Today we are seeing more legacy modular home factories taking on projects of 40, 60 and over a hundred modules instead of cranking out single-family homes. Homeway Homes recently announced they will only build projects and changed their name to Homeway Commercial.
Other legacy modular factories, especially those East of the Mississippi River, are rapidly converting large amounts of the production schedule to big projects for affordable housing, hotels, dormitories and commercial buildings.
These modular construction projects are incredibly complex, costly, and time-consuming. Moreover, they involve large teams of professionals and consume massive resources. Over the years, the industry has embraced any opportunity to streamline operations and cut costs, including blockchain.
Software applications are becoming available to help our industry increase efficiency and productivity, keep costs under control, and expand operations.
It’s safe to say that construction management software is changing our industry.
The amount of data that is currently used to track a project from inception, through conception and all the way through to completion can be overwhelming and if you are ever put into the role of construction manager, you may find that all that data is usually just passed to you with no way to completely understand how everything works together.
Many construction companies face project management challenges due to poor or delayed communication between managers, clients, and stakeholders. Due to the complexity of construction projects, maintaining real-time communication and exchanging timely feedback can be challenging.
Construction management software has the power to substantially increase efficiency because it gets everyone involved in the project on the same page. Thus, everyone is aware of the progress and can set realistic expectations regarding the project. By connecting all the parties involved in the project, regardless of their physical location, construction management software improves communication and transparency.
Many factories and developers will collaborate with an expert in choosing the program but please make sure you’ve done your due diligence before choosing one.
However, buying a construction management program is the easy part. Once the company that sold it to you, the “fun begins.” Think of all the human parts that have to be put into place first. Who needs to know what information the program produces, who will supply that information to the program, who will be given the task of acting upon that information and finally who will be the weak links in the process?
And if you thought you had a lot of information to gather to build a pre-program project, just wait until the program is installed!!!
FEEDING THE BEAST
The program soon becomes this huge beast that demands more and more information (data) so that knows exactly where every project is at any point in time. If you don’t continually keep feeding the beast with ever-increasing amounts of data, it may revolt by saying “Data Not Found” at the worst possible moment (Murphy’s Law).
Many construction companies face project management challenges due to poor or delayed communication between managers, clients, and stakeholders. Due to the complexity of construction projects, maintaining real-time communication and exchanging timely feedback can be challenging.
Modular projects are not like building single-family homes for the modular factory. Where an Excel spreadsheet may have been enough to build a house and project costs and profits, the factory is now only one of the cogs in the wheel of building a project with its involvement from inception to completion and even after the building is turned over to the developer.
Construction management software has the power to substantially increase efficiency because it gets everyone involved in the project on the same page. But what happens if even one of the people supplying data to the beast quits, goes on vacation or worse, dies? The beast doesn’t care. It simply wants to be fed.
Cost management is a critical part of project management. And in the construction industry, where a project can absorb millions of dollars, tracking expenses and estimating costs with maximum accuracy is incredibly important. Any financial mishaps can delay the project or even cause it to fail. The beast has spoken!
Managing construction projects is challenging because there are many complicated processes to follow. Organizing large amounts of information and keeping track of tasks from the moment they’re assigned to their completion is an enormous effort.
BOTTOM LINE
While project management programs can be a huge benefit for modular construction factories and their projects, they must be brought on with every person that needs to it data doing their part right, the first time and on time.
Follow the Boy Scout Motto: Always “Be Prepared” to feed the beast.
Gary Fleisher is the Editor in Chief of Modular Home Source and Offsite Builder. Email at [email protected]
Gary Fleisher, Editor in Chief of Offsite Construction Magazine
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