Consider this all-too-familiar site...

A work crew standing idle on a jobsite while a foreman flips through paperwork and swipes back and forth between one app to another, furiously trying to sort the location of key materials or equipment for that day’s plan. Meanwhile, the clock ticks on, putting the project timeline in jeopardy and threatening budgets and profits.

That inability to find a job order, materials list or other key pieces of information is – unfortunately - a common scenario on job sites and in projects all over. While it's impossible to completely eliminate lost time or project delays, it’s becoming more and more possible to reduce the frustration and expense of jobsite downtime. How? Workflow automation.

Workflow Automation: Make Work Easier, and More Productive

What does “workflow automation” mean? Start by focusing on the workflow – the way work gets done, over and over, on every job site and project you and your teams are working on.

Now examine the kinds of waste present in some of the key processes in those workflows. Known in the Lean vernacular as Muda, these wastes fall neatly into the acronym of DOWNTIME:

• Defects
• Overproduction
• Waiting
• Non-Utilized Talent
• Transportation
• Inventory
• Motion
• Extra Processing

Aim first to eliminate those wastes manually. Once you’ve done so, add automation – streamlining common tasks so that you don’t have to keep doing them, repetitively, over and over. The goal here is to create Flow, using the five principles of Lean – defining value (for your customers and your teams); mapping the value stream from creation to completion; creating the smooth processes for your flow; establish “pull” with a just-in-time manufacturing/delivery system based on the needs of the customer; and then reinforce those steps through continuous improvement in the pursuit of perfection.

Now, automation and technology work in service to improve various stages of common or bespoke construction processes, from pre-construction to onsite work to closeout activities. They’re “hacks” for projects, getting them off the ground and keeping them on schedule and on budget. Effective automation makes life easier, eliminating the Muda and “Gray Work," the mindless and maddening workarounds and processes – chasing information between systems, lining up work rosters with schedules, and other mind-numbing and error prone tasks that make it feel almost impossible to be productive.

Construction Workflows in Action

With that definition of workflow automation in mind, here are a few examples in practice – bearing in mind that automation’s true magic happens when tailored to your processes and unique ways of working.

Communication on Project Delays

No project is immune from delays; weather, traffic, and other things happen, unique to job site locations or seasons, that are unavoidable. Many delays, however, come from communication breakdowns and the resulting Gray Work they create all the way down throughout the project plan, not to mention lost time, angry subcontractors, and unhappy clients.

Automation improves communication by triggering updates when things move off track, updating everyone downstream about a delay, giving them the most advance notice and an adjusted start or completion date.

But that is not the only benefit. Automation creates a single source for communication across your entire network of subcontractors, crew leads, and other stakeholders – even if they’re all using different methods of communication (email, text, phone call) or even devices (tablets, smartphones, even flip phones). Now, when schedules are adjusted by project managers, each stakeholder will be notified immediately using their preferred method.

Invoicing & Payment
With large projects, the majority of general contractors will have an invoicing and payment schedule to manage cash flow across the life of the job. In a perfect world, every project milestone would be accounted for, ensuring every vendor, subcontractor, and laborer is paid on time and for the right services.

Unfortunately, no project exists in a perfect world. Even the best-planned project and delivery/work order processes can be knocked off track, making it difficult to adhere to invoicing and payment schedules. Even the most conscientious financial manager can fall behind and miss a payment deadline in the fog of project deadlines and delays.

Automation can be a major advantage here. For example, setting an automated reminder message a few days before an invoicing or payment deadline can help identify potential delays, prepping a client or partner for any delays, eliminating short-term confusion and making cash flow run smoother. Automated invoicing also allows for electronic payments.

Material Ordering & Delivery
Let’s flash back to that opening scenario as our foreman attempts to sort out that material delivery on site while that day’s crew sits, waiting. Now, imagine that situation with a connected, automated construction project workflow, like so: The vendor/supplier, recognizing that materials will be delayed, sends a notification message about the possible delay (or a photo of the successful delivery).

Notified of the delay, the project supervisor immediately adjusts the next day’s schedule, triggering an update message that... Immediately notifies crew leads and the subcontractors of the delay, potentially reassigning them to other work, maintaining productivity while resolving the order/delivery issue(s).

And automation isn’t just solving that day’s materials order and delivery issues; it also lets you streamline future repeat orders by saving lists for common jobs or materials orders for recurring projects that can be reordered with the click of a button.

How to Bring Automation to Your Projects

Those are just a few examples of how automated construction workflows cut through Gray Work to make projects easier, more predictable and less prone to delays. Bringing those examples to life, however, means a culture change, understanding the current state to pave the way to establishing a future state, establishing Lean-based practices. Managing through that changeover requires communication, early wins, and an emphasis on training to help teams adapt to best practices. After all, for any new approach to succeed, you need buy-in from the back office and field workers. Here are three places to start your automation journey:

1. Start Small, Prove Your Case, Integrate and Scale
   Start with what you already use every day in your project, focusing on discrete steps or project phases to help identify early wins and examples that can help build momentum for larger automation efforts.
   
   When selecting a new solution for platform for automation, pick one that integrates with the systems you – and your subs and other stakeholders – work with across your portfolio. For example, if you are a sub working with a large GC, they probably use Procore for their projects. When considering which solution/platform is best for your teams and projects, look for one with a pre-built integration to more popular platforms, with the ability to customize and provide and support throughout the integration process.
2. Know Who Needs What, and When
   A common mistake when adopting a new technology tool is to give everyone access to everything in the tool. This can overwhelm workers with too many unnecessary features, turning them off from using the tool or solution and short-circuiting even the most well-intentioned automation efforts.
   
   Instead, focus on providing every team member only what they need, when they need it, to do their job. Productivity increases when teams and individuals can focus on their task without needing to wade through extra unnecessary project data and information. This way, everyone is focused on the job at hand, elevating impact.
3. Make Time for Training the Way Teams Want to Learn
   As with any new skill, process or technology tool, project teams need time to learn before they can start using those new capabilities in a job. If you’re planning to implement a new automation solution or platform, build time into your project plan for your teams to get familiar with the new stuff according to their role.
   
   Take the time to understand how – and where – those times like to learn. Learning new ways of working, especially with technology, can be daunting, and even more so when delivered in a setting or with a method that is unfamiliar (online, etc.). Look for training options that are flexible to the style and format your teams are used to, whether hands-on training, video-based content, written help files, animation or short interactive tutorials – and don’t forget to provide access to a support network to answer follow up questions or resolve any challenges as they occur.

Automation – Get Your Projects on Track

Look around your job site and chances are you’ll see examples of DOWNTIME, muda and Gray Work sprinkled all over. Hopefully, you’ll also see the path towards improvement using Lean-based principles and automation for every job and every role. For inspiration, go right to the Gemba for real-life examples where automation and technology have improved some basic jobs - think of a carpenter using a nail gun (instead of a hammer) to the concrete contractor’s cement mixer (instead of mixing by hand in a wheelbarrow). The workflow automation examples cited above are the same, embracing new ways of working that replace time-consuming, repetitive tasks to get more work done.

Automation keeps projects on time and on budget, busting Gray Work in every role –from administrative to supervisory to fieldwork. It speeds up communication, provides a central point of information for every stakeholder, and keeps the inevitable small delays from derailing even the most complex projects, organizing and streamlining workflows.

Check out Quickbase to learn more about how automation can have a real, direct impact on your projects.