Trade Contractors: Become More Resilient With Supply Chain Software Solutions

Supply chain disruptions continue to be a challenge in the construction industry. 

As supply chain adviser Patrick Rigoni, Ph.D. explains, geopolitical tensions, environmental challenges, economic uncertainties, and global health crises contribute to shortened product life cycles, increased lead times, rising logistics costs, and disruptions in transportation. These factors can easily lead to budget overruns and missed deadlines on construction projects. 

To overcome supply chain issues, construction companies need to be resilient. Supply chain software solutions allow trade contractors to more quickly adapt and problem solve when supply chain challenges arise. 

Adaptability is Key to Confronting Supply Chain Challenges

In today’s environment, “business leaders cannot expect materials to be available when they need them,” warn David DeSilva and Chris O’Hala, head of construction and head of construction risk engineering, respectively, at The Hartford. 

Instead, you need to be flexible so that you can quickly pivot when supply chain roadblocks occur. Achieving that high level of adaptability requires trade contractors to proactively implement the right tools in their tech stacks so they can respond quickly to materials issues. 

One of those tools is construction project management software, like eSUB. This technology helps you solve supply chain problems by improving data management so you can make smarter decisions. The software also lets you standardize processes so your business is more responsive and resilient to these crises.

Technology Improves Data Collection and Management for Smarter Decisions

In times of crisis, trade contractors must be able to make quick, informed decisions so they can work around the problems and keep projects moving forward towards an on-time delivery. Those decisions require instant access to accurate, real-time project information when a supply chain problem arises. At that moment, it’s simply too late to start gathering the data.  

In preparing for supply chain challenges (or any challenges, really), “organizations need a good data foundation,” explains Marisa Brown, senior principal research lead, supply chain management at American Productivity and Quality Center. “If the underlying data is not reliable, the decisions the organization makes based on that data are questionable.”

Construction project management software helps trade contractors solidify that foundation. Most critically, the tool enables digital project data gathering, which eliminates the need for manual data entry that so often leads to siloed, missing, and incorrect data. Field teams can fill out daily reports and make field notes right from their mobile devices on the job site, which helps ensure that project information is immediate and reliable. 

The platform also centralizes input project data which means all stakeholders have access to up-to-date information at all times. Time is of the essence to solve problems with materials delivery or prices. Storing all data in one central location to which everyone has access allows construction companies to be more adaptable and to make smarter decisions when facing supply chain problems.

Supply Chain Software Solutions Standardize Processes for Greater Flexibility

Efficiency fuels resiliency. The more efficient your processes are, the more quickly you can adjust when supply chain challenges arise. “Standardized processes are also key for effective business continuity plans as organizations cope with continued uncertainties and rapid changes in the external environment,” Brown notes. 

By standardizing critical processes, construction project management software gives trade contractors that flexibility to pivot when dealing with issues in their supply chains. 

Take purchase order management, for example. POs play a critical role in construction because they help trade contractors manage inventory, track orders, and manage suppliers. Poor PO processes restrict your ability to do any of these things effectively, which could, ultimately, exacerbate supply chain problems. 

Technology streamlines PO process management so you can quickly adapt to mitigate the impact of changes to materials deliveries and costs. 

3G Drywall, a mid-sized construction company, discovered the benefit of project managers being able to order and track materials for their jobs through eSUB — rather than depending on them doing so through multiple emails and spreadsheets. With eSUB, the company can react faster to project-specific supply chain problems because one person, the project manager, is in control. 

“It’s so much easier,” says 3G Drywall co-owner Mathew Gurley. 

Supply chain problems can significantly disrupt construction projects. How resilient you are dictates the extent of those disruptions. Supply chain software solutions create data and process efficiencies to help your company become more flexible and, thus, resilient. 

Schedule a demo of eSUB Cloud today to learn more about the role of construction project management software in helping your organization become more adaptable in the face of supply chain issues. 

Images used under license from Shutterstock.com.