Take it from someone who’s had his fair share of summer jobs — new hire training comes with the territory.  It seems like a no-brainer, right?  Once you start a new job, you have to learn what to do, get acclimated with environment and be taught “The [insert any company’s name] Way.”

Well, apparently this doesn’t apply to the construction industry over in Great Britain. According to Neil Gerrard at ConstructionJournal.com, a 2007 government study shows that one-third of British construction firms do not train their employees.

The government entity that conducted this study, The Learning and Skills Council, also found that 40% of the industry’s vacancies were due to a lack of on-the-job training, meaning that jobs went unfilled because no qualified candidate could be found.  Paul Holme, director of skills for employers at the Learning and Skills Council, insists that employers must use government-sponsored programs in order to fix this problem:

Our latest research shows that [the] Train to Gain [program] is helping to unlock staff potential through recommending and delivering relevant, job-specific training. I urge more organisations to follow suit and get involved and see the benefits of investing in training for the long-term.

In the end, his statement strikes at the overarching lesson from this study:  In the long run, the benefits from a competent workforce will be well worth the short-term headaches associated with training them. Keep that in mind the next time your bosses balk at the notion of paying for a training seminar on the construction software that you use.

We divide construction software tools into three main functions — estimating, job costing and project management. However, sometimes we find information that doesn’t fall into those categories but nonetheless warrants a mention, for it demonstrates a simple use of technology that makes life as a contractor easier. Here we present one such example.

We recently found an article called Take Photos During Construction To Document Hidden Utilities. The article was on a blog called Helpful Advice for Home Construction Improvement and focused on how photos are a handy way to keep track of the pipes and wires running inside our walls. Ordinarily, we read blogs like that to see what’s going on in the construction industry but don’t link to them. This post, though, got us thinking.

Pictures, as the saying goes, are worth a thousand words. Photos taken at regular intervals can illustrate a job’s progress in a way that poster-sized schedules cannot. They can also save lots of trouble, as anyone who’s punctured a pipe while hammering into a wall can sadly attest. Finally, they can be good for marketing — a website or portfolio with photos of projects you’ve done certainly looks better than a page of text.

Any contractor, then, would benefit from a digital photo album. Taking photos is easy — digital cameras are inexpensive and, heck, there’s probably one on your phone. (Shameless plug alert: If you need help finding one, sister site DigitalCameraReview.com might be a good start.) Managing photos is easy, too — once you sync your camera up to your computer, your photos will end up on your hard drive (in the My Pictures folder in Windows XP and in the Windows Photo Gallery in Windows Vista). From there, you can create folders and organize your photos as you wish.

The next, step, of course, is to get the photos off your computer and into the hands of your team. Free photo-sharing websites like Flickr might work, but only if you don’t care if everyone else in the free world gets to see the shots, too. A (much) better option is to save the photos into your construction project management software. Many such software packages allow users to add attachments — relevant forms, reports and, yes, photos. If you’re not sure if your software can do this, call your customer service rep and ask about it.

Admittedly, incorporating photos into everyday construction project management will come with a bit of an initial learning curve. You’ll have to determine what aspects of a project are best served by photographic evidence, how many photos to take, how often to take them, how many to attach to project management software documents and so on. If, however, you draw on your own experience and common sense, then it shouldn’t take long to figure out how to use photos to your advantage for the purposes of project management and marketing.

In addition to his responsibilities as the CEO of Foundation Software, Fred Ode finds some time to do a little blogging on Construction Business News and Views by Fred.  His latest post features a rather lengthy Q&A session with Laurence C. (Larry) True, managing director of DR Construction Consultants LLC.

For the most part, the two discuss how construction software has progressed over the past 40 years. During this, True explains that the process has been more of an evolution than a revolution: 

There are a lot more standardized software applications out there and a lot less custom work is being done. In other words, vendors have moved more toward software that is flexible and offers some leverage with set up options, and relates more to what the contractors will get out of it.    

Another interesting topic they touch upon is how construction software can change the roles and responsibilities of employees within a firm. In some instances, the implementation may actually cause some employees’ workloads to increase.

True provides a common scenario that occurs in which AP clerks may be asked to add a few more steps to their typical routine. He says it’s important for managers to explain to such employees that, “although it may be ten minutes more work at the front end, what they don’t realize is that they are saving about an hour of work at the other end of this process.”

In the end, if you’re interested in the computerization of the construction industry or how the software consultation process works, be sure to check this post out. If not, it’s still fascinating to see two construction software heavyweights talk about the direction of the industry.

The construction industry is extremely fragmented, with contractors working on projects ranging from residential homes to highways and tunnels through mountains. Not surprisingly, with such a wide range of construction segments, the industry is composed of contractors from a wide range of professional experience levels. Some contractors have been using construction-specific software for years. Others are just starting out and don’t know what construction software they need or, for that matter, how to begin selecting it.

To help those who are new to construction software, we have created a four-part series of articles called “What is Construction Software?” These articles explain the basics of the three main types of construction software — estimating, job costing and project management software. From there, the articles assist the reader in the software selection process and offer additional resources for contractors who are considering an investment in a construction software program.

The first article of the series is The ABCs of Construction Software. This article shows those construction firms who have not yet implemented a construction software program what benefits they can expect after choosing the right program for their company. The article describes the three main types of construction software and provides five main steps to follow when choosing the right software program.

The second article, The ABCs of Construction Estimating Software, discusses how estimating software can be used for more than the general actions of performing calculations and keeping track of costs. In addition, the article provides several warning signs that those who are using generic estimating software, such as Microsoft Excel, may want to switch to a construction-specific program.

The third article of the series, The ABCs of Construction Job Costing Software explains the capabilities that job costing software has in comparison to the general accounting software most construction companies start off with. The article also emphasizes the importance of considering your company’s long term growth when choosing a job costing program and the construction-specific modules that come with it.

The article series wraps up with The ABCs of Construction Project Management Software. This article gives an overview of the nine main areas of knowledge that characterize project management and provides a list of the advantages that project management software gives to the contractors that use it.

If you fall into the category of people who want to know more about construction software or who are beginning to think about buying construction software, the four articles above are a good start. From there, take a look at our construction estimating, construction job costing and construction project management software buyers guides for more tips and guidance on the construction software selection process.

As previously reported in this blog, there seem to be some reluctance among contractors when it comes to adopting technology. This is just bad business.

In the right situations, technology can improve efficiency and productivity within a firm while reducing confusion and mistakes.  Of course, there will be some initial obstacles — such as cost, implantation and training — but, in the end, contractors who learn how to use technology to their advantage will be more agile and in a better position to compete for contracts.

So far we’ve covered how estimating software, GPS and integrated IT systems can provide a sizable advantage to tech-enabled firms. Another practical way in which contractors can benefit from technology is through the use of video conferencing (also referred to as Web conferencing).

There are two obvious benefits to video conferencing:

1. It saves money — By video conferencing a firm can reduce travel expenditures. This dynamic medium of communications can almost replace a face-to-face meeting.
2. It saves time — Remember the old adage, “time is money”?  Well, video conferencing eliminates the downtime that occurs when employees are traveling to a meeting.

Shaw Group, a Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based engineering and construction firm, is reaping the benefits of using advanced communications technologies. With the addition of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Shaw Group has the ability to video, audio and Web conference — and the company has seen a huge productivity increase, claimed Jeremy Turner, vice president and chief technology officer for Shaw Group “Ultimately, what we want is a 100% collaborative conference room experience across the world,” he said in a statement.

Not all construction teams are as large as the Shaw Group. Many can’t afford, or don’t necessarily need, all the capabilities of a dedicated communications server. Nevertheless, small- and medium-sized construction firms can take advantage of video conferencing on the cheap.

Case in point: justin.tv. This site provides anyone with the ability to video conference with multiple people — and some construction businesses are starting to take note. For instance, the Construction News and Report Group recently held a successful internal sales meeting using justin.tv.

Mark Buckshon of the CNR Group wrote the following in a blog entry called Video meeting test a success:

…I found the resource useful, easy to operate, and rather simple to use…I will use this technology at our other internal meetings, with several employees and contractors at remote locations.

While it’s a cost-effective alternative to product-based video conferencing software, justin.tv has its fair share of problems. One glaring concern is privacy — since anyone can pop into a chat session, sensitive material should probably be disclosed through another medium. That being said, this can be a powerful and useful tool for contractors who have to work away from the field.

In the end, video conferencing, like all other technologies, may not fit the needs of every contractor. (Build a solid Web conferencing strategy, a three-part series on sister site SearchUnifiedCommunications.com, can help you decide whether it does.) However, video conferencing should at least be considered — after all, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is not a rational business practice. Firms should be striving to find new ways increase productivity and efficiency, and adopting new technology is one way to achieve this.

Our last blog entry in this series focused on the need for construction firms to embrace technology. In this entry we look at the next step — embracing an array of technology that works together.

There’s a lot that goes into any construction firm’s information technology (IT) system. Ensuring that everything in that system operates smoothly — at both the front end and the back end and with little or no inconvenience to all users — can be quite a challenge. If addressed properly, though, a nicely integrated IT system can provide a huge return on investment for a construction firm.

In The IT System ROI Checklist: 10 Questions to Ask About Your IT System, Bassem Hamdy of CMiC provides a handy checklist for fellow construction owners on how to evaluate the ROI for IT systems.

Some key points include these three:

1.      Is the system integrated? While the phrase “integrated system” seems to be almost cliché nowadays, Hamdy describes it as a product “that runs all applications on a single, scalable database.” He cautions readers not to confuse this with other programs that offer workarounds or data bridges because these system store information in multiple locations. Ultimately, this can lead to hiccups when trying to pull all the information together for business critical decisions.

2.      Does the system reduce data entry points? This one is pretty self-explanatory: The more times that data needs to be re-entered into a system, the more likely mistakes will occur. Therefore, an easy way to improve the ROI is to invest in a system that reduces unnecessary data entry. 

3.      Does the system provide standardization? While every project manager may have a different way of going about a task, any platform that provides a uniform process for completing a project will save everyone headaches. 

Of course, Hamdy goes into greater detail on how each of his 10 points can maximize the ROI. Ultimately, he argues that if construction executives invest in sound IT software, their employees can spend more time being productive and less time performing tedious data entry and fact-checking tasks.

(Editor’s note: Over the next couple weeks we will be posting a few blog entries discussing why it is important for contractors to embrace construction software and other technological advancements. This post is the first in our impromptu series.)

In today’s construction industry, budgeting, estimating and accounting is, for the most part, done with construction software. Moreover, contractors can pull up lists of sales leads within seconds. Even something as simple as driving a nail is done using technology.

Now, flash back 10 years ago. Very few people owned GPS systems, email wasn’t as commonly used, and contractors were calculating construction estimates with a pen and paper.

Clearly, much has changed. In a recent article, Avoiding Technology is Un-American. Know What’s Coming, and Profit From It, Erik Cofield of BuildTopia discusses the changes in technology over the past 10 years and how embracing these change will benefit those in the residential construction industry.

Although some residential contractors may have been reluctant, most have accepted technological changes in one way or another, whether by creating a company email account or by installing a GPS system in the company trucks.

However, according to Cofield, only those who fully embrace these changes will largely profit from them. For example, contractors who have integrated construction software into their daily routines save time and money on everyday tasks such as bidding and contracting, gain better insight into their company’s cash flow and, in general, stay ahead of their competition.

What, then, does technology hold for the future? According to Cofield, the construction industry, like so many others, will soon be dominated by wireless networks, allowing contractors to work from multiple locations. The wants of the consumer will change and ultimately shape the market for new products, such as the current high demand for “green” products. Lastly, residential construction superintendents will be able to manage data quicker and easier, allowing them to take on more lots and units than ever before.

Cofield predicts that, despite the clear advantages that come from embracing technology, many builders will not make the changes necessary to profit from it. But what about you? Has your company gone through a lot of changes in the last 10 years to accommodate technology? What advantages have these changes brought you? Finally, do you see yourself continuing to adopt new technology?

Score one for consumers — Bentley and Autodesk have struck a cross-licensing agreement that will allow interoperability between the two company’s software products.

The agreement, details of which are in this press release from Autodesk, calls for the two software giants to exchange their software libraries that write the file formats, as well as share their publicly available APIs.

Bentley is Autodesk’s largest development partner and has built numerous products over the years that work on or with AutoCAD and support its DWG file format.

However, the interoperability agreement “will ensure a higher fidelity and trust in the file formats,” Chris Barren, vice president of marketing for Bentley, said in an interview with ConstructionSoftwareReview.com “The alternative was getting the applications to translate the files from one format to another. Even when they’re really good translations, if the text is a couple pixels off, you can spend a lot of time fixing that.”

On the surface, it may seem odd that two competing firms like Autodesk and Bentley would team up on a venture like this. However, both companies recognize that, as projects become more advanced from an integrated project delivery standpoint, different contracting teams will be using a variety of software offerings. Now, because of this pact, consumers will not have to worry if an Autodesk DWG or Bentley DGN file will export precisely — it just will.

Lack of construction software interoperability has been an obstacle for the industry for years and, according to a recent McGraw-Hill report, it is costing the industry some $36 billion a year.

According to Noah Cole, from Autodesk’s Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC) marketing department, this agreement with Bentley is a chance to help the industry down the road. “Looking at construction, most buildings are still being built with blueprints. But, as the industry moves to digital models and BIM, they’re going to have to rely on modeling,” he said. “If they can’t read the file, they have to remodel or redraft it, which is time-consuming and expensive — plus it lends itself to errors.”

While both companies announced the interpretability agreement, they are still in the midst of implementing it. They acknowledge that it may take some time, but, Barren stated that Bentley is looking to finalize it “not too far in the next year.”

We know Microsoft Excel is a popular construction cost estimating tool. Thus we thought we would pass along an item from sister site the ITKnowledge Exchange that offers some help with Excel 2003 worksheets.

In Can data in Excel 2003 be set up to automatically move from one sheet to another in a workbook?, a user named Kaylee asked the following:

Is it possible to create a macro, or multiple macros to…move data from one sheet to another in the same workbook in Excel 2003? [I]nstead of having to manually copy and paste information…from sheet one to the others, we would like to create a drop-down menu or button that would automatically move the data to another sheet in the workbook.

The short answer: Yes, ’tis possible. In fact, there are two ways to make it work — either create a formula to perform this task or use an add-in called a dataloader. If you want to find out more, click on the link above to visit the original post.

If information like this is helpful to you, please let us know and we’ll keep looking for more hints on making Excel a better construction cost estimating tool.

In a recent article called The Benefits of Estimating Software, George Hague, president and CEO of ConEst Software Systems, wrote about the reluctance of electrical contractors to adopt estimating software.

Just as quickly, Hague then provided six ways in which computerized estimating outperforms the old-fashioned manual way.

1. Speed - A microprocessor will beat someone doing long division with a solar-powered calculator any day of the week.
2. Accuracy - With all the variables that need to be accounted for in creating an estimate, allowing a computer to do the legwork removes a lot of the chance for human error.
3. Consistency - Estimating software lets a contractor use the exact same values and procedures for every calculation.
4. Procurement - This makes job tracking and scheduling easier.
5. Project Management - All workers, from the foreman to the accountant, will benefit from a digital estimate.
6. Professionalism - According to Hague, “[T]here is nothing that builds confidence in your sales presentation more than an estimate that has been professionally prepared and printed using an estimating software system.”

In addition to the rationale above, Hague provided statistical as well as anecdotal evidence to support his claim that estimating software has already transformed the electrical contracting industry. He concluded that those who have adopted estimating software are enjoying a sizable advantage over contractors who still prefer to use a traditional method.

Hague’s claim is not unique. In fact, it’s one shared by those contractors who have completed end user reviews of estimating software applications. Even those who use Microsoft Excel report that software saves them time and money. Isn’t it time you start doing the same?