A new survey found that more than 40 percent of contractors say scheduling and dispatching problems impact budgets and project timelines on a daily basis.
The survey, conducted by Fishnet Media in conjunction with B2W Software, studied construction scheduling, workflow and the associated financial impacts of getting employees, equipment and materials to the jobsite on time.
Nearly 75 percent of contractors surveyed use spreadsheets, whiteboards or paper as their primary tool for scheduling and dispatching resources. While offline tools remain common amongst contractors, real-time visibility tools also emerged as an important goal, according to the survey.
The ability to coordinate communication across the office, shop and field is the leading driver for contractors investing in new technology for scheduling and dispatching, according to the survey. In addition, 56 percent of contractors surveyed list shared visibility of resources in real time as a motive for investing in scheduling and dispatching technology.
Other drivers for investment include a push to adopt more technology companywide (52 percent) and optimizing heavy equipment utilization (40 percent).
“According to the survey, contractors recognize the efficiency and cost-saving advantages of having people across their organizations see the schedule – including continuous updates – in real time,” says Paul McKeon, CEO of B2W Software. “Most, however, are just beginning to consider replacing outdated tools with the specialized software that would allow them to achieve this.”
More than 200 contractors throughout North America participated in the survey, including owners, executives, project managers, schedulers, dispatchers, field operations managers and others. According to B2W, annual revenues for the surveyed companies peaked at $250 million, with 30 percent of the companies ranging from $2.5 million to $10 million in annual revenue and 26 percent ranging from $10 million to $25 million in annual revenue.