Motives for Construction Technology Adoption
November 17, 2009
When times are good, companies invest in construction technology for a myriad of reasons—from using software to help grow the business to implementing systems to stay on the leading edge of innovation. However, during tough economic conditions, different motives for investing in new construction technology come into play, such as experiencing an influx of new competition or adding new services.
PC Haines, www.pchaines.com, Salunga, Pa., hasn’t experienced as much of a downturn in business as some other companies. However, due to the competitive economic conditions, this wall and ceiling contractor has seen an increase in bidding competition from companies that previously hadn’t entered this segment of the market now seeing it as a source of work.
That challenge led PC Haines to seek a way to get more efficient and accurate takeoff information to improve its bidding process. For years, the estimators at PC Haines completed bids manually—the biggest improvements were installing a digitizer and using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Paul Haines, owner, PC Haines, realized more advanced technology was needed.
PC Haines turned to On Center Software, www.oncenter.com, The Woodlands, Texas and its On-Screen Takeoff program, which reduced PC Haines’ normal takeoff time and effort. Within three weeks of implementing On-Screen Takeoff, the company also contracted for On Center’s Quick Bid software. Quick Bid automates many of the bidding functions that had previous taken a lot of time and adds a marked improvement in the quality of information. Any addendums or change orders are handled easily and with greater accuracy than before.
This technology has provided a competitive ROI (return on investment) for PC Haines, which has seen the average estimating time shrink from being five to 60 hours per job in the past to now being 24 to 25 hours. Paul Haines was formerly the sole estimator in the company but the addition of the technology has allowed him to add another in-house estimator, freeing up his time for other management responsibilities.
For PC Haines, technology helped the company to improve its bidding process, allowing it to more competitively bid in today’s environment. While that was one of the primary reasons driving the company to implement new technology, the company saw ancillary benefits such as saved time and an improved bottomline.
However, there are a number of other reasons construction companies are turning to technology now, beyond a competitive bidding environment.
Many construction companies need to manage financials more effectively, due to greater cost constraints. Additionally, firms are finding slower times can be one of the most ideal times to invest in new technology—while contractors still have the time to really look at new systems.
What is motivating construction companies to invest in technology in a down market? For many companies it boils down to building the foundation for the future—improving efficiencies, flushing out waste, and using the downtime in order to reexamine systems and train users more effectively.