Construction is changing. Rapidly.
With further urbanization comes pressure to industrialize construction methods, with better processes using technology to make things more efficient and more able to track from a construction schedule down to bottom line profits. This change has already come and more is inevitable, particularly as more companies look to become not only recession-proof but also do more with fewer skilled workers.
Building shop managers need to respond quickly and leverage technology to meet these new demands. Most so-called thought leaders in this space will tell you that it’s time to ditch spreadsheets and move to “real” software platforms. And they are partially right. New software is critical to meet the demands of industrialized construction.
However, needing more powerful software doesn’t mean you should stop using spreadsheets. It just means you need to make those spreadsheets more impactful.
An dynamic market demands rapid change
As a shop production manager, you already have a lot on your plate. You have to handle teams, project timelines, emergencies, and ensuring that things get delivered on time. But due to both market forces and the resulting supply chain delays, you’ve got more pressure than ever to deliver.
I’ve seen this firsthand because I used to work in construction before moving into the technology space. Here are some of the trends I noticed and heard about from prefab and modular shop managers:
Market forces
Supply and demand: With increasing urbanization (and the explosion of city suburbs), demand for more housing and buildings, especially prefab and panelized construction, is not stopping. Unfortunately, a lot of land within cities is already tapped out, meaning even more pressure to deliver with fewer raw resources.
Technology: As construction gets more complex, so too does the technology to support it. While there have been some advancements in areas like Building Information Modeling (BIM), gaps remain in other areas like production management within a building shop.
Consumer expectations: Consumers told us they are fed up with building projects that run over-schedule and over-budget, adding even more pressure to building companies. This includes property developers, homebuyers, and the rest of your customers.
Organizational changes
Labor shortage: Both the 2008 Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic saw talent shortages. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be letting up. As more electricians, plumbers, and tradespeople leave the industry, fewer and fewer are replacing them. This means building shop managers in the prefab space need to get more done with fewer people.
Employee engagement: The people who are sticking around or entering the trades are dropping at a rapid pace. As a result, shop managers need to think not just about getting work done, but also not crushing their workforce in the process.
Keeping production at capacity: Despite talent shortages and supply chain issues, you are responsible for (and want to) keep production running at full capacity. That means handling all the design changes and schedule issues in stride, even when it’s stressful.
The bottom line: Shop managers are increasingly asked to show how their work connects to the bottom line and how they are helping drive business efficiencies, adding even further pressure.
Current technology is inadequate
Industrialized construction methods are taking over, but technology outside of BIM platforms is sorely lacking. There are currently three technology options for shop building managers, none of which actually solve the problem:
1. ERP and MES systems are rigid
Production is a dynamic process where ERP and MES platforms are too rigid to accommodate how industrialized builders actually build in a shop setting. While shops are working to make it as close to an manufacturing assembly line as possible, there are many moving parts and changes.
Right now, these systems operate on the principle that shops can control designs and BOMs. In theory this should work well for industrialized construction, but it ends up breaking whenever a customer needs a last-minute design change or swap a material (which happens frequently enough to be a major problem).
2. Construction softwares don’t fit the new way to build
Construction software has improved dramatically in the last 10 years, with better access to drawing versions than ever before. However, these are designed around a project-based approach and are wiped clean when the next project starts.
Custom software for modular builders exists right now, but often requires significant data entry and is reliant on upfront plans, similar to ERP or MES systems. As a result, the information within the system becomes out of date quickly and fails to provide the value that builders need.
Further, these platforms tend to focus on financial reports and resource spend insights over project planning. While this information is helpful for executives, it doesn’t help the people actually doing the work.
3. Spreadsheets are manual and don’t scale
As a result of more robust platforms not delivering value, most shop managers rely on low-tech solutions like spreadsheets to track their information.
While it’s not your fault as a shop manager, relying on spreadsheets makes things complicated:
● Room for error: It’s easy to mess up a single keystroke that can ruin the whole spreadsheet.
● Time-consuming: Because of the manual nature of spreadsheets, you need to host a lot of meetings to confirm information then spend a lot of time updating data.
● Planning is still manual: A spreadsheet holds the information, but planning workflows is completely manual.
Industrialized construction can only be successful if issues around logistics, design, coordination, and others are worked out ahead of time. This creates a very real need for adequate tools for builders. Unfortunately, there simply aren’t good tools for modular builders to manage production and understand complex supply chain dependencies. Manufacturing tools are too rigid and traditional construction tools can't take advantage of a product-centered approach.
Don’t ditch spreadsheets, make them better
A comprehensive solution for modular builders needs to benefit the people actually doing the work. It also needs to take into account the realities that shop production managers are facing.
After working in the modular building industry ourselves and talking to many shop managers, we learned that a new type of technology needs to be:
● Additive: Make the best of the current system even better, rather than asking shop managers to continually try new processes.
● Automated: Using the software needs to save time and automate the planning process, not just hold information.
● Schedule-based: Instead of assuming every project is rigid and specific, we know that modular builders have to figure out all the complexities within a timeline.
This is the mindset we used when working with industry leading builders to develop Building Swell.
Think of it like a task board that pre-populates automatically. You input your data - by importing that spreadsheet you’ve been working from - and our platform does the rest. Because we start with timelines and your company’s rules or workflows, the platform is customized to your shop’s specific needs rather than forcing you into a project-based structure.
Instead of assuming every project is the same, we built our interface to allow for complexity. When new issues or tasks arise, the task board is automatically re-arranged to ensure you meet your deadline.
We wanted to build a platform that helped shop managers where they are right now rather than forcing teams to learn new technology. For us it’s about saving time and handling all the complexities rather than pretending they don’t exist or can be technology-ed away. We know this feeling because we worked in production shops and led production teams—we know how complex everything can be.
Start and build, don’t rip and replace
New tech loves to talk about disrupting the old and moving to the new. But disruption is, well, disruptive. And in the modular building world, there are enough disruptions. Technology should save time and minimize problems, not cause them.
Don’t look for new ways to spend time—look for ways that your current process can be wildly improved to save time, increase efficiency, and make your shop the best it can be.
