BarkerBlue Blog

5 Ways OutSourcing Construction Document Management Can Boost Profit

anne.grenier@barkerblue.com (Anne Grenier) — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 18:15:00 GMT

It seems obvious, but worth repeating in these times: Business productivity and profitability are deeply intertwined and dependent on each other. Up your productivity and profits typically follow. However, with Coronavirus stuck on the horizon for sometime, its posing new challenges to construction progress and profit. The current conditions beg for a look at different solutions to overall productivity. But first it's worth taking a quick read on the construction industry post CoVid to find a good place to start making immediate impact.

Construction Recovery Underway

“Statistics are indicating construction work may be approaching precoronavirus numbers, according to data collected by Procore and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). The majority of states and cities are seeing this change, which AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson said could also be attributed to the warmer weather increasing the seasonal demand of construction work...

The commercial construction industry has dealt with several tumultuous months,” said Simonson, adding that while the industry has been able to continue, it has not been immune to the effects of the virus." (Construction Dive)

Project Challenges Now Multiplied

Like most businesses impacted by CoVid-19, construction companies are now facing many more hurdles to driving progress. Aside from project cancellations, a big challenge that's likely to stick around is increased project delays.

According to a recent survey of contractors by Dodge Data & Analytics, a full 67% of general contractors are experiencing project delays post CoVid-19. These delays are apt to become a constant, exacerbated by the longer time required onsite to ensure CoVid screening and safety rules are being employed. Plus some project locations must drastically limit the number of workers allowed on the job-site each day. This wreaks further havoc on completion timelines and overall productivity already damaged from previous shut-downs.

Reimaging Bay Area Small Businesses in Challenging Times

anne.grenier@barkerblue.com (Anne Grenier) — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 17:49:01 GMT

As with many locations, SF Bay Area downtowns got hit hard with vandalism during the recent Black Lives Matter protests. The response from many peaceful protesters, eager to distinguish their message and actions from looters, is incredibly inspiring. In several cities protestors and others pitched in immediately with small business and city cleanup.

5 Steps To Face COVID-19 Potential Business Downturns

anne.grenier@barkerblue.com (Anne Grenier) — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 22:48:57 GMT

COVID-19 and recent shelter-in-place orders in the SF-Bay Area are naturally forcing companies to rethink some approaches to business. Of course the first priority is keeping employees healthy and minimizing negative effects to the community, plus setting operational work-arounds as needed. However, in addition, experts are advising businesses to plan ahead for a potential economic downturn with an eye on the long term.

2020 Construction Outlook: The Good, Bad, & the Ugly Challenge

anne.grenier@barkerblue.com (Anne Grenier) — Fri, 28 Feb 2020 17:30:00 GMT

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and Sage recently released findings of their joint survey of nearly 1000 contractors. The summary reports an overall shared positive outlook, but also expectations of some reoccurring challenges growing worse.

Tech Advances Ramp Up Data-Driven Architectural Designs

anne.grenier@barkerblue.com (Anne Grenier) — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 18:24:57 GMT

The days of architects slaving over paper blueprints have mostly disappeared. This much most of us have known for awhile. But now its seems even slow-to-adopt-tech architectural firms are discovering how the right data can help generate more building designs at a much quicker speed than ever before. Construction Dive recently shared the below excerpt from Business In Vancouver (BIV) discussing how tech advances are fueling data-driven architecture.

One-Page Guide: 5 Tips to Manage Construction Change Orders

anne.grenier@barkerblue.com (Anne Grenier) — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 19:17:18 GMT

The only constant is change, as the old saying goes. This is definitely true on large commercial construction projects where change orders occur regularly.

"Change order management is a different process than for regular contract documents since change orders can lead to disputes, legal battles, and arbitration." (ConstructConnect)

Better Construction Data: Top 4 Benefits, Plus 4 Essentials

anne.grenier@barkerblue.com (Anne Grenier) — Fri, 09 Aug 2019 02:49:10 GMT

"The Economist recently named data one of the most valuable resources of our time. It’s no secret that data already plays an integral role in every aspect of our lives both on a personal and professional level. And the construction industry is no exception. (T-Sheets, The Time Tracking Blog)"

Building Boom Grows In Oakland

anne.grenier@barkerblue.com (Anne Grenier) — Fri, 07 Dec 2018 15:16:58 GMT

For years the city of Oakland got shoved to the back of the popularity line behind San Francisco, its assets often ignored. But today that dynamic is changing. The Bay Area's building boom spread rapidly to Oakland, in part fueled by the growing millennial population who seek urban convenience at a more reasonable price.

"Experts say that Oakland, unlike San Francisco, is uniquely positioned to draw thousands of jobs to its downtown because of its affordability and central location, not to mention its celebrated cafes, bars, and restaurants...And the image issue — that’s no longer much of a problem. “The positive image that Oakland is projecting is a really big part of this,” said Manan Shah, the Oakland studio director at architecture firm Gensler. Shah and his colleagues have played a big role in envisioning several of Oakland’s most ambitious developments, among them the Eastline and The Key projects." (Oakland Magazine, 9/19/18)

On the Oakland horizon are several construction projects expected to bring expansive new retail and office space, plus developments that will enhance the city's cultural experience. For example the Eastline Project and 2201 Valley St. both plan to include space for the arts community.

Oracle's Construction Innovation Lab Offers Mock Tests

anne.grenier@barkerblue.com (Anne Grenier) — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 18:30:00 GMT

"Looking to bolster development of new technologies for construction and give industry players a place to test new products, Oracle has created a Construction and Engineering Innovation Lab. Located on the campus of the former Textura headquarters in Deerfield, Ill., the 15,000-sq-ft initial phase of the facility is designed to resemble an “in-progress” construction site, ready to be rigged with the latest in sensor and automation technology for testing and demonstration.

The initial phase of the Innovation Lab is modest—a few steel beams, a gravel floor and a double-wide construction trailer with displays and internet access. The idea is to create a blank slate construction site where different technologies can be demonstrated and elaborate sensor networks can be deployed (ENR, 8/30/18)."

Oracle is planning to expand the facility, to include a multistory hanger with a platform to view the mock jobsite. However, the current site is already proving useful for testing several devices, particularly Internet of Things technologies (IoT).

When Scary Data Goes Rogue, How will you fight it?

anne.grenier@barkerblue.com (Anne Grenier) — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 00:57:17 GMT

In Star Trek's 1998 Insurrection the android Officer Data goes rogue and wreaks havoc after experiencing a malfunction. Unfortunately this sci-fi film can get pretty close to reality when it comes to the construction industry. Today losing control of your plan data can be a very real threat to your construction business. This happens more than you might think after new software platform integration. Think you won't be impacted? Take a look at these scary stats below.

The PlanGrid-FMI study recently reported the following insights on construction data:

Miscommunication and poor project data account for nearly half (48%) of all rework on U.S construction jobsites.

Construction workers lose almost two full working days each week solving avoidable issues and searching for project information.

22% of respondents attribute rework to poor project information, such as incorrect project data and difficulty accessing or sharing project data.

$31B spent on rework in 2018 was due to miscommunication and inaccurate data on the job site (miscommunication costs the industry $17B each year; poor project data costs about $14.3B each year.)

What will you do if your data goes rogue with undetected mistakes causing costly rework? Learn more about how BarkerBlue can help you prevent that up front, or help you get your data back in line if it has already strayed from your original plan.

From project set-up and current set administration, to RFI annotations and project logs, our team of industry pros can ensure that you are working off of the most current information. BarkerBlue acts as administrators on your chosen platform(s) ensuring you can use the tools that work best for you with the security of knowing the information is accurate and identical for your whole team.

Learn more at https://barkerbluebuild.com/