Unleashing the Power of Data Analytics
Introduction:
The digital transformation of the commercial construction industry shows no signs of letting up.
The pandemic has seen to that in ways no outside force ever could. According to McKinsey, “companies’ adoption—and the strategic importance—of digital technologies accelerated dramatically” since the pandemic, with 9 in 10 C-level and senior leaders reporting that their organizations had pursued “at least one large-scale digital transformation” between 2020 and 2022.
This may not be news to you. It’s likely your company has made its share of large and small digital bets. But the expanding flow of data raises some interesting questions:
- How are you harnessing your database?
- How could data analytics better support decision-making?
- What steps can you take — right now — to advance your analytics?
This playbook examines the quickening pace of digital automation in the construction industry and the insights that transformation represents through real-time analytics.
Chapter 1: A Better Way to Measure and Manage
The Problem.
If one thing clearly signals the demarcation between analog and digital, it’s paper. The goal of any construction firm should be the elimination of most if not all, paper-based processes.
Why?
- Difficult to capture and analyze data.
- Uncertain accountability and challenges with version control.
- Data sharing and collaboration are
- fractured and/or limited in scope.
- No single source of truth.
The Solution.
Fortunately, these concerns are fading fast thanks to mobile form data gathering. Perhaps you’ve already integrated the technology into your workflow. Mobile forms make it easy to convert a paper process into a smartphone or tablet-based equivalent, vastly simplifying timely data collection.
Other benefits include:
Improved Productivity: Information gathering, reporting, and storage happen automatically.
Better Team Collaboration: Information can be distributed across the team in real-time.
Fast Data Collection: No transit issues with paper. Electronic dispatch eliminates bottlenecks.
Sustainability: No paper, no trees.
Easy Creation: No coding skills are required. Adapt downloadable templates or create from scratch with drag-and-drop simplicity.
Higher-Quality Data: Use conditional logic and workflow rules to lift information quality and enforce procedures.
Other Media: Allow visual data such as images, sketches, and maps to enhance reporting.
Online or Offline: Data can be entered in off-the-grid locations for later submission.
A Mobile Form Design Primer.
Mobile form simplicity ensures design requirements are few and basic. Readily available templates may also solve your mobile technology needs.
- Use drop-down lists: Minimize typing, simplify choice, and make it easy to respond with a quick tap from a drop-down list.
- Large Submit Button: The submit button should be unmistakable. Make it as large and inviting as possible.
- Only Essential Fields: The fewer the fields, the better.
- Test. Test. Test.: Make sure your form works across all devices
Advantages of Mobile Forms: Simplification, Convenience, and Enhanced Security.
Few in construction today will debate the merits of mobile forms. Anyone who has had their life simplified with a few taps will swear by mobile form technology. Initial grumbling quickly fades as superior convenience smooths the compliance path. Project coordinator Dave Cramer of Penn Line, an employee-owned infrastructure company based in Scottsdale, Pennsylvania, said, “Mobile form acceptance is remarkable. People immediately see the value.” Data gathered from mobile forms also mitigate another business concern: security. Cloud-based servers offer data security without the dangers of paper-based mishaps (lost, stolen, destroyed, etc.) and also support confidentiality.
For example, mobile forms are now available that offer security at a HIPAA certified level, which includes:
- Auto-logoffs and session timeout to prevent information leaks due to lost or unsecured devices
- Disabling auto-email features to prevent accidental disclosure of sensitive information
- Increased usage of logging and checksums to validate data has not been manipulated
“Mobile form acceptance is remarkable. People immediately see the value.”
Dave Cramer, Project Coordinator at Penn Line
What happens to the data gathered through a mobile form? Data can be immediately available to customers, colleagues, and/or partners.
It’s up to you.
Website: All data is stored and searchable on the mobile form service provider website by registered users.
PDF: Fill-in-the-blank convenience and easily emailed as a PDF.
CSV: All data can be exported in a CSV file for analysis.
Web services: Connect your system to the mobile form service provider for automatic data display.
Integrations: With cloud-based services such as Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Evernote.
Chapter 2: Analytics: On-the-fly Visibility and Insight
Analytics is a seamless way to visualize submitted data in a near real-time environment.
A credit score, to cite a common example, is a data analytics report. The credit score integrates data points to reveal a composite picture (the score) of an individual’s credit risk.
Similarly, construction industry analytics is a way to identify data patterns that can adversely or positively affect your business.
Take job site safety. You may have teams spread across many locations and want to stay current on safety conditions at each job site. An analytics dashboard can be displayed showing the location, the topics addressed in a toolbox talk, when the talk occurred, the frequency of the talks, and which workers signed off on attendance. You can also track job site incidents by time, place, what happened if it resulted in a talk, and if it could have been prevented.
Enhancing safety and efficiency through analytics and real-time visibility.
You may also want to track a worker’s safety record by incident type, frequency, location, and such. Analytics allows you to visualize diverse datasets and easily discern patterns. Considering that nearly 1 in 5 workplace deaths occurred in the construction industry in 2021, real-time visibility into safety data has the potential to save lives.
For example, GoCanvas, an industry leader in construction industry mobile forms management, reports that its users reduce risk and liability by 18%.
GoCanvas reports that its users reduce risk and liability by 18%
Of course, analytics can be applied to any area where data is collected.
“We give our field people real-time visibility into the data they’ve harvested with a production summary,” Cramer said.
“Each row represents a mobile form submission. If the field supervisor wants to look at it or the foreman who submitted it, it’s available to whoever we share the sheet with. It’s very organized. We actually share this with our customer, too, which is a PennDOT inspector.”
In short, there is a single version of the truth.
“We give our field people real-time visibility into the data they’ve harvested with a production summary.”
Dave Cramer, Project Coordinator at Penn Line
Analytics can range from bar/column charts to more complex visualizations. Reports are customizable to best reflect organizational needs.
Other analytics and reporting functionality include:
- Email alerts are sent to select staff when metrics rise or fall beyond a preset threshold
- Scheduled email reports that share metrics and trends throughout the organization
- Filtered, high-level views of the business that the user can drill down with point-and-click ease
Chapter 3: Use Case Study Organizational Transformation
Not so long ago, the billing unit of an $80 million business group within Penn Line relied on the U.S. Postal Service for timely billing.
“Our folks in the field submitted all billable work on paper. It was very slow. The reports were typically mailed on Saturday, reflecting a week’s work. Days, even a couple of weeks, might pass. It wasn’t a good situation,” Cramer said.
All that changed in 2017, when Cramer visited a customer in California. “Our account manager there showed me a mobile form built by our customer. It was a eureka moment. I knew on the spot this was exactly what we needed,” Cramer recalled.
65 Mobile Forms Later
That night in his hotel room, Cramer jumped on the GoCanvas website and signed up for a free trial account. “I started playing with it. When I returned to headquarters, I announced this was the reporting tool we’ve been looking for.” Cramer could already visualize a safety audit and pre-trip checklist forms. Simple stuff, but plenty to demonstrate proof of concept to others.
Now jump ahead four years and 65 active mobile forms later…
No Code. No IT. No Worries.
“The funny thing is, I’m the primary GoCanvas mobile form developer, and I have no application-development background whatsoever. I just happen to be a process freak. I like workflow automation. The other thing is, IT has never been involved. They’ve been encouraging and helped administer a couple of security matters for me. Other than that, it’s all self-service,” Cramer said.
“By moving to electronic submission, it’s cut at least a week off the calendar. Some contracts required us to submit photos of finished work. Our foreman used to have to take pictures and get hard copies developed at Walmart and mail them off with a report. It’s easy to see why foremen and supervisors have adapted so quickly to our system.”
Dave Cramer, Project Coordinator at Penn Line
Remarkable Visibility.
He described how another mobile form replaced an entire notebook and pencil that was handed to the foreman to complete daily. The team is grateful for a streamlined workflow. So much, in fact, “I now get frequent requests to come up with new ways to fill in the blanks,” Cramer said.
Perhaps the biggest inflection point on Cramer’s GoCanvas journey was Analytics:
“We’ve never had a way to offer an analytic view of our field operations. We’re now engaged in an $18 million job, the largest contract in the division’s history. It involves 1,151 work sites. The mobile forms help populate a daily or weekly analytic report that anybody from the president on down can view in real time. It’s remarkable visibility we never had before.”
Digital First.
In fact, Cramer’s collaboration with GoCanvas was so successful that he was asked to present his mobile form strategy to senior leadership with an eye on expanding his paper-free ideas across the entire organization.
Chapter 4: Measure to Manage
Unleash Data Insights for Confident Decision-Making with GoCanvas.
No executive can claim too much insight, especially in construction. Imagine having the kind of decision support at your fingertips to confidently answer questions such as:
- Should we bid on this project, and if so, how much?
- Are the subcontractor bids reasonable?
- Is the project about to run into trouble?
The answers to those questions and more may be waiting in your database.
As you continue your digital transformation, keep data analytics resources such as GoCanvas in mind. Look for a partner with the data analytics performance, innovation, and service record to help add a new dimension of business clarity to your planning.
In addition to improving your analytics, GoCanvas can help you streamline your processes, save money, and spend more time with your customers.
Ready to Rethink How You Work?
GoCanvas has helped a variety of businesses across multiple industries transform their safety processes and rethink their efficiency, ultimately saving them money. Why not do the same? Reach out to one of our experts today to kickstart your process revolution.
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