1. The state of construction productivity
Construction productivity is lower than other sectors, with 61% of construction projects taking longer to complete than scheduled. Looking at the fact that less than 1% of revenue is used for research and development (R&D) tech, there's a major opportunity for tech to help increase construction productivity.
2. How the industry measures productivity
There are two categories of productivity: micro and macro productivity.
Micro productivity looks at the output of one company (or even one project), and assesses profits, resources, and timeline.
Macro productivity looks at the industry overall from a large sample of projects, and assesses everything from labor, materials, equipment, and energy.
Two commonly used ways to calculate productivity are the Labor Productivity Metric and Project Productivity Metric. While each of these provide some level of insight, neither tell the whole story on productivity.
3. The Total Productivity Metric
The Total Productivity Metric (TPM) combines all the aforementioned factors, but also factors in how different each task is.
TPM inputs include:
Labor input
Owner cost
Material input
Capital input
Energy input
Indirect costs
TPM also looks at four phases of construction:
Planning and design
Procurement
Construction
Commissioning and start-up
To calculate TPM, you have to addall the inputs and divide the sum by the total output.
Overall, TPM gives you a more complete look at your productivity. The problem with TPM is that a single wrong number can skew the results. To avoid this, we recommend using technology to record more accurate data from your jobsites.
4. Technology's role in productivity
A few benefits of using technology to record jobsite data include: 1. Making reporting easy for your field crews 2. Reducing manual entry (and human error) 3. Tracking all your data (and progress) in one place-and sharing it to win bids 4. Making data-driven decisions for more efficient projects
To get the most out of production tracking tech, look for these features:
Ability to assign cost codes
Real-time insights
5. Production tracking insights
Digital production tracking means you have real-time jobsite data at your fingertips. With Raken, you can compare cost codes and production performance so you always know where projects stand.
The value, as Todd F., VP of Pre-Construction Planning at J.W. Danforth puts it, is being able to see problems in productivity ahead of time so you can course correct. "Most people who don't have this level of insight will just keep on doing the thing again and again until someone else sees it on a financial statement ... and by then, it's too late."
Start using Raken's production tracking software to make data collection easy for those in the field-and get real-time insights so you can make more informed business decisions.
