ECL Software Blog

Paper and Pencil Record Keeping is Having a Negative Impact on the Construction Industry

According to a recent survey about half of construction managers throughout the United States say that they get their critical jobsite data manually. About 33% say they use paper and pen to track that data. These are just some of the findings in a recent survey of more than 500 managers and executives throughout the engineering and construction fields. The results of said survey show how seriously many construction companies are in need of construction collaboration software.

Many of the findings of this study contradict themselves

75% of those surveyed said that the most important part of their job was to ensure that the work they were doing was of high quality. Yet, the survey also showed that the processes they used to make sure they were hitting those quality goals were often redundant and time-consuming. They named three challenges that they find when they collect data manually:

1. Their work quality observation data isn’t complete.
2. They don’t have the proof to back up their claims.
3. They don’t have enough details attached to the work orders and change orders.

The survey also showed that much of the change orders and work orders is initiated manually and more than 80% said that email is their main form of communicating with their team, with meetings, and calls coming up second and third. That’s likely why more than 65% of managers say that work orders or work changes get missed on a regular basis, which increases how long it takes to complete the average project.

Much of the problem involves funneling data in multiple directions

About 66% of the managers surveyed said that change orders were the hardest to capture accurately, and that much of the issue was that the data from the jobsite often got funneled through a number of places. In fact, a full 50% of managers claimed that their data had to go through at least five steps in order to get the info into their database / software system. 50% of executives said the same – that their data goes through at least five steps before getting to the reporting and analytics team.

The survey also showed that 75% of executives use at least two systems to gather site data and project data. Nearly 90% of the executives who use at least four data systems say the spend upwards of 1,300 hours every year to turn raw data into usable information. These are systems that simply can’t continue.

The good news is that there is a solution: Construction software from ECL Software. We can help with a wide range of needs and help streamline the process of gathering and using data. If you’re ready to make your projects run more smoothly, to ease the transaction of data, and to get rid of redundancies then you’re ready to work with us. Reach out at 800-625-5972 or online to learn more.