Bahar Ferguson
The benefits of automation in the workplace are many, but success isn’t guaranteed, especially with so many options available today. Whether you’re looking for an automated marketing platform or automated process for policies, any business can benefit from automation — even a construction company. The primary challenge is determining where opportunities to increase efficiencies exist and if your current IT infrastructure can accommodate the new capabilities.
Fortunately, cloud computing has matured to a point where it’s easier than ever for businesses, small and large, to take advantage of the tech. In fact, you might already use automated tools and not even realize it because many of us have become accustomed to the convenience. Here’s a look at what else automation can do for the construction industry and what potential pitfalls you should avoid down the line if you’re integrating it in the workplace.
What is Workplace Automation?
The term "automation" is a bit of a misnomer, so we’ll begin with a basic definition. The simple explanation of automation is a technology that removes manual processes that slow down the business. The possibilities are endless, but they often relate to improving products and services with the consumer in mind. Regarding the needs of construction companies specifically, automation can significantly improve administrative efficiency in areas like procurement and logistics.
Not too long ago, automation was primarily in the purview of large enterprises since these organizations could afford the initial implementation costs and the ongoing maintenance expenses as well. Automation previously required an entire team of professionals to manage systems, yet these solutions are more available to small and medium-sized businesses that want to minimize manual processes. Still, the takeaway for construction is this: You finally have an opening to consolidate repetitive tasks.
The idea is that the business will benefit when you reduce or eliminate repetitive tasks and automate them with software. Anything that adds value by removing the need for human interaction is beneficial automation. Notwithstanding those facts, specific use cases are more obvious than others, so let’s go over a few examples of automated systems in action.
A Few Examples of Workplace Automation
We’ve already touched upon the general idea regarding automation in the workplace: reducing repetitive and manual tasks. The concept may still seem confusing, so here are a few examples to outline the essential benefits.
Construction Site Logistics and Data Collection
Prior to automation, managing on-site logistics and data collection required paper forms and other manual processes. At a minimum, a project can involve many contractors, subcontractors, site managers and engineers. Before automation, all of these individuals had no way to communicate within the same system. At best, there was a lot of emailing back and forth to get everyone on the same page.
However, automation software has changed that landscape for good. An automated system can provide everyone access to the information to make data-based, real-time decisions on site. Collaboration gets more accessible, faster and more efficient since the likelihood of miscommunication is significantly lower. The catch is that not every automation platform performs as well as you’d expect. As such, a construction company should start gradually and take a step-by-step approach to automate logistics and data-collection, with an emphasis on eliminating manual, time-consuming processes.
Marketing
The opportunities to automate processes abound with respect to marketing, even for startups and entrepreneurs just getting started in the construction business. Today, there are more software tools than we can list in this article, but the most straightforward is to automate internal communications with consumers. These capabilities should ideally lean towards the business-to-business side of the equation for the construction industry. You’ll be working with many suppliers, and sometimes those companies aren’t even in the same country.
For example, you could introduce a new sales funnel to increase your company’s newsletter subscriptions and see how effective your messaging is with specific clientele. Once someone signs up to receive more information, marketing automation will subsequently send emails in a particular sequence that you decide ahead of time. The system essentially eliminates the need to cut and paste copies for each email you send manually. The challenge is determining where to allocate marketing dollars because automation alone won’t grow the business. You have to optimize the system so that automation can point you in the right direction.
Not only that, but marketing automation allows you to capture metrics and key performance indicators. Still, automation alone doesn’t automatically make a business grow. You must optimize the capabilities to find the most incredible benefits. That could mean maintaining a close eye on the relationships that drive business growth for the construction industry. Otherwise, you’ll fall behind if you don’t turn away from paper-based, manual processes.
Better and More Efficient Service
In previous eras, customer service demanded direct contact between a representative and a consumer, especially at a physical location. The problem is that the advent of e-commerce made this model impossible to do and achieve the same results. Even if a company managed its own call center, the sheer volume of contacts is overwhelming.
For construction industry suppliers, selling products at scale at an unprecedented speed was a revolution. Still, customer service immediately became a problem since procurement pros were used to a certain level of personal interaction that call centers simply could not replicate. Today, the same problem exists, but there’s more hope for a viable solution with more automation.
Indeed, automated systems now operate as the initial point of contact with contractors and suppliers before a representative gets involved. The automation allows a company to streamline services while saving time as the system asks users to follow several prompts before speaking with a person. This way, the representative is aware of the problem and can mitigate it as fast as possible. For example, if your steel supplier has run out of product, a system to notify you of the issue as soon as possible would be extremely helpful. Without automation, consumers rely on phone calls and emails for a response. Certain people may balk at automated services, but the efficiency benefits are substantial enough to warrant a closer look.
Automation Doesn’t Mean Automatic Results
Automation boils down to increasing efficiency by giving businesses a way to do away with slow, manual processes. The catch is that automation doesn’t mean you’ll automatically benefit. An implementation period takes time, including how long it will take to customize and optimize the solution. That’s really the main downside of automation to keep in mind.
You might have incompatible systems, or you might be overdue for an upgrade. The general rule is that automation in and of itself doesn’t deliver efficiencies. The technology has progressed significantly since its inception, but it still requires a concerted effort to maximize the investment. Consumers and employees alike will greatly appreciate the added convenience if done right. Moving forward, the onus will be on companies to maximize the efficiencies to deliver better products and services to the market.
Bahar Ferguson is president of Wasatch I.T., a Utah provider of outsourced IT and managed compliance services for small and medium-sized businesses.