project Management Software in Construction Industry?

Project Management Software for the construction industry helps users to manage processes like budgeting, manpower tracking, drawings, tasks, and a lot more. The main goal of using this construction management software is just to make processes easier and collaboration better, using automation.

In addition to this, construction supervisors can also schedule, assign, and track tasks using the project management software so that everyone has one source to refer to and there is no duplication or delay in work. Construction management software further helps in bridging the gap between your office and field teams, keeping everyone updated with project-related information.

It helps your teams to communicate better and make faster decisions, which has always been a challenge in the construction industry, given the different levels involved like head contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers, etc.

Well, construction management is not merely about strengthening collaboration across teams, rather it can also help construction company owners do a lot more. They can predict project costs, track project tasks to the ground level, maintain budgeting & deadlines, manage resources, and documents.

Functions of Construction Project Management Software

• Task Management

The project scheduling feature allows construction managers to add tasks and assign them to the right department and resource with a set deadline. For instance, design tasks would be assigned to the architect. This would give managers a complete overview of the tasks’ stage and identify if there are any delays. All in all, construction project management software helps get things done as planned.

• Document Management

The construction business comes with major paperwork that involves on-site papers, designs, legal documents, contracts, and more, and the project management system can help you organize all of them on a centralized platform. It creates digital documents and stores them on the cloud, making them accessible for all the teams working in the office and on site.

In fact, storing documents on the cloud makes it easy for anyone to find, sort, and filter documents using file metadata that can be captured using construction software’s machine learning capabilities. Moreover, the software’s ability to track transmittals helps understand what construction documents were sent to whom and when.

• Project Budgeting

Construction projects often go over budget because of poor management skills and cost estimation, which might even lead to a major financial meltdown. However, construction management software can help you avoid this situation with its budgeting modules. The software includes features for estimating machinery and manpower costs, standardizing bid proposals, and more.

Construction managers need to ensure that the raw material and labor cost estimates in the budget are according to current market prices and clearly communicated to the investors and other stakeholders so that the project doesn’t go on hold or delayed.

• Track Manpower

It is not feasible for a construction manager to be at the office and overlook its labor on-site, at the same time. Here, a subcontractor, or the construction supervisor can regularly update labor costs, work hours, and miscellaneous expenses incurred in task completion. This makes it easy for the construction manager to track manpower and related costs and provide time estimates for the entire project’s completion.

• Contact Directory

Construction managers can create a contact directory where they can add an unlimited number of contacts and share their details with the entire team. All these contacts can be directly accessed through your mobile using the constriction management software so that there is no communication gap or delay, and the work moves fast.

Also, construction project managers can give role-based access and permissions to keep contact-related data safe. You can easily define roles for architects, subcontractors, engineers, etc., and then assign permissions accordingly.

Suggested Read: Best Construction Management Software for Small Business | A Comprehensive Guide to Choosing Right Project Management Software

• Detailed Insights

Project management software generates insightful reports that will help you to analyze project progress, employee performance, project loopholes, etc. You can also share custom reports whenever asked by your owners or stakeholders, or even schedule an automatic distribution of reports at set intervals for continuous monitoring. Further, to simplify reports for quick understanding and decision making, you can convert numbers into visual reports with just a click.

• Drawing Management

A building’s structure goes through multiple revisions on paper, but at times these revisions may also occur after the construction process has started on-site. In this case, the drawing management module can help on-site supervisors view the latest drawings in real time, right from the first draft to the latest one.

They can also compare before and after versions to identify overlays and avoid any confusion. Moreover, construction project management software allows users to add notes, numbering, names, etc., to the drawings from their smartphone itself.

• Kanban Boards

Kanban boards allow users to organize and manage their construction projects using a visual board. You can create your own brief tasks with different involved stages, that would eventually lead to task completion.

Suggested Read: Scrum Vs Kanban: Understanding the Difference Between Scrum and Kanban Framework | Benefits of Project Management Software for Manufacturing Companies

Using Kanban board users can visually see at what stage or status their task is, thus, providing them with more clarity. Moreover, this would also help construction managers to identify areas where there is delay.

• Gantt Charts

Gantt charts are more of an analysis tool that helps construction project managers to illustrate the work done over a specific time in relation to what time was planned to complete the work. A Gantt chart includes metrics such as tasks’ start and end dates, dependencies, assignees, milestones, and more. Especially in the construction industry, which operates in a multi team environment, Gantt charts can be used to keep track of the time and budget that was planned to spend on a project, along with its progress.

Suggested Read: What is Gantt Chart in Project Management? | PMS Functions & Use Cases To Manage Projects Smartly

How Can Construction Industry Benefits from Project Management Software?

• Scheduling & Prioritizing Tasks

By implementing construction project management software, contractors get a complete overview of the assigned, ongoing, and due tasks. Contractors and supervisors can set clear priorities by modifying due dates for the sub-contractors as per the phase and stage of the project. This enables construction managers to have a futuristic vision and plan in advance to avoid last minute hassles.

• Real Time Communication

Construction management software updates every task in terms of information, assignees, due dates, etc., in real time. This keeps both the in-office and on-site teams on the same page and facilitates better coordination and transparency. The software provides a centralized platform to access information for all team members including consultants, project managers, architects, contractors, and even clients, irrespective of the location they are working from.

• Build a Better Brand Image

Construction management software can prevent delays in project completion with streamlined processes. The software can allow you to stay on schedule and as well as within the budget. Both these things will help build trust in the market with timely project deliveries.

• Better Resource Utilization

Using project management software, construction managers can monitor which resources are being used in which task, including human resources as well as machinery and pieces of equipment. It helps them identify if their resources are under or over utilized. Especially in an industry like construction which is highly unorganized, labor might be available one day, but not the other. So, as fast as this requirement gets updated in the CMS, the concerned teams will start acting upon it, resulting in fewer delays.

• Increase On-Field Productivity of Craftsperson

Contractors and sub-contractors can increase their craftsperson’s productivity by providing them with the latest task information directly on their phones through project management software. This keeps them updated with any last minute changes or updates regarding the construction plan. Craftspersons can easily access the construction management software using a web login or by downloading the respective app.

Suggested Read: Top Free Construction Estimating Software for SMBs | Importance of Software Engineering Project Management Tools

How to Select the Right Construction Project Management Software for Your Company?

You will be able to analyze the impact of construction project management software only when you use it yourself. Here are a few quick tips that might help you choose the right one for your construction company.

• Choose a CMS with a simple interface and functionalities so that everyone from your construction supervisor to your on-field employees can make the most of it
• Should offer complete flexibility in terms of adding, modifying, and scheduling tasks
• Ensure that project management software allows you to easily generate reports within minutes
• Look out for customizable dashboards that enable all the stakeholders to add their preferred widgets and look at what’s important to them
• A construction company takes up multiple projects of different sizes which might require them to change the number of users depending on the project. So, ensure that you select software that can scale with your growing business demands.

Even after thorough research if you get overwhelmed with multiple construction project management software options available in the market, don’t worry, we are here to guide you. At Techjockey, you can always ask for expert advice and we will help you find the right project management software for your construction company.

Related Categories: Workflow Management Software | Kanban Tools | Product Management Software |
Task Management Software | Scrum Tools | Product Information Management (PIM) Software | Mind Mapping Software | Wireframe Tools | Quality Management Software | Gantt Chart Software

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