How to Improve Productivity in the Construction Industry
The construction industry is one of the largest in the United States, valued at over $1.3 trillion as of 2020. With its size comes a sizeable workforce—the industry features approximately 7.5 million jobs. It’s no surprise, then, that one of the biggest challenges in the construction industry is labor cost and productivity.
Increasing productivity is the aim of nearly every industry, but for construction, it’s an especially pressing need. Research suggests that productivity in the industry has stagnated for decades. The good news: this represents a major opportunity for growth in one of the largest industries in the country.
Let’s look at some methods to improve productivity in the construction industry.
4 Ways to Improve Productivity in the Construction Industry
1. Invest in Your Employees
Increasing productivity starts with investing in your workforce. Putting your employees in the best position to succeed, as well as demonstrating your investment in their success, is arguably the most important step to take in increasing overall project productivity.
This starts with ensuring employees are properly trained and prepared for the work they’ll be doing. Investing in proper training will not only ensure employees have the knowledge and skills to do their job well, but it will also allow employees to feel valued and supported.
Additional measures like flexible scheduling, adequate break time, and rewarding goal completion can also help to curate a workforce that is healthy and inspired to complete work. After all, employees are the most valuable asset for any construction project—investing in their success is a great way to improve overall productivity.
2. Utilize Technology and Data
Like most industries, understanding how to properly leverage technology can have a significant impact on efficiency and productivity. Utilizing robust construction management software can be a great way to electronically organize and store documents, track task progress, collect data, and more, all of which can help increase productivity and keep projects on schedule.
Data is an important piece. The ability to collect and organize data from a project is a crucial step for analyzing how the project performed, as well as for guiding future projects. Data insights can serve as a guiding light for increasing productivity in future projects—it’s a great way to uncover possible process inefficiencies, optimize project costs, determine project timelines, and more.
3. Take Advantage of Prefabrication
Prefabrication is a trendy topic in the construction industry, and for good reason. Using prefabrication solutions throughout a project can greatly help cut overall production time—in some cases by up to 50%. This not only shortens project timelines, but it also allows companies to take on more projects.
Prefabrication is a great way to increase productivity while also cutting overall project costs. It allows for better cost control, ensuring your projects are more profitable.
4. Keep Jobsites Organized
Disorganization on the jobsite will make it difficult to execute efficient projects. There’s a lot to consider when better organizing your jobsites, but doing so will create safer working conditions and greatly improve the productivity of your projects.
Some of the best ways to keep your site organized are:
- Ensure common resources such as pipe or wire are stored and organized in ways that allow employees to easily access them.
- Routinely clear away extra materials or waste to avoid clutter
- Develop methods to move materials around the site efficiently
Another important element of organization is inventory. Routinely updating inventory levels can help keep the site organized while also helping to proactively address shortages, both of which will help boost productivity.
Increase Construction Productivity with Crescent Electric
Increasing productivity in the construction industry can be a challenge. At Crescent Electric, we understand the specific challenges construction companies face in improving productivity, and we’re here to help.
In addition to carrying the best products to help get the job done, we offer comprehensive project management and jobsite services designed to increase productivity, including product kitting, material staging and storage, jobsite delivery, and more. We’ll work with you through each step of the process to optimize your project performance and accelerate your timelines.
Get on the path to increased productivity today—contact us to get started!